• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Nature, Environment, History & Politics

The Valley Citizen

  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About
  • RSS Icon

Oakdale Irrigation District: How High’s the Water?

July 18, 2016 By Eric Caine 2 Comments

OID Water Attorney Tim O'Laughlin
OID Water Attorney Tim O’Laughlin

Last week, Stanislaus County’s Water Resources Manager Walt Ward circulated a letter from Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) General Manager Steve Knell. In the letter, Knell defended OID’s policy of selling water outside the region. He said the OID business plan depends on water sales and added that there is no local demand for OID water. He said even if there were such a demand, there’s no way to deliver the water to people who want it.

To people lacking knowledge of OID’s management history, Knell’s logic seemed faultless. But to anyone who’s followed OID’s recent attempts to sell water, Knell’s letter raises more questions than answers. For one thing, if OID depends on water sales outside the district, why does it consistently jeopardize those sales by failing to perform due diligence on requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)?

OID proposed a sale back in 2014. At the time, Knell said they needed to start the process early to meet CEQA requirements. Yet when OID came forward in 2015 with the sale proposal and an On-Farm Conservation Program (fallowing), CEQA requirements had been ignored. As a consequence, the sale was quashed when Oakdale farmer Louis Brichetto pointed out OID had not performed due diligence.

Later that year, OID conducted a water sale which Steve Knell admitted had been negotiated secretly. Naturally, none of these things were mentioned in Knell’s recent letter justifying OID water sales.

Knell also didn’t mention a series of rebukes and concerns from government agencies about OID’s current and past water sales and fallowing programs. One letter, from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, chastised Knell and OID for referring to previous water sales as “transfers.” A portion of the letter reads as follows:

“Reclamation also has concerns with the characterization of the 2009, 2013, and 2015 water sales as transfers. It is Reclamation’s understanding that OID, San Luis Delta-Mendota Water Authority (SLDMWA) and the State Water Contractors (SWC) entered into agreements in which OID agreed to deliver a smaller amount of water under the 1988 Agreement, creating a higher volume of water stored in New Melones Dam with which Reclamation could meet biological opinion and/or Water Quality Control Plan Requirements. These releases are not controlled under any water right once they are released from New Melones; therefore, they are not transfers.”

The Bureau’s letter (available here; scroll down) makes it clear that once OID abandoned its rights to water stored in New Melones, it could no longer call the water sales “transfers.” Given that OID water attorney Tim O’Laughlin frequently characterizes himself as one of the west’s foremost water attorneys, OID’s abandonment of rights and sloppy language should raise eyebrows everywhere.

It’s likely that OID prefers secrecy and obfuscation to transparency because it wishes to avoid the costs of CEQA-required Environmental Impact Reviews (EIRs). Deduct the costs of EIRs and attorney fees from OIDs bargain-basement sale prices to Westlands Water District—typically three- to four-hundred dollars an acre foot, in periods when water prices hit well over four figures the acre foot—and the sales would seem much less desirable.

Even newly-elected OID Board members Linda Santos and Gail Altieri have said they haven’t been given clear explanations of OID’s proposed fallowing programs. But since the election, remaining OID directors and management seem more committed than ever to hidden agendas.

For most people, obfuscation, secrecy, equivocation, and contempt for the concerns of democratically-elected board members constitute violations of the public trust. Nonetheless, current OID management seems more determined than ever to muddy the waters. They may succeed for the short term, but come next election, it’s very likely they will find that same muddy water is way, way over their heads.

 

 

Filed Under: Environment, Featured

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Damon Woods says

    July 19, 2016 at 12:36 am

    Great article and analysis of the facts. Sure wish you could report stuff like this on the Presidential Election. I hope this gets out to more folks in the Oakdale Area.

    Reply
    • Chris Gulick says

      July 24, 2016 at 3:34 am

      Beware of what you ask for friend, 😉

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

Louis DeJoy Is Killing It
Louis DeJoy Is Killing It
While Biden dithers, Trump’s minion wrecks the postal service.
nymag.com
So What if Romney Doesn?t Solve the ?Root Causes? of Poverty?
So What if Romney Doesn’t Solve the Root Causes of Poverty?
We handle problems all the time without dealing with their root causes.
nymag.com
The Facts of Life - The Bulwark
The Facts of Life – The Bulwark
My suggestion last week that perhaps the best way some of us who’ve been conservatives can now help the country is to help the Biden administration succeed, and help the Democratic party move to the center, seems to have stirred up a minor tempest in the conservative teapot. I asked whether one shouldn’t consider allying…
thebulwark.com
WSJ News Exclusive | Texas Electric Bills Were $28 Billion Higher Under Deregulation
WSJ News Exclusive | Texas Electric Bills Were $28 Billion Higher Under Deregulation
Texas’s deregulated electricity market left millions in the dark last week. For the past 20 years, its consumers have paid more for their electricity than state residents who are served by traditional utilities, a WSJ investigation found.
www.wsj.com
The making of Madison Cawthorn: How falsehoods helped propel the career of a new pro-Trump star of the far right
The making of Madison Cawthorn: How falsehoods helped propel the career of a new pro-Trump star of the far right
Cawthorn has emerged as one of the most visible figures among newly arrived House Republicans, who have promoted baseless assertions and pushed a radicalized ideology that has become a driving force in the GOP.
www.washingtonpost.com
Los Angeles Just Opened a Tiny Home Village for the Homeless
Los Angeles Just Opened a Tiny Home Village for the Homeless
The colorful community was built in just 13 weeks!
www.housebeautiful.com
California's coronavirus strain looks increasingly dangerous: 'The devil is already here'
California’s coronavirus strain looks increasingly dangerous: ‘The devil is already here’
California’s coronavirus strain is more transmissible than its predecessors, is more resistant to vaccines and may cause more severe cases of COVID-19.
www.latimes.com
More Than 150 Biz Leaders Endorse Biden's Sweeping COVID Package
More Than 150 Biz Leaders Endorse Biden’s Sweeping COVID Package
More than 150 business leaders from various industries have signed a letter backing President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief…
talkingpointsmemo.com
Exclusive: Defeated and impeached, Trump still commands the loyalty of the GOP's voters
Exclusive: Defeated and impeached, Trump still commands the loyalty of the GOP’s voters
www.usatoday.com
The Christian Prophets Who Say Trump Is Coming Again
The Christian Prophets Who Say Trump Is Coming Again
In the growing community of charismatic Christian prophecy, faith in Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House is a new dividing line.
www.politico.com
AOC raises $1 million in Texas relief, heading to Houston as Ted Cruz douses Cancun flames
AOC raises $1 million in Texas relief, heading to Houston as Ted Cruz douses Cancun flames
The New York congresswoman said she would travel to Houston to highlight the problems faced by Texans hit by power outages and freezing weather.
www.newsweek.com
Rush Limbaugh Did His Best to Ruin America
Rush Limbaugh Did His Best to Ruin America
How the right-wing talk radio icon corrupted the Republican Party, spread hate, racism, and lies, and laid the groundwork for Trumpism
www.rollingstone.com

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design