Thursday, December 04, 2008

Truckee Carson Irrigation District indicted A federal grand jury indicted the Truckee Carson Irrigation District and four of its employees on Wednesday for allegedly falsifying records to secure additional water supplies from the U.S. government. The four indicted include David Overvold, 58, project manager for the irrigation district based in Fallon, and Lyman McConnell, 64, the district's lawyer. They and two others are charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, falsification of records, false claims and false statements. If convicted, they could face 20 years or more in prison. McGregor Scott, U.S. attorney for eastern California, said the four allegedly were part of a scheme to inflate data from 2000 through 2005 regarding the efficiency of the district's water deliveries so as to secure additional water credits from the bureau to boost supplies primarily for Nevada farmers and ranchers. Under a contract with the Bureau of Reclamation, the district operates the irrigation system in northern Nevada's Newlands Project created more than a century ago. As part of a water efficiency incentive policy adopted in 1988, the bureau agreed to provide credits to the district that would allow it to boost its share of water supplies from area dams and reservoirs owned by the bureau....

No comments: