Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) General Manager Steve Knell has maintained for years that one reason the district sells water outside the region is that there’s no local demand for OID water.
“We’re not against selling water locally,” Knell said at last night’s sparsely attended meeting of the Local Area Formation Committee (LAFCo) meeting in Modesto. “When local demand develops, we’ll try to meet it.”
Knell was present to explain OID’s water budget and financial situation to LAFCo committee members, who have been criticized for allowing the annexation of Trinitas Partners into the OID without an Environmental Impact Review. Farmers and residents in and around OID claim there is a long list of unmitigated negative impacts from the annexation.
Rice farmer Bob Frobose spoke at the meeting to protest what he called lies prior to the annexation. He also challenged Knell’s claims that there is no local demand for OID water.
“There’s plenty of local demand for OID water,” he said. “There are local farmers who’ve offered to pay $120 an acre foot for water. That’s a lot more than Trinitas pays.”
Stanislaus County Supervisor Terry Withrow, who is also a member of LAFCo, said Knell’s claims about lack of local demand are based on ideas and surveys that are ten years old.
“The world’s gone upside down since then,” said Withrow. “There’s demand for water all around the county. We have so much more potential now for who wants that water. I think the revenue is here for that water to stay here.”
Withrow and Rice were probably referring to offers from at least three farmers to pay $120 an acre foot for OID water. Gary Alldrin, Virgil Thompson, and Louis Brichetto have all offered that amount, and Brichetto recently delivered a plan to OID that would deliver water through a six million dollar pipeline fully paid for by Brichetto himself.
Other farmers have offered OID out-of-district prices for water. Out-of-district water currently runs around $100 an acre foot. That’s far more than the $55 an acre foot that Trinitas pays, and magnitudes more than OID’s in-district customers pay.
Knell said that OID customers pay by the acre on an escalating scale that works out to around $2 an acre foot for the first few feet of water. At those prices, which are far below the cost of delivery, it’s no wonder OID faces budget shortfalls every year.
Knell claims OID needs to sell water to upgrade its delivery systems. For example, OID canals are unlined, which may help to a degree with groundwater recharge, but which also leads to lots of wasted water.
Stanislaus County Supervisor Jim DeMartini was stunned to learn OID’s canals are unlined and also wondered why OID pumped record amounts of groundwater last year if it has water to sell outside the region. Knell said the district needs to pump groundwater to serve district customers in locations where surface water is hard to deliver.
But Bob Frobose and many others believe that when OID pumps record amounts of groundwater and sells water outside the region, the net effect is tantamount to exporting groundwater. “They’re really just selling groundwater,” said Frobose.
Stanislaus County Supervisor Bill O’Brien, whose district includes OID customers, may have expressed the general sentiment best when he said that the state’s new groundwater ordinance makes it imperative to keep surface water local.
“I’m in favor of keeping every drop of water we have here,” he said. “Every drop of surface water we keep here is a drop of groundwater we don’t pump.”
Who is OID selling water to outside the region?
Past sales have been to Westlands Water District.
Some months prior to the last election for mayor in Turlock, a workable procedure for supplying treated OID water to the City of Turlock (in lieu of building a new treatment plant) was proposed to the Director of Public Works for Turlock. The procedure was also communicated to the two candidates for mayor. The losing candidate, Mike Brem, was good enough to reply to the proposal; the winner, Mr. Soiseth, did not reply. Apparently the proposal was shot down with very little discussion. The proposal would: 1) keep OID water in Stanislaus County, 2) eliminate the cost of a new treatment plant by substituting a pipeline across the Tuolumne River, 3) relieve the TID of the need to supply water to the City of Turlock.
Sounds like an idea that needs to be brought back to public attention.
So who is going to treat the water – MID at Modesto Reservoir or does OID have to build a treatment plant? The same concept has been on the books for years with OID, City of Oakdale, City of Riverbank and North Modesto/Salida. OID has addressed this a few times in the last two years – in particular facility siting. It would have made too much sense for the beneficiaries to have pipes installed while the North County Corridor is being built. Long way to go.
Any movement of water south takes cooperation with MID or TID to “wheel” the water through their facilities. Same goes if Eastside ID or Del Puerto WD were to work a deal with OID. The other districts are not inclined to help and if they did, OID better plan on tacking another 20% water on to the bill.
By south I mean southern Stanislaus County or Northern Merced. To go to the south valley they go through the San Joaquin to Clifton Court Forebay.
Minutes from the OID Board meeting of July 21st show- in a closed session, negotiations with the City and County of San Francisco-Government Code §54956.8 Conference with Real Property Negotiator
Negotiating Parties: OID, BOR, City and County of San Francisco,
San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority,
Stockton East Water District, State Water
Contractors, Del Puerto Irrigation District
Property: Water
Agency Negotiators: General Manager and Water Counsel
Under Negotiations: Price and Terms
Thank you Damon. Always nice to have primary sources and current information. Much appreciated.
And … that’s verbatim from the agenda the public gets. Having attended their Board meetings for the last 7+ years that is like a line item on the majority of them. Not a revelation here. Nothing hidden in the weeds.
What frequently gets hidden in the weeds is the failure to perform required CEQA protocols. Since it takes the threat of a lawsuit to force the issue, very few people have the financial means to make sure OID follows proper procedures with water sales. Also hidden in the weeds, until recently, has been the consistent LOCAL demand for OID water.
For an accurate portrayal of what was presented to the LAFCO Commissioners please visit the OID webpage at oakdaleirrigation.com and click on the link to the Water Resource Management presentation.
While OID has had some ag requests for water for next year we are processing those applications. However, these water demands are small in comparison to what OID has available for use. Meeting these ag demands is not a problem and still leaves water that needs to be committed to a reasonable and beneficial use. As to date, our discussions from last November (not 10 years ago) with all local agencies in the surrounding area show no shovel ready demand for water.