Dennis Falaschi charged in multi-million dollar scheme as records show he wasn’t only one to take water from California’s farm region
A former California water official has pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal water in a deal with federal prosecutors in the state’s crop-rich central valley.
The Los Angeles Times reports Tuesday that 78-year-old Dennis Falaschi, who used to head the Panoche water district, entered the plea in federal court in Fresno. He also pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return.
Falaschi was accused in a case that alleged that more than $25m in water was stolen over two decades when it was siphoned from a federal irrigation canal through a secret pipe and sold to farmers and other water districts. The Panoche water district supplies irrigation for farmland in Fresno and Merced counties – much of it from the federal Delta-Mendota canal.
Authorities said in court documents that Falaschi wasn’t the only one taking water, but did not specify who else was involved. They estimated Falaschi stole less than $3.5m in water, a small portion of what they initially alleged had been stolen.
The US has pipes to push oil from Canada to Texas, but has not invested in shipping water from sunken states to dryer states?
The Rockies stand in the way, and the energy cost of pushing water over them likely exceeds the going price of water. We do have lots of water pipes west of the Rockies, but no way to economically get water from the Mississippi.
Also, oil is worth a lot more per gallon than water, and used in smaller quantities, which is why oil pipes are economical.
I expect desalination to become mainstream before we push much water across the Rockies.