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.
http://www.modbee.com/news/local/oakdale/article20313402.html