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.” […]
Oakdale Irrigation District water sales
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. […]
The Water Manager’s Grand Plan
The regional water summit in Modesto on January 16 had its share of high moments, but one of the most revealing came from Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) General Manager Steve Knell. Knell has been under pressure from local farmers and their supporters to keep OID water local. OID has a long history of water sales outside the region and its Board of Directors approved a proposed water sale to Westlands […]
Fire Sale on Water?
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 […]
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 […]
Steve Knell Wants to Sell Water
Steve Knell is the general manager of the Oakdale Irrigation District. He’s an advocate of water sales outside the district, and has presided over the sale of 382,408 acre feet of water over the last decade. Knell’s latest claims about groundwater suggest the problem of overdrafting has been exaggerated. “In OID’s portion of Stanislaus County, our data show groundwater, on average, was 74 feet below the surface 10 years ago. […]