Former ranch manager Todd Sill hasn’t changed his story about Modesto Irrigation District (MID) Board Member Larry Byrd. Sill claims Byrd “seldom pumped” groundwater from the two deep wells on the ranch he leases in eastern Stanislaus County.
Sill worked for Byrd from 2015 until 2023, after spending 24 years on that same ranch, then known as the Rodoni. Byrd and his partners, his brother Tim and Ty Angle, planted about 500 acres of almonds on the 3,000-acre ranch back in 2015. About 130 acres of those trees are outside MID boundaries.
Sill claims the irrigation system for the almond orchard was installed so that it could serve trees both inside and outside the district with surface water pumped from an MID canal that runs through the ranch. Byrd has claimed he irrigates the out-of-district ground with two deep well pumps, “two or three times a week,” after previously saying he ran them “almost daily” during hot weather.
Whatever the case, Larry Byrd will soon be facing the same dilemma as other groundwater-dependent farmers throughout the Valley. New restrictions on pumping are set to apply early in 2027, just over a year from now. Early indications are that groundwater limitations will be set at just over one acre-foot per year, far less than is needed to produce almonds, which generally require between three and four acre-feet for a profitable crop.
As things now stand, mining groundwater throughout the San Joaquin Valley has brought on an environmental catastrophe, including dry wells, severe subsidence, and increased competition and rising prices for surface water. Costs to repair the damage will run into the billions.
Meanwhile, the speculators who gambled they’d make plenty of money during the almond boom have already begun feeling the pinch from rising costs of production and lower market prices for nuts of all kinds. Trinitas Partners, which converted over 7,000 acres of eastern Stanislaus County grazing land to tidy rows of trees just over ten years ago, has since declared bankruptcy.
Even what once looked like a sweet deal on Byrd’s and his partners’ renamed “AB La Grange Ranch” might be going sour, especially once the new restrictions kick in. Almonds don’t start producing enough to sell until around year three or four. They don’t reach peak production until year seven or eight. Up-front costs to plant almond orchards can run $10,000 or more an acre, including the costs of irrigation systems.
Planted in 2015, orchards on the AB La Grange Ranch were just reaching peak production when falling almond prices began putting the squeeze on farmers throughout the Valley. It’s questionable whether Byrd and his partners have yet made a profit.
Having led people to believe he didn’t need to pump groundwater, Byrd has been a vocal advocate for selling MID surface at far below market prices to groundwater-dependent farmers on Stanislaus County’s east side. It will be interesting to see what happens once those deep-water wells on the AB Ranch are actually monitored. Thus far, Byrd has either been unable or unwilling to produce records showing how much and how often they’ve been used.
Come 2027, Larry Byrd is not going to have a choice. He won’t be able to pump enough to keep his out-of-district trees in production. Well before then, he might even have to answer to Todd Sill’s claims that those out-of-district trees have survived on MID surface water. Thus far, Byrd hasn’t offered any pumping records at all.
Good reporting. Clear.
Truth Trust Level from LB: 2 out of 10. But jury (real evidence) is still out. More to come.
That’s farming. I agree that pumping our ground water has been abused by greedy business men. Its too late now to regulate ground water pumping. The damage has been done. But better late than never. If the price of nuts have dropped to the point it’s no longer profitable, then farm something that is. If they rolled the dice planting trees where there is little to no flood irrigation available, then that’s the risk you take. I dont begrudge anyone to make as much money as they can farming or in any legal business until it starts ruining our water table beyond repair.