Oakdale Irrigation District meeting erodes into shouting match

Irrigation leaders may reconsider providing water this year to recently annexed customers, including Trinitas Partners, because of strident protests from some established irrigators.

Also, the Oakdale Irrigation District board on Tuesday raised this year’s historic water cap from 30 inches per parcel to 36 inches. They put off deciding whether allocations to so-called tier 2 customers such as Trinitas would likewise increase, from 10 to 12 inches; that would be meaningless if the board opts to reverse the course set two weeks ago and give nothing to tier 2.

The meeting, attended by several upset growers, turned into a shouting match involving two board members and farmers leading a petition drive demanding that OID live up to promises made to established customers when Trinitas was brought into the district two years ago.

“I wonder if we should get a bumper sticker: ‘OID lied and our crops died,’” said farmer Robert Frobose. He and others say OID leaders tricked them into not opposing the 2013 Trinitas annexation by promising that the Bay Area-based megagrower would get no water unless tier 1 customers first got theirs, then changing terms to benefit Trinitas.

Board member Herman Doornenbal said, “If we decide to cut Trinitas completely off – no water this year – would you guys be happy? If you’ve got the guts to say it, that’s what this is about.”

Some people in the audience retorted loudly, prompting board Chairman Steve Webb to say, “That’s enough of this yelling. You can make a point without screaming.”

Webb soon joined the verbal artillery, heatedly saying OID had worked hard to give farmers all the water they could take in the three previous years. A fourth consecutive drought season forced the board two weeks ago to impose its first delivery cap in 105 years.

“All these (OID) folks have been doing nothing but busting our asses to make sure you get water,” Webb said.

Board member Frank Clark calmly noted that the final agreement between OID and Trinitas regarding tier 2 delivery in dry years says the district may, not shall, cut short the company’s allotment. Clark said he “can’t honestly say” whether some district leaders two years ago misrepresented that to the public; a Modesto Bee review of 2013 documents suggests they did.

Clark added, “We have the right to curtail delivery to Trinitas. We may do that.”

The issue will be the focus of a May 14 water committee meeting, open to the public. Webb said details, including the meeting time, will be posted on the district’s website.

Trinitas has 7,234 acres of the 8,046 in tier 2, all annexed since 2013. About 52,000 acres are in tier 1.

Doornenbal wanted to postpone voting on easing the allotment restriction until after the May 14 meeting, but Webb convinced the other board members to proceed with a 36-inch tier 1 plan while holding off on tier 2, and Doornenbal also agreed.

Clark told audience members that growers elsewhere in California would love to receive as much water as OID customers do. “When I came on this board 10 years ago,” he said, “this district sucked. Water was wasted, we had no money and this district was not managed well.”

Farmer Linda Santos said OID’s recovery “has absolutely nothing to do with this board in particular. That was how this district was set up.”

This story was originally published May 5, 2015 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Oakdale Irrigation District meeting erodes into shouting match."