Last year, the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) pumped a near-record amount of groundwater. Nonetheless, OID General Manager Steve Knell and members of the Board of Directors continue to talk about selling “surplus water.” By way of planning for continuing drought conditions, that same Board of Directors last Tuesday considered draining Tulloch Lake, where waterfront homes, fishing, and skiing offer residents and visitors some of the best of California’s natural attractions. […]
Oakdale Water Scheme Hits CEQA Hurdle: Part I
Only a few days ago, it seemed as if the Oakdale Irrigation District’s (OID) “On Farm Conservation Funding Program” was likely to be instituted as early as this year. Though it features a controversial fallowing element, criticism of the program has been muted by a well-orchestrated publicity campaign conducted through press releases produced by former Modesto Bee editor Dave Lyghtle, who now works for Marcia Hermann Design. The Oakdale Irrigation […]
Will MID Fail on Water?
“We’re in a new world here,” said John Mensinger during last Tuesday’s Water Workshop in the Modesto Irrigation District’s (MID) boardroom. And while many in the audience seemed to agree, his fellow directors apparently weren’t listening. The subject was a modest proposal by MID staff to increase water rates to $29.25 an acre foot by 2017. People in the know about today’s water world might think $29.25 is a misprint, […]
How to Lose the Water Game
Here in the northern San Joaquin Valley, there’s no better way to curry political favor than by assailing the state’s proposals to increase unimpaired flows on the Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Merced Rivers. And even though it’s a losing position, everyone’s doing it. “Water grab,” they say, almost in unison. Invariably, talk of “our water” is followed by a lengthy recitation of the economic harm to the region when water from […]
Will the Kite Survive?
In his classic Birds of the Pacific States, Ralph Hoffmann laments the decline of the White-tailed Kite: “The softness of its coloring and the confiding and gentle nature of the White-tailed Kite, so different from the wildness of most birds of prey, make a strong appeal to lovers of nature, but not alas! to the usual run of gunners.” First published in 1927, Hoffmann’s book was reprinted for at […]
The Water Manager’s Grand Plan
The regional water summit in Modesto on January 16 had its share of high moments, but one of the most revealing came from Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) General Manager Steve Knell. Knell has been under pressure from local farmers and their supporters to keep OID water local. OID has a long history of water sales outside the region and its Board of Directors approved a proposed water sale to Westlands […]
Inconvenient Truths Raised at Water Meetings
Assemblyman Adam Gray apparently thought a visit to Friday’s Water Summit on Crows Landing Road in Stanislaus County would be an opportunity to score easy political credits. He must not have realized Valley citizens are rapidly becoming informed enough to ask tough questions. So when Neil Hudson, who is a member of the Stanislaus County Water Advisory Committee (WAC), asked Gray whether the state would give local authorities enough power […]
How to Sell Your Water Sale
“It’s not a story,” said Dave Lyghtle when I told him I was working on an article about his employment by the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) at the OID Board meeting last week. Lyghtle is Public Relations Director for Marcia Hermann Design of Modesto. According to the agency’s website, Lyghtle believes, “an effective public relations strategy is a valuable component of building and maintaining any organization’s brand and reputation.” In […]
New Record for Bird Count
The Audubon Christmas Bird Count is the longest running citizen-science survey in history. This year marked its 115th anniversary. Each year around Christmas time, men, women, and children from around the world go outside and count bird species and populations within a given region. On January 4, volunteers from the Stanislaus Audubon Society set a new record for total species recorded on the Caswell/Westley Count with 142 species. Some who […]
RIP Dave Geer
When people heard a conservative white male with rumored Tea Party affiliations was running for City Council in Modesto’s District 2, they weren’t just puzzled, they were mystified. When he won, the victory was attributed to low voter turnout resulting from apathy. But mystification turned to pleasant surprise when Dave Geer turned out to be one of the best public servants his city and district had ever seen. Except insofar […]