Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) Board of Directors Candidates Gail Altieri and Linda Santos presented their platforms last night at the Oakdale Saddle Club. Both offered strong critiques of OID management and oversight in recent years. Altieri said OID should meet all local water needs before considering out-of-district water sales and emphasized the need for “fair and legal voting districts.” OID has failed to meet state-mandated redistricting requirements and Altieri said […]
Search Results for: OID
“No local demand for OID water,” says Knell
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 […]
Two Will Challenge OID Incumbents
When the Modesto Irrigation District Board of Directors proposed selling water to San Francisco in 2013, it set off a firestorm of protest that led to sweeping changes in the leadership of the district. New board members were swept in, top management left, and even lead attorney Tim O’Laughlin moved on. O’Laughlin now handles legal affairs for Oakdale Irrigation District, where a proposed sale to Westlands Water District was quashed […]
OID Water Scheme Hits CEQA Hurdle: Part II
The Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) Board of Directors got a dose of cold water Tuesday and didn’t like it. Before a standing room only crowd that spilled into a packed hallway, board members learned that their much-heralded fallowing program had virtually no chance of succeeding this year without a thorough Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The On Farm Conservation Program devised by OID management was to begin within weeks and had […]
OID CEQA Review Will Change the Water Game
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. […]
OID Water Sales Dominate WAC Meeting
Tim O’Laughlin wanted to leave and Larry Byrd wouldn’t let him. O’Laughlin had come to last Wednesday’s Stanislaus Water Advisory Committee (WAC) meeting to review likely consequences of new state flow requirements for rivers on local agriculture and irrigation districts. Most audience members were familiar with the new requirements, and knew they would have severe economic impacts on the local economy. Things got hot for O’Laughlin when the subject of Oakdale […]
“What water crisis?” says OID
There’s nothing like a job as general manager of one our local water districts to give a person a rosy outlook. Seems like only yesterday Allen Short, then riding high as General Manager of the Modesto Irrigation District (MID), was touting a sale of “excess water” to the City of San Francisco. This was just prior to his exit from the MID, a departure expedited by public outcry against […]
The Moral Dilemma of Homelessness
As more and more studies reveal that homelessness is a result of material factors unrelated to cultural issues like family values, it’s become increasingly evident that the majority of homeless people are victims of forces beyond their control. If this is truly the case, state and local management policies for homelessness need to be reevaluated. Few of us would support punishing victims of a natural disaster. Imagine prohibiting survivors of […]
Trinitas Partners Farming Declares Bankruptcy
Trinitas Partners, the Bay Area investment firm that bought cattle land in Stanislaus County’s eastern foothills over a decade ago and then converted it to almond orchards, has declared bankruptcy. Trinitas made headlines when it was annexed into Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) and jumped ahead of local farmers who protested that its out-of-town owners were not serious farmers, but speculators who had their eyes on OID’s abundance of surface water. […]
Homeless? Modesto Council Chooses Cold Cruelty
After rejecting a proposal to develop a safe ground program for homeless people during an October 20 workshop, on November 7 the Modesto City Council voted unanimously to support bridge housing, which could cost as much as $75,000 per unit, according to staff reports. The council voted to spend $3 million of its general budget on the acquisition of tiny homes such as Pallet Shelters to be put on yet-to-be-determined […]