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Truckee Carson Irrigation District and individuals assert innocence on all charges

Posted by: Maven on December 8, 2008 at 1:33 pm

This press release (hat tip to KRNV):

On December 5, 2008, it was announced by the United States Attorney in Sacramento that the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, headquartered in Fallon, Nevada, and known as TCID, and four current or former employees of TCID, had been indicted under various alleged charges by a federal Grand Jury in Reno, Nevada. The TCID employee and former employees named are David Overvold, Lyman McConnell, Shelby Cecil, and John Baker. TCID and the individuals accused in this indictment believe that the charges are completely unfounded, and that TCID and the individuals will defend themselves vigorously against these charges.

TCID is an irrigation district formed under the laws of the State of Nevada in 1918 to address various water resource issues in the federal Reclamation Project in northwestern Nevada, known as the Newlands Reclamation Project. In 1926, TCID entered into a contract with the United States Bureau of Reclamation to operate and maintain the Newlands Project.

The Newlands Project includes several hundred miles of canals, ditches, laterals and drains, and services over 3000 water right owners in the Fernley and Fallon areas. Major works of the Newlands Project include Lake Tahoe Dam, Derby Dam, Lahontan Dam and Reservoir, the Truckee Canal, and the Carson River Diversion Dam. TCID also owns an undivided interest in Donner Lake water and the Donner Lake Dam.

The Newlands Project water right owners obtain their water from two major sources, the Truckee River and the Carson River. The water delivered by TCID to the Newlands Project water right owners are used for irrigation, stockwatering, and for wildlife habitats at Carson Lake and pasture and the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge. The water delivered by TCID also helps to recharge the groundwater aquifers in the Fernley and Fallon areas where the Cities of Fernley and Fallon and many families have domestic wells.

According to the indictment, TCID and certain of its employees allegedly falsified records and made false statements to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in order to obtain conserved water that TCID could store in Lahontan Reservoir. The indictment also alleges that TCID and the four individuals conspired to allegedly falsify delivery records by showing water was actually delivered, when it was not. TCID and the individuals accused in the indictment intend to defend themselves vigorously against these charges and assert that they are innocent of all of these charges.

December 8, 2008 · Filed Under Water Agency News

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