By GARTH STAPLEY

CV Journalism Collaborative

The Modesto Irrigation District will look into accusations that one of its top elected leaders has stolen water, the lifeblood of the public utility.

Speculation that longtime Director Larry Byrd has used MID water to nourish almond trees outside district boundaries near La Grange has spilled into the agency’s boardroom in two recent meetings, including last week.

MID Board President Robert Frobose, whose position gives him authority to commission investigations, cited hopes of shoring up public trust in confirming that the accusation is being taken seriously.

“I expect the district will be conducting a thorough and independent examination of the allegations forthwith,” Frobose said Sept. 12 in response to a Modesto Focus inquiry. “We deeply care about ensuring public trust is maintained along with responsible water management, while also ensuring this is looked at independently and fairly.”

Byrd, a board director since 2011, did not respond to The Modesto Focus’ questions about the allegations or an investigation.

MID has vast impact on Valley life. The district provided farmwater to 2,300 growers with 66,000 acres, and also provides electricity to 133,000 customer accounts in Modesto, Salida, Waterford and Mountain House and parts of Ripon, Escalon, Oakdale, and Riverbank. About half of Modesto’s tap water comes from treated MID river water.

On Sept. 9, members of the audience publicly urged Byrd to address the accusations. Byrd stayed silent, as he did July 8 when an audience member, citing “satellite imaging” evidence, first raised the suspicion.

Since then, Byrd has denied wrongdoing in a series of six articles of the Valley Citizen online publication. They include interviews with a former longtime employee of Byrd casting doubt on Byrd’s version of the story.

Valley Citizen writer Eric Caine says Byrd, who also farms in the Waterford area, and his partners planted 500 acres of almond trees in 2015 on land where Byrd previously ran cattle near La Grange. 

Water theft allegations leave a stain on Modesto Irrigation District

Caine quoted two MID officials – Frobose and former board director Nick Blom – repeating the common perception that Byrd’s entire La Grange orchard was entitled to MID water. But more than 100 acres reportedly are outside district boundaries, the Valley Citizen says.

The allegations are “a blemish on MID,” said Bill Lyons, noting his own nine years on the board (1984 to 1993) during the public comment portion of the Sept. 9 board meeting. “There is an opportunity for you, Larry, to clear the record, and I urge you to do so.”

Anthony Ratto also rose to speak from the audience at the same meeting, suggesting that Byrd’s ardent support two years ago for selling surplus MID water to east Stanislaus growers outside district boundaries at a below-market price makes more sense in light of the recent allegations. When such sales were hotly debated in 2023, many assumed Byrd was advocating for his neighbors; now it seems it was for “personal benefit,” Ratto said.

Faced with the sober claims, the MID board has little choice but to investigate one of their own, said Ripon attorney Stacy Henderson. 

She noted MID’s history of holding others accountable when suspected of similar wrongdoing. 

“I don’t see any reason to take any different approach just because it’s a (board) director accused of misusing the district’s water,” she said.

Henderson for years has represented the interests of growers on the west end of MID boundaries in a long-running feud with those on the east, whose pumping of groundwater to sustain millions of nut trees is under scrutiny.

East Stanislaus aquifer in danger from overpumping

In 2023, east-side growers pumped a whopping 70,000 more acre-feet of groundwater than seeped into its underground aquifer, records show. By comparison, that’s about the same total amount pumped from wells each year, on average, by the cities of Modesto, Oakdale, Riverbank and Waterford plus MID and the Oakdale Irrigation District combined, according to west side attorneys. The deficit dropped a bit in 2024, to 58,500 acre-feet.

When they have surplus, both OID and MID have offered help to east-side growers in the form of surface water from the Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers, respectively, and some have taken OID water at $200 per acre-foot. But none has signed up for MID water offered at the same price, insisting – with Byrd leading the charge – that it be lowered to $60 an acre-foot, to encourage participation.

No other portion of the Modesto subbasin, stretching across much of Stanislaus County, is in danger of depleting the aquifer under it. But the entire area could face consequences for the crisis on the east end when new state groundwater regulations under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act kick in, in early 2027.

The region’s latest plan to address groundwater is being developed, with public hearings hosted by the Stanislaus and Tuolumne Rivers Groundwater Basin Association coming in the fall and a vote expected in January. Outcomes are likely to include pumping restrictions and may feature intrusion by state water officials.

Some observers say the entire area should participate in solving the problem on the east, citing agriculture as the backbone industry of the Stanislaus economy.

Others contend that farming is a business venture like any other, subject to risk. Speculators paid comparatively little for east-side property, much of it former low-value grazing land with no rights to surface water, and turned it into orchards, sometimes without a reliable water source. Why, west-side interests say, should people across the county bail out what they consider unwise investments in the east?

Heavy hitters in east v. west Stanislaus water debate

All three Sept. 9 speakers – Henderson, Ratto and Lyons – represent the west; the latter is a former state agriculture secretary. Advocates for the east include former Congressman John Duarte and his wife, Alexandra, an announced candidate for a state Senate seat in next year’s election.

The west has tried to link eastern interests to Stanislaus County Supervisor Terry Withrow, a certified public accountant whose clients include people doing business with Byrd. Withrow has said he has no financial interest in the water feud, but to help facilitate resolution, he convened a rare meeting of the warring parties in August. Many left with increased understanding but no consensus, several told The Modesto Focus.

MID officials in 2015 accused six customers of misusing water, fined them and cut off their irrigation water, but soon after reinstated three of them and canceled their penalties. 

A 2019 court ruling in the case of Nichols v. MID made clear that using district water outside the district is unlawful, even if the land in question is next to the district.

The MID board is no stranger to conflict. Just last month, the board censured board director Janice Keating for mistreating staff, and she lost a gender discrimination lawsuit last year against Frobose. Past boards reprimanded their own and defended lawsuits against claims of discrimination and retaliation.

— Garth Stapley is the accountability reporter for The Modesto Focus, a project of the nonprofit Central Valley Journalism Collaborative. Contact Stapley at garth@cvlocaljournalism.org.