NYWD Board Majority refuses water to its customers and votes to sell water to Socal

For two years I have fought for transparency, honesty, and accountability in this public agency. It is a battle I have consistently lost since I am only one person and there are four people on the Board who don’t want to be transparent, honest or accountable and who prefer to simply show up and unquestioningly approve whatever the GM wants.

My successful lawsuit resulted in finally being provided the records I requested in 2018 and the records I finally received in 2020 show that NYWD has not put any resources into maintaining the infrastructure needed to serve the customers – especially the main conveyance – the Forbestown Ditch – and Oregon House/Dobbins Irrigation Canal. No maintenance has been done since 2011- when GM Maupin took over.

Rather than do the job for which he was hired, for the last 11 years, NYWD GM aided and abetted by the gullible Board have harped endlessly about a plastic pipe in the Ditch – which would restrict the community in perpetuity to 2,700 acre feet of water when we are in fact, entitled to 23,700 acre feet. No maintenance has been done since 2010.

I and others kept asking “What is going to happen to the additional 21,000 acre feet?”

Why didn’t NYWD simply improve the earthen ditch to hold more water?

Why won’t NYWD accept South Feather Water and Power Agency’s gracious offer to repair the Ditch and restore it back to 1970 efficiency levels? which would not only allow water deliveries to all irrigation customers, but would allow the agency to expand services to additional customers -domestic and irrigation?

It would allow us to run all 23,700 acre feet through our system and greatly expand our customer base – including finally giving water to all the 1,000+ annexed parcels who were promised water in the 1960s, have paid taxes for 60 years, and have never received one drop of water.

Accepting South Feather’s offer would allow the building of a robust fire protection system throughout the foothills including ensuring that domestic customers could create fire protections on their properties with sprinklers.

For the last three years, I and others have been trying to rally the community and attempting to warn the community that this agency had plans for the water – plans that did not include giving water to NYWD taxpayers.

South Feather made their offer a month ago – the GM and Board Majority will not even acknowledge South Feather’s offer.

Today – the truth finally came out and NYWD and the fraudulent GM put their cards out for all to see. The plan all along was to sell the water – but not to NYWD taxpayers and customers. They plan to sell it outside the NYWD service territory.

The GM and Board Majority claim that they have to sell the water, because they have no other way to pay for their tiny plastic pipe. They are not even giving NYWD ANY water.

NYWD does not need a tiny plastic pipe. We have NEVER needed a pipe. If we accept South Feather’s offer- we could have water in five days- as in five days from NOW.

The GM is a fraud who got the job by lying on his resume – which is called fraud. He claimed he had a college degree – he later admitted when under oath – that he did not have any degree at all. Why has NYWD kept him on? – any other agency would have fired him when the fraud was found out. Why would the Board majority let this individual make every single decision about this agency?

The four people on the board – two of whom were never elected (Hughes and Neilson) – have betrayed their constituents. They have sold out this community and are fiscally irresponsible approving a $2.78M budget – only 1.7% of which is earmarked to provide water.

Almost $1M is for salaries and benefits alone for a tiny staff of seven (two part time). Almost three quarters of a million dollars is earmarked for legal bills and their PR person- Crystal Martin.

The Zoom meeting is provided below.