By Don A. Wright
The Modesto Irrigation District held its board of directors meeting at its headquarters and on Zoom, Tuesday, November 10, 2026. MID is one of the few district’s that has a hat rack on the dais. Men used to wear hats more often. Now the overwhelming head dress of choice is the ball cap. I personally don’t see anything wrong with wearing a hat indoors, but there are many who do. I think you dang sure should take your hat off to pray, to honor the Star Spangled Banner and if the lady of the house asks you to do so. It would be much easier to comply if there is a hat rack present.
The Meeting
The meeting began at 9:30am on the dot and began with a salute to the greatest flag on earth (another hatless act.) Board Secretary Angela Cartisano read the procedure for public comment and involvement in the meeting. Director Janice Keating pulled an item from the consent calendar regarding a truck that was totaled due to a fire.
General Manager Jimi Netniss said the truck was covered under self-insurance but the investigation of what caused the problem is still ongoing. Staff reported they are in contact with Ford and this is not a usual problem that would increase insurance rates. Chairman Robert Forbose praised staff for their diligence in following up on this matter. The consent calendar was approved.
Water Supply
Chris Fisher, Assistant GM reported on the 97-page water operations report. He said there are storms coming in with most of the precipitation hitting the coast. It will be a bit warmer storm, but the high elevation is expecting seven inches of snow. Current
precipitation is at 71-percent of average. The southern portion of the state has received most of the weather. Don Pedro Reservoir is at 73-percent of capacity with more than 1.4 million a/f in storage. All together MID has more than 400,000 a/f of water currently in storage.
Last March was one of the warmest on record and that goobered up the snowpack with an early melt but good reservoir management allowed decent deliveries throughout the year. Salmon are coming back on the Tuolumne River. That’s an important thing but not the only thing. FishBio did a study that showed 90-percent of the out migrating juvenile salmon are eaten by non-native striped bass.
On the SGMA front the Groundwater Sustainability Plan is under review and Fisher believes the final draft will soon be ready. Fisher also reported on several fall/winter construction and maintenance projects.
Finance
Wilson Chalabi, Assistant GM Finance gave his report focusing on the district’s financial health, stewardship and some examples. MID’s strategy is to make a dollar stretch with Chalabi saying they are keeping a close watch on natural gas with an eye on hedging
contracts. MID uses natural gas to power some of its electrical production. Chalabi said the price isn’t bad but not where it needs to be to lock in a 10-year contract. Chalabi said $10.1 million in savings was realized in 2027 from prepaying for energy and bond refinancing.
The customer service department now has three operators to help the customers quicker. They are tracking the number and duration of calls which has “drastically” improved customer service. Chalabi said staff has been instrumental in improving the process. Another example is the warehouse and yard inventory management. It’s been upgraded to a data base that improves inventory tracking, needed parts such as transformers and power poles. This also helps in charging the parts to the proper project.
Director Chris Ott thanked Chalabi and staff for their involvement in improving the district’s efficiency. He also said he found a crystal ball on Amazon for under $20.
Action Items
There was only one action item and Toxie Burriss*, Power Operations Manager presented the board with proposed MSR Public Power Agency (Modesto Santa Clara Redding) which includes MID and the Cities of Santa Clara and Redding for the procurement and management of joint projects. Most of this is wind power coming down from Big Horn Washington. There’s also a lot of wind power coming from Washington DC and Sacramento but they haven’t figured out how to harness it for power generation.
Burriss said MID’s share of the monthly fee is $38,000 and the agreement will go from March of 2027 to December of 2035. The proposed contract will have MID being the scheduled coordinator. Staff is asking the board to authorize Netniss to enter into an agreement for MID to provide this scheduled coordination. The board agreed. I forgot to ask if MSR is a JPA, joint powers authority, but I’ll bet you $.50 it is.
GM Report
Netniss reported the Tributary Rivers districts met recently and are looking at grant funding opportunities. He sounded optimistic and they are reaching out for more membership to help bump up the combined clout. Director Larry Byrd suggested reaching out to Oakdale ID and bring them back into the fold. Prop Four funding is targeted. Keating asked if the costs of applying for the grants will be shared across all the participating agencies. Netniss said yes.
Netniss reported on the progress of MID’s strategic plan and he was pleased to announced there are more scholarships available. He said in recognition of Veteran’s Day he acknowledged all the staff and board members who have served our great country. Good for them.
Closed Session
Next month’s board meeting will be December 4th with another meeting on December 15th. The board then went into closed session at 9:48am for only one case of anticipated litigation. Good for them for having only one item. So, that was that. Go be good to each other and yourselves.
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*Toxie, what a great name.
Modesto Irrigation District, 1231 11th Street, Modesto, CA 95354 www.mid.org 209/526-7373
Board: Larry Byrd-Division 1, Janice Keating-Division 2, President Robert Frobose-Division 3, Vice President John Boer IV-Division 4 & Chris Ott-Division 5.
Staff: Jimi Netniss-General Manager, Chris Fisher-Assistant GM, Wilson Chalabi-Assistant GM Finance, Toxie Burriss-Power Operations Manager and Angela Cartisano- Board Secretary
History: From the MID website – The story of MID begins with water… or rather the lack of it. It was that one issue that led Modesto Assemblyman C.C. Wright to introduce a new law named the Wright Act of 1887 which allowed for the formation of irrigation districts and gave them the power to conduct elections, issue bonds and acquire property. MID is proud to have been the second irrigation district formed under the new law in 1887 and still in operation today.
MID’s canals were completed in 1903 and the first official irrigation season opened in 1904. The availability of such water changed the nature of farming in the area within a few years. Large tracts of wheat were replaced with orchards and vineyards. Today Stanislaus County ranks among the top 10 agricultural counties in the nation. Stanislaus County’s top 10 commodities are: milk, almonds, chickens, chicken eggs, turkeys, grapes, walnuts, cattle and calves, tomatoes, and peaches. MID provides irrigation water to approximately 60,000 acres, typically between mid-March and mid-October each year.
