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Oakdale Irrigation District Fallowing Program

Trinitas Partners Hires OID Water Attorney: Conflict?

October 30, 2019 By Eric Caine 4 Comments

OID March 20

In a move very likely to revive local controversies and bitter memories, Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) water attorney Tim O’Laughlin has been hired by Trinitas Partners to manage its huge Hawaiian farming operation in Maui, where it’s known as “Mahi Pono.” Now an entity with too many names and subsidiaries to list, Trinitas/Mahi Pono recently purchased 56,000 acres in Maui for $267 million from sugar cane growers Alexander & Baldwin. […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: Oakdale Groundwater Association, Oakdale Irrigation District Fallowing Program, Oakdale Irrigation District water sales, Oakdale Irrigation water rates, Trinitas Partners Oakdale

Another Huge Loss for Oakdale Irrigation District

November 28, 2018 By Eric Caine 2 Comments

For any other public entity, the loss suffered on November 27 by Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) in Fresno’s Fifth Appellate District Court would amount to a wake-up call, but given the resistance to facts of three of its board members, General Manager and water attorney, it’s unlikely any of them will come away with a lesson learned. This, after all, is the water district whose own attorney told them they […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: Gail Altieri, Linda Santos Oakdale Irrigation District, Oakdale Irrigation District Fallowing Program, Oakdale Irrigation District water sales

Oakdale Irrigation District: “The public be damned”

October 15, 2017 By Eric Caine 3 Comments

“Petitioner has bestowed an important public benefit,” says Judge. Imagine tossing 2130 hundred dollar bills into the Stanislaus River to see how long they will float. Sounds crazy, but the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) did something almost as foolish when it decided to contest a suit brought forward by the Oakdale Groundwater Alliance (OGA).  The suit was in response to OID’s failure to provide an Environmental Impact Review (EIR) for […]

Filed Under: Featured, Politics Tagged With: Oakdale Irrigation District Fallowing Program, Oakdale Irrigation District On Farm Conservation Program, Oakdale Irrigation District water sale

Judge Calls Water District’s Bluff: “It is not even close.”

April 11, 2017 By admin 1 Comment

At one point during the conflict between the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) and the Oakdale Groundwater Alliance (OGA), Judge Roger Beauchesne scolded OID attorneys for their use of ad hominem tactics, reminding them that personal attacks are usually attempts to hide weak arguments. But it turns out personal attacks were all OID attorneys could offer when the district’s fallowing program was challenged under the authority of the California Environmental Quality […]

Filed Under: Featured, History Tagged With: Linda Santos Oakdale Irrigation District, Oakdale Irrigation District Fallowing Program, Oakdale Irrigation District On Farm Conservation Program, Oakdale Irrigation District recall, Oakdale Irrigation District water sales

More Legal Woes for the Irrigation District

April 4, 2016 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

For more than ten years, the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) has relied on water sales to balance its books. Over the decade prior to 2014, OID water sales brought in well over thirty million dollars.  The bonanza enabled the district to sell water to its customers for well under the cost of delivery. When OID annexed Trinitas Partners into the district in 2013, the terms of the contract were ballyhooed […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Oakdale Irrigation District Fallowing Program, Oakdale Irrigation District On Farm Conservation Program, Oakdale Irrigation District water sales

Irrigation District Monetizes Public Water

March 26, 2016 By Eric Caine 3 Comments

By a 3 to 2 margin, the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) Board of Directors voted in the third week of March to sell surplus public water outside the boundaries of the district. At the time, nearby urban residents were still under a state order to reduce water use by 36 percent below 2013 usage. Ironically, OID can sell water to outsiders while local residents are still subject to draconian rationing. Supposedly, […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Oakdale Irrigation District Fallowing Program, Oakdale Irrigation District water sales

Can CEQA Save Tulloch Lake?

March 1, 2015 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

In 2011, we posted a review of some of the most successful applications of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in the northern San Joaquin Valley. These cases show that CEQA can be an effective planning tool in our region. Unfortunately, because CEQA almost always involves an understanding of environmental law, attorneys’ fees have too often put CEQA review out of the reach of the public citizens it was intended […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Oakdale Irrigation District Fallowing Program, Oakdale Irrigation District water sales

OID CEQA Review Will Change the Water Game

February 21, 2015 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

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. […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Oakdale Irrigation District Fallowing Program, Oakdale Irrigation District water sales

Oakdale Water Scheme Hits CEQA Hurdle: Part I

February 18, 2015 By Eric Caine 2 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Dave Lyghtle Marcia Hermann Design, Oakdale Irrigation District Fallowing Program

Fire Sale on Water?

December 10, 2014 By Eric Caine 5 Comments

Despite little interest thus far in a fallowing program designed to make water available for sales next year, Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) will pursue plans to sell water to Westlands Water District. Though OID General Manager Steve Knell has been under increasing pressure to keep OID water local, his Board of Directors continues to back his strategy of selling “surplus” water when available. Knell and OID attorney Tim O’Laughlin said […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Oakdale Irrigation District Fallowing Program, Oakdale Irrigation District water sales

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