“….a series of political moves, which included Byrd voting against investigating himself further, has prevented deeper inquiry and sparked cover-up accusations against MID. Frobose said he believes asking for help from state authorities will reveal the truth.” Trevor Morgan, Modesto Bee

The fact is, Modesto Irrigation District (MID) Board President Robert Frobose had no other choice than to call for help from California State Attorney General Rob Bonta. It has been almost a year since former Oakdale Irrigation District Board Member Linda Santos claimed MID Director Larry Byrd was irrigating out-of-district almond trees with MID surface water.

Since that time, MID produced an investigation that wholly supported Santos’s claims, which were also corroborated by Byrd’s former ranch foreman, Todd Sill, and another former employee. Byrd’s own claims that he used groundwater for his out-of-district trees were thoroughly refuted.

Nonetheless, last December 16, MID Board members voted to discontinue further investigation. The deciding vote was cast by Larry Byrd himself, in clear violation of rules and guidelines established by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).

Ironically, MID Director John Boer recused himself, claiming a conflict of interest. Boer does contract work for Byrd’s brother, who is also a partner in the AB La Grange Ranch, the location for Byrd’s out-of-district almond trees. Boer has no financial interest in the AB La Grange property. None.

Directors Frobose and Chris Ott voted to continue the investigation based on clear evidence in the 4Creeks’ report that Byrd had violated MID boundaries.  Absent groundwater, there was no other source for those trees than MID surface water. Further investigation was clearly needed to determine the dollar value of the misappropriated water.

Moreover, the 4Creeks’ investigation also revealed glaring discrepancies in Byrd’s reported use of MID surface water on his in-district trees. Usage reports are compiled from “TruPoint” data — information provided by irrigators and ditch tenders, including farm managers and owners themselves.

There were broad differences between Byrd’s TruPoint reports and measured power records during three of the five years covered by the 4Creeks’ report. Over time, those discrepancies add up to hundreds of acre-feet and tens of thousands of dollars — and those figures are for the in-district trees. They don’t even include Byrd’s 138 acres of out-of-district trees.

Directors Frobose and Ott not only have to deal with two MID Directors contaminated by conflicts of interest, another Director, Janice Keating, has shown a prejudicial animus against both Frobose and MID itself. Last year, she sued Frobose and the District for gender discrimination and harassment. The grounds were so spurious that Keating ended up paying attorneys’ fees. Last December, Keating joined Byrd in voting against further investigation.

In fact, had MID management been on the job, there wouldn’t have been a need for an investigation in the first place. The 4Creeks’ investigation not only showed Byrd could not have used groundwater for his out-of-district trees, it also revealed serious problems with MID’s billing for water and power use on the AB La Grange Ranch.

Not only do Byrd’s TruPoint reports and power usage records for the AB La Grange Ranch differ significantly, subsequent research strongly suggests Byrd has pumped far more MID surface water than he’s paid for. In what he calls his “Master Water Plan,” MID records show Byrd has paid a flat rate of two acre-feet per property in the plan. Every property farms either almonds or pasture land.

It may be that Larry Byrd and his partners have found miraculous new methods to produce productive almond trees and pastureland with two acre-feet of water. If so, it will be welcome news to state and federal authorities who are on constant watch to find more water for the Delta farmers, national wildlife refuges, state parks, the City of San Francisco, fish and fishers who comprise just a few of the stakeholders in the Tuolumne River water that both MID and the Turlock Irrigation District rely on for their thousands of customers.

If only two acre-feet of water are sufficient for almonds and pastureland, surely MID can reduce its current 42-inch allotment to 24 inches. District-wide, the savings would be enormous. And, once the news is out, imagine the savings throughout the entire San Joaquin Valley and beyond.

Unfortunately, 4Creeks’ investigators, using multiple measures including granular measurements of local precipitation and evapotranspiration data, concluded that local almond orchards require closer to three-and-a-half acre-feet of water per year. The vast majority of local farmers would agree. That’s why MID’s normal yearly allotment is 42 inches (three-and-a-half acre-feet).

The three-and-a-half acre-feet rule-of-thumb is nothing new. It’s been common knowledge in the local agricultural community for years. That’s just one reason why Byrd’s payments for only two acre-feet should have raised red flags years ago.

At least as far back as 2020 and most likely sooner, MID Director Larry Byrd has submitted conflicting reports about how much water he’s used on the AB La Grange Ranch. He’s also been billed for far less water than he’s reported. Meanwhile, MID management has remained silent.

Given a dysfunctional Board of Directors and diffident management, Board President Robert Frobose has no choice but an appeal to higher authority.

“The people are entitled to the truth,” said Frobose recently.

The people are also entitled to know how much revenue MID has lost while permitting Larry Byrd to run roughshod over its rules, regulations, and yearly allotments. One of the very first things Attorney General Rob Bonta should review is MID’s billing records for Director Byrd, a task that should have been a matter of routine accounting years ago.

The Modesto Irrigation District is a public utility. Its management and Board of Directors owe MID farmers and ratepayers a thorough audit of Larry Byrd’s pumping and billing records. Let’s hope California’s Attorney General is on the job as soon as possible.