By Don A. Wright
The Oakdale Irrigation District Board of Directors held its Tuesday, December 9, 2025 meeting at its Oakdale headquarters. Keeping track of the time spent by announcing it with each vote is something rare and somewhat unique for OID. They also take a short break about halfway through the meeting. Whether for indoor plumbing inspections or phone calls or blood sugar adjustments folks can come back more focused.
The Meeting
Things started off about 9:00am with a salute to the flag of the greatest nation on earth. With that the consent calendar was next. The consent calendar is a handy time saver.
Routine items are rolled together and voted on at once. If a director or member of the public wishes to have an item pulled from the agenda it will be separated, discussed and voted on.
The good news for the OID budget is the Tri-Dam income will at least break even. That will cause a net change of a positive $5 million plus. The district has three mechanic positions but only two are filled at the moment. One of the new equipment needs is a crane for the shop. I once pulled an engine from an El Camino with a front loader and a come along. I believe without a doubt my mental health would be better today if I had a gantry crane. In any event the board adopted the proposed 2026 budget.
Iron Men & Women
OID likes to recognize its toughest employees, or at least those with the best immune system and least accident prone – those who didn’t miss any days of work. As one of the directors pointed out there are better things to do with sick leave than be sick. If I understood correctly 11-percent of OID’s employees were in the perfect attendance category.
The next item was longevity of employment. General Manager Scot Moody commended those on the list for providing the continuity and spirit of OID. Both the attendance and longevity employees received awards and thanks from the board.
Salaries
Salaries and wages were the next items discussed. There was ample evidence the board valued not just the health and persistence of the employees but also the income. There was a raise of 1.6 percent Cost of Living Allowance on the table for both the represented and unrepresented employees. One of the Directors, I think either Brad or Jacob De Boer remarked he’d received some comments from constituents regarding the amount of salaries at OID. He said if you want to have more turnover pay less. But with more turnover comes more cost of training and other expenses. The board approved the raises for all of the five employee classifications.
The last action item was about the Mendelson Pipeline realignment at Santa Fe Street and Claus Road. Moody explained that Stanislaus County wanted to change up some sidewalks and such in Riverbank, an area full of underground utility lines. This is encroaching on an OID pipeline. Moody said D.A. Wood Construction was contacted. Moody said the costs of hiring a construction company with the needed experience in dealing with an underground snake wad of utilities was better than trying to do the work in house. If I understood correctly, D.A. Wood has already been hired by the county so the county will pay the costs. It was a bit confusing, but I think OID was OK’ing D.A. Wood to handle the pipeline replacement.
SGMA Domestic Wells
I believe* it was district engineer Eric Thorburn who spoke telling the board there needs to be a domestic well mitigation program included in the Groundwater Sustainability Plan of the GRTES GSA. Thorburn showed the board some maps created by Todd Groundwater firm showing the wells throughout the Groundwater Sustainability Agency. There were 159 domestic wells reported as dry between 2014 and the 2017 creation of the GSA. A committee was formed and is wisely in my opinion, working to retain Self Help Enterprises. SHE will review the application and determine what needs to be done. SHE is respected as one of the good NGOs actually trying to solve problems.
Thorburn said there will be a screening process to determine if the well went dry due to SGMA covered causes. The state has been blaming domestic wells going bad on agricultural pumping whether or not that was the case. Some of the domestic wells throughout the San Joaquin Valley are old, have casings made out of taping Quaker Oat cans and toilet paper roll centers and were drilled 100-years ago 12 feet deep. I exaggerate but you get the picture, every well is not created equal.
Most of the problem Oakdale is dealing with is on the eastside near the Sierra Nevada foothills. The mitigation for qualified aid includes a $40,000 cap to help bring the well back online or drill a new one. The board seemed to like what it heard about the proposed well mitigation program.
More SGMA
The next discussion, or informational item was the Modesto Subbasin Groundwater Use Management Program. This plan includes the Oakdale, Modesto, Non-District West and Non-District East. Thorburn walked the board and onlookers through the fine points of developed water. If I understand correctly developed water is surface water that can be conveyed into an area or groundwater that drifts into the aquifer. With this incoming water comes water rights. Sustainable yield in the district is 267,000 a/f.
