Oakdale Irrigation District farmers to pay more for less water

Farmers enjoying cheap water prices will pay more money for less water this year, the Oakdale Irrigation District board decided Tuesday.

For the first time in 105 years, OID will restrict water amounts, and as they did last year, farmers will pay a $6.10-per-acre drought surcharge. The historic cap will limit farmers to 30 inches per parcel, at $27 per acre not counting the surcharge.

Several people, on the dais and in the audience, acknowledged that OID customers have had it too good for too long.

“I know the real value of water and I think everyone in this room does, too,” board member Herman Doornenbal said. “We need to face the fact that it’s worth a hell of a lot more than we’re paying for it.”

The board also agreed to let farmers buy and sell water shares among themselves, at any price, with no OID fee for transferring any fraction of an allotment amount, no matter how big or small. Others paying a $457 flat fee can pump groundwater at will into canals and sell it on the open market.

Board member Frank Clark said that’s the same as groundwater mining and voted against such transfers. “I can’t see allowing people to pump the groundwater which someday we may need,” Clark said, noting the area’s steadily dropping water table.

Board Chairman Steve Webb said, “When it’s used to grow a crop, I don’t call it mining groundwater.”

Clark said people are forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars to drill new domestic wells when theirs are sucked dry by neighboring pumps.

Some audience members protested a plan for Trinitas Partners to receive 10 inches, or a third the amount going to others, at $55 per acre for about 10,000 acres. The company helped launch a tidal wave of almond orchards east of Oakdale.

Before Trinitas was annexed into OID’s territory in 2013, the district’s staff assured people that Trinitas could get OID water only if other customers had enough to spare, Linda Santos and Robert Frobose said.

“It’s like you’re changing the rules,” Frobose said.

General Manager Steve Knell said if the plan were nixed, Trinitas simply would pump 10 inches more of groundwater. “It’s a balancing act,” he said.

Knell acknowledged that other customers would get an extra inch of water if the Trinitas component were rejected, but the board majority approved the deal without addressing the protest.

Additionally, the board formally canceled plans to sell water to Fresno-area buyers, citing the drought and a legal challenge based on environmental requirements.

Another agenda item allowed board members to go behind closed doors to discuss prices and terms of undisclosed water negotiations involving Fresno-area water users, San Francisco, the Stockton East Water District and the Del Puerto Irrigation District. When farmer Brian Lemons asked about it in open session, Knell indicated that Del Puerto is exploring buying OID water and said that would require a wheeling agreement with the Modesto Irrigation District, whose canals lie in between. MID has not looked kindly on previous requests.

Webb said, “We’re not going to sell any water,” and Clark characterized the closed session as a formality required when a buyer submits an inquiry.

Frobose questioned an OID staff recommendation to spend $103,500 to buy four new pickup trucks, saying, “When times get tough, (farmers) get by with what we have.” He suggested the district have a consultant recommend cost cuts.

“The first thing they’re going to look at is water rates,” Doornenbal said. “(They will say,) ‘This is all you’re charging?’ The first suggestion is going to be to raise your rates.”

Clark explained that other utilities such as the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts sell retail electricity and can raise prices, while OID provides energy at wholesale rates to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. With less hydropower because of the drought, OID tapped a savings account for about $7 million last year and expects to drain $10 million to $13 million more this year.

Although the board balked at a drought surcharge in early March, Tuesday’s vote to impose the fee was unanimous.

“A $6 surcharge is a laughable amount,” Lemons said. “It’s time for us water customers to pony up and pay what water is really worth, if we’re concerned about the longevity of the district.”

Oakdale Councilman Tom Dunlop said, “I support the stopping of hemorrhaging of reserves.”

“What we pay here for water in Oakdale is relatively cheap, compared to what other farmers are paying throughout the state,” said board member Al Bairos.

The board voted 4-0 to spend $72,260 on three gasoline-fueled trucks to replace others that have logged 180,000 miles. But Clark and Webb voted against purchasing a $31,280 gas pickup to replace a diesel with 201,000 miles, producing a 2-2 vote that killed the motion.

Lastly, directors welcomed a new member to the board even though he was absent.

Gary Osmundson unanimously was appointed to replace 14-year board member Jack Alpers, who resigned in February, but Osmundson is serving as a trial juror and could not attend. In November, voters will choose someone to serve the remaining two years of Alpers’ term.

This story was originally published April 21, 2015 at 12:43 PM with the headline "Oakdale Irrigation District farmers to pay more for less water."