Board Member Allegedly Stole $200,000 From Water District

An irrigation district in California says one of its board members stole over $200,000 of water, but he denies it.

Staff with the Merced Irrigation District (MID) sent board director Kevin Gonzalves “a cease and desist letter last month after finding that he was pumping water from Canal Creek to his own orchards. During a meeting on [August 15], the board took no action on an appeal from Gonzalves and voted to allow district staff to pursue legal action if necessary,” the Merced Sun-Star reported.

“The district estimated that from 2014 to 2017, Gonzalves diverted 530 acre-feet of water, which translated to more than $200,000,” the report said.

MID owns and operates two reservoirs on the Merced River. They are located in the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the district said.

District staff visited Gonzalves’ property last month to investigate the issue after receiving information about the possible diversion.

They “found a diesel pump and pipe system was being used to water his almond orchard, which appeared in good health, according to MID documents. Staff found no active billing records for Gonzalves since 2015. Furthermore, billing records showed Gonzalves’ usage of MID water significantly dropped in 2014 and 2015 compared to previous years,” the news report said.

Gonzalves has claimed he was pumping from a privately-owned pond, the report said. He said he had riparian water rights connected to Canal Creek. The district argues that he does not have a right to that water.

Gonzalves is a controversial figure on the water board, even if his name isn’t always spelled consistently. In 2013, “legal consultants shot down a proposal that the Merced Irrigation District help finance a new pipeline on private property owned by board member Kevin Gonsalves, calling it a conflict of interest and a gift of public funds,” The Merced Sun-Star previously reported.

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