Someone asked where the water to develop the Riverbank area will come from. It was said the MSGUMP did take that into account and there are some very good producing wells along the banks of the Stanislaus River. There were a good amount of charts and numerical data presented, more than I can type up here. One of the other cool things OID does (many district do this also and far too many do not) is provide board packets online. If you’re interested in the details there are available. If I understand for the next 10-years OID clients will be able to count on two acre feet of surface water annually under this plan.
The only area not meeting its groundwater levels, in fact exceeding the minimum objectives is the Non-District East. NDE is looking at a 65-percent reduction of pumping by 2041. This NDE is a white area and under the County’s backstop. The obvious goal is to achieve sustainability under the GSP and keeping the subbasin with the Department of Water Resources and not sent to the tender care of the State Water Resources Control Board.
I wasn’t sure who said the NDE can’t make up the deficit. The soils won’t percolate quick enough for recharge to be a solution. OID and Modesto ID may be able to help some and some of the folks in NDE are prepping but there are still a good portion of the residents who either can’t get access to surface supplies or can’t afford to develop any more infrastructure.
The reality appears to be farm what you can and downsize. When ag land was first developed in the area, what is now the NDE had a good water table, but it is now dropping at a rapid rate. There is concern about the state stepping in if the locals don’t get the cats to stop quarrelling. Thorburn was praised by the board for his handling of SGMA.
Attorney Tim O’Laughin spoke about increased annexation. It sounded like the area needs better representation. If I heard correctly there’s a similar situation in Turlock but the white area has been organized. Someone said the Kings County Farm Bureau lawsuit was more a delaying tactic and it is going away. But I’d like to remind folks; the State Board’s first probationary plan was going to extract $30 million per year from mostly small growers. There was no provision for “good actors”, it would have required pump monitors be installed and calibrated during irrigation season and there was no clear provisions for getting out of probation. And none of the $30 million would be spent to rewrite a GSP or develop new infrastructure or surface supplies.
Since Kings County FB made a stand the probation process has been much more flexible and cooperative. I believe all the subbasins facing probation owe some thanks to Kings County FB’s willingness to protect its members in the Tulare Lake Subbasin. Ok, now I’m stepping down from my soapbox. I’m also having to leave the meeting to attend to another carved in stone appointment.
The portion of the meeting I’m bailing on is the communications part: directors’ comments/suggestions, committee reports, GM report and attorney’s report. My apologies as these can often be the most interesting.
Closed Session
Closed session had five items, four were litigious and one was a personnel matter. The next OID board of directors meeting is scheduled for January 13th next year. Go be good to yourselves and each other. Merry Christmas.
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*Back of heads full of hair all look alike.
OAKDALE ID: 1205 East F Street, Oakdale, CA 95361 www.oakdaleirrigation.com 209/847-0341 OIDGSA’s DWR SGMA NO. 5-022.01
OID holds its board meetings on the first or second Tuesday of the month.
Board: President – Tom Orvis, Ed Tobias, Herman Doornenbal, Brad DeBoer & Jacob DeBoer
Staff: GM – Scot Moody, Superintendent – Joe Kosakiewicz, CFO – Sharon Cisneros, Engineer – Eric Thorburn P.E., HR – Kim Bukhari & General Council – Fred Silva.
From the OID website: The District was formed on November 1, 1909 as an irrigation district of the State of California formed pursuant to the provisions of Division 11 of the California Water Code (the “Act”) for the purpose of delivering irrigation water to the agricultural lands within its boundaries. Geographically, the District encompasses parts of Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties, about 12 miles northeast of Modesto and 30 miles southeast of Stockton.
Water to supply the District comes principally from the Stanislaus River under well-established adjudicated water rights but also from water reclamation and drainage recovery systems and pumping from deep wells. The District encompasses an area of approximately 80,900 acres, with an additional approximately 77,700 acres within its sphere of influence.
