The beleaguered Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) got more bad news this week when attorneys for rice farmer Robert Frobose claimed OID had hired an engineering firm to address its redistricting problems without first soliciting competitive bids for the job. Earlier this year, OID was found in violation of state requirements to change district boundaries based on updated census results. In response to the problem, OID hired CH2M Hill. CH2M Hill […]
Oakdale Irrigation District water sales
FPPC Investigates OID’s Bairos
When he learned it had conducted a secret water sale, Stanislaus County Supervisor Jim DeMartini called the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) a “rogue agency.” Shortly thereafter, OID General Manager Steve Knell paid for two-thirds of the OP/ED page in the Modesto Bee to defend his actions. For reasons known only to themselves, Bee editors and management didn’t point out the space was bought and paid for. Buying good publicity is […]
Did OID Violate the Brown Act?
Rice Farmer Robert Frobose has served the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) with documents including, “a formal Brown Act Violation letter of complaint and supporting documentation.” The Brown Act guarantees the public’s right to attend and participate in public meetings. Frobose and many other farmers protested earlier this year when OID cut water allotments for senior members of the district even while delivering surface water to Tier II member Trinitas Partners. […]
OID Admits Secret Water Sale
Ordinarily, all the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) needs to do to spin the news is have its $160 an hour PR firm prepare a press release which is then picked up by the Oakdale Leader and printed nearly verbatim. That strategy fell apart last Tuesday, when The Valley Citizen revealed OID’s secret water sale. Not much later, OID General Manager Steve Knell responded candidly when Modesto Bee reporter Garth Stapley […]
Was There a Secret Water Sale?
Gail Altieri and Linda Santos have been saying for months that the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) hides its business from members of the district. Now we’re hearing rumors that despite saying all year long it is short water, OID has sold water outside the area. Altieri and Santos are running against incumbents Al Bairos and Frank Clark for positions on the OID Board of Directors. Earlier this year, OID had […]
The Water Sale Mirage
Among the most sacred shibboleths of the water world’s power elite, none is more revered than the one that proclaims, “Water sales are wise and beneficial.” Of course, no member in good standing of water’s movers and shakers would ever refer to “water sales,” a vulgar and much too accurate description. The proper terminology is “water transfers.” As is often the case with euphemisms, the purpose is to conceal an […]
The Irrigation District’s Water Math
Thursday, May 14, Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) General Manager Steve Knell told a group of local farmers he was more worried about OID’s financial situation than he was about the drought. Knell said OID lost $7 million last year and would lose $10 million this year. “Those losses will be made up with water sales,” he added. Knell is a staunch advocate of water sales, euphemistically known as “water transfers.” […]
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 […]
Can CEQA Save Tulloch Lake?
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 […]
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. […]