By GARTH STAPLEY

CV Journalism Collaborative

Modesto Irrigation District Director Larry Byrd apparently misused MID canal water outside district boundaries, an independent investigation found.

Results of a technically dense engineering report suggest that almond trees on 96 acres owned by Byrd and his business partners near La Grange required more water than could have been produced by wells from 2021 to 2024. Another water source would be needed, and those acres are next to a 340-acre Byrd orchard that is within district boundaries and did legally receive MID water.

The report, to be publicly presented at next week’s MID Board meeting, does not name Byrd or conclude that he is guilty of any wrongdoing. Nor do district staff have recommendations on what the board should do with the investigation findings.

The public should find out at the Tuesday, Dec. 16, board meeting, Board President Robert Frobose said. It starts at 9 a.m. at 1231 11th St. in downtown Modesto.

“MID Board conduct policy requires a higher standard for all board members,” Frobose said.

Byrd, a board director since 2001, on Friday did not return calls asking for comment. At a September board meeting, he blamed the probe on a political conspiracy.

MID provides farmwater to 2,300 growers with 66,000 acres, and about half of Modesto’s tap water is treated MID surface water from the Tuolumne River. The utility also provides electricity to 133,000 customer accounts in Modesto, Salida, Waterford and Mountain House and parts of Ripon, Escalon, Oakdale, and Riverbank. 

Some board members said they hope to gain clarity on options for an appropriate reaction, perhaps ranging from a proverbial slap on the wrist to potential fines for misusing water.

While stealing or misusing water is strictly forbidden, MID lacks a clear policy for dealing with so-called fringe property just outside district boundaries. Many customers grow crops on both sides of the line.

Former congressman John Duarte, who has business interests on the county’s east side, more than once has called for clear fringe policy. The Oakdale Irrigation District Board adopted one for its customers in 2011.

Former Byrd employee Todd Sill said he told investigators that the board director’s orchards rarely were fed by deep wells when he worked for Byrd until leaving his employ three years ago.

“From 2015 to 2022, those deep-ground pumps were seldom used,” Sill told The Modesto Focus Friday on a break from branding calves at his current job.

The investigation was first reported in The Modesto Focus Sept. 15 after people in the audience at July and September board meetings rose to publicly question water use at Byrd’s orchards.

Board directors and customers had been under the impression that Byrd’s orchards were within district boundaries and eligible for its canal water, diverted from the Tuolumne River. 

Some speakers from the audience said Byrd’s strident advocacy to sell MID water to out-of-district growers in east Stanislaus County at below-market prices suddenly made more sense – if he stood to gain from such policy decisions, The Modesto Focus reported.

An analysis by 4Creeks, a project design and construction firm, concluded that “groundwater alone could not have met the full irrigation demands of crops cultivated” in Byrd’s out-of-district orchards.

Board Director Janice Keating criticized the report for being “so technical and confusing for anyone to understand,” and questioned why staff failed to provide even a range of reactions for the board to consider.

In August, the board censured 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.

Board Director John Boer, contacted early Friday afternoon, said he hadn’t yet read the water use report.

Board Director Chris Ott said he wants to “put (the issue) to bed. Let’s start a new year and tackle issues that need to be tackled for ratepayers, that’s my goal. I’m ready to move on.”

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