The more you look into Larry Byrd’s irrigation history on the AB La Grange Ranch, the more you understand why he cast the deciding vote to end an investigation into that same history.
Byrd’s vote last December 16 violated basic ethical principles at least as old as ancient Greece and Rome. It did not and could not, however, relieve Modesto Irrigation District (MID) of its responsibility to govern the use of Tuolumne River surface water within district boundaries.
As a sitting member of the MID Board of Directors, Byrd’s chief responsibilities are to district farmers and ratepayers. His own use of MID water and power should therefore be transparent and aboveboard. Last fall, when MID Boardmembers voted to investigate whether Byrd had pumped surface water across district boundaries and onto out-of-district almond orchards, Byrd said he “looked forward” to clearing his name.
The 4Creeks’ investigation did not clear Byrd’s name. Instead, it supported claims by former employees that Byrd had not used groundwater to irrigate the out-of-district trees among the 436 acres of almond orchards he farms on the AB La Grange Ranch in southeastern Stanislaus County. The only other irrigation source was MID surface water.
Among many possible subjects Director Byrd may have wished to avoid with further investigation, billing was likely at or near the top of the list. Billing became an issue when 4Creeks revealed Byrd had gone over the thirty-inch MID water allotment in 2022, a very dry year. The normal allotment is forty-two inches.
Last December, Byrd said his apparent violation of the 2022 allotment could be explained by his “Master Water Plan.” As we’ve described in previous reports, the Master Water Plan provides MID farmers opportunities to move water from property to property so as to maximize efficient use. It’s especially valued during years of reduced allotments because it enables farmers to transfer water from annual crops like rice or corn to so-called “permanent” crops like almonds. Corn and rice can be fallowed during dry years. Almonds cannot.
Last January, I requested a copy of Larry Byrd’s 2022 Master Water Plan. What I received were redacted copies of irrigation totals and billing for eight properties. I was able to infer the redacted information with ancillary knowledge gained from previous public records requests and other published information.
Larry Byrd’s Master Water Plan did not explain why he was permitted to exceed the 2022 reduced irrigation allotment. Instead, it showed that all eight properties in the plan were billed for two acre-feet per property. The properties involved irrigate pasture and/or almonds. Both crops require at least three-and-a-half acre-feet of water, as determined by the 4Creeks’ investigation.
Moreover, those rules of MID’s that are available for public view specify that billing for exceeding allotments will be forty dollars per acre-foot. According to the 4Creeks’ investigation, Director Byrd pumped almost three-and-a-half acre-feet of MID surface water onto the AB La Grange Ranch in 2022, a year when the MID allotment was two-and-half acre-feet.
It’s reasonable to believe that amount or greater was pumped onto all the properties in Byrd’s Master Plan that same year because pasture and almonds have similar irrigation requirements. If that were the case, billing should have been based on normal rates up to two-and-a half acre-feet. After that, all properties should have been billed forty dollars per acre-foot for exceeding the MID allotment. Instead, all properties were billed at MID’s minimum rate of two-dollars per acre-foot because they reported using only two acre-feet of water per farm unit.
Assume for a moment that the irrigation and billing figures for Larry Byrd were those of a small farmer. What is the likelihood that small farmer would be able to (1) stop an investigation into the use of MID surface water on the farm (2) exceed the MID allotment without any apparent penalty or the due payment of forty-dollars per excess acre-foot and (3) pay a flat rate of two acre-feet?
Consider also that in 2022, during reduced water allotments, MID raised power rates by 9.6%. Director Larry Byrd voted for the increase. He must have felt MID needed increased revenues.
It shouldn’t take an investigation to determine whether or not in-district MID farmers have been billed fairly and accurately for irrigating their crops. Rather, it now appears there should be ample evidence for MID management itself to determine when farmers have failed to pay MID rates for MID water, especially since MID General Manager Jimi Netniss’s area of expertise has been rates and billing. He was very involved in the process that established increased rates for power users in 2022, when he was in MID’s finance department. In 2023, he was promoted to General Manager.
It may be there are reasonable explanations for the growing list of questions raised by the 4Creeks’ investigation. If so, MID management has a fiduciary duty to provide those explanations. So do MID Boardmembers.