In 2021, Modesto Irrigation District (MID) capped its allotment for District farmers at 36 inches. It was dry year. The normal allotment is 42 inches.
2022 was another dry year — so dry that the allotment dropped to 30 inches, a full foot under the usual measure. Turlock Irrigation District (TID) also limited its irrigation allotment to 30 inches. Both districts depend on the Tuolumne River for their surface water needs.
Also in 2021, along that same Tuolumne river, the AB La Grange Ranch — where MID Director Larry Byrd is partners with his brother Tim and Tyler (Ty) Angle — pumped 625 acre-feet of Tuolumne River water onto parcels where they claim they irrigate 90 acres of pasture and 50 acres of almonds…