<div dir="ltr"><div>I met Dennis Falaschi when I toured the Grasslands Bypass Project several years ago.Panoche was at that time in charge of the GBP to attempt to deal with saline, seleniferous groundwater discharges. He gave me a bag of pistachios grown in salty drainage water. <br></div><div><br></div><div>TS<br></div><a href="https://gvwire.com/2022/04/14/former-westside-water-district-boss-indicted-in-25-million-water-theft/">https://gvwire.com/2022/04/14/former-westside-water-district-boss-indicted-in-25-million-water-theft/</a> <br><div><div id="gmail-mvp-article-cont" class="gmail-left gmail-relative"><div id="gmail-mvp-post-main" class="gmail-left gmail-relative"><h1 class="gmail-mvp-post-title gmail-left entry-title" role="heading">Former Westside Water District Boss Indicted in $25 Million Water Theft</h1>
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<p>Published</p> <span class="gmail-mvp-post-date">2 days ago</span> <p>on</p> <span class="gmail-mvp-post-date gmail-updated">April 14, 2022</span>
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<p>By</p> <span class="gmail-author-name gmail-vcard gmail-fn gmail-author"><a href="https://gvwire.com/author/bill-mcewen/" title="Posts by Bill McEwen, News Director" rel="author">Bill McEwen, News Director</a></span> </div>
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<span class="gmail-mvp-feat-caption">Dennis Falaschi,
former GM of Panoche Water District, is charged with conspiracy, theft
of government property, and filing false tax returns. (Fresno State)</span>
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<p> </p>
<p>A federal grand jury returned a five-count indictment Thursday
against Dennis Falaschi, a former general manager of Panoche Water
District, charging him with conspiracy, theft of government property,
and filing false tax returns, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced
in a news release.</p>
<p>Falaschi, 75 years old and now residing in Aptos,
exploited a leak in the Delta-Mendota Canal and engineered a way to
steal more than $25 million worth of water from the federal Central
Valley Project, according to court documents.</p>
<p>The Panoche Water District is headquartered in Firebaugh and serves
farmers in Fresno and Merced counties, who grow a variety of crops on
38,000 acres.</p>
<p>The scheme allegedly began in 1992 when Falaschi learned that an
abandoned drain turnout near milepost markers 94.57 and 94.58 on the
Delta-Mendota Canal was leaking water into a parallel canal under the
Panoche Water District’s control.</p>
<p>Falaschi told an employee to install a new gate inside a standpipe at
the spot of the leak so that the site could be opened and closed on
demand, according to court documents. In addition, the employee was told
to install a lid and lock to conceal and secure the apparatus. The
original gate in the standpoint had been cemented shut years earlier.</p>
<h3>Water Thefts Discovered in 2015</h3>
<p>Falaschi subsequently told employees to use the site to steal federal
water from the Delta-Mendota Canal on multiple occasions before the
site was discovered in April 2015. He used the theft proceeds to pay
himself and others exorbitant salaries, fringe benefits, and personal
expense reimbursements, prosecutors contend.</p>
<p>Additionally, Falaschi was charged Thursday with
filing false tax returns in 2015 through 2017. According to court
records, he failed to report more than $900,000 in income to the
Internal Revenue Service that he received from private water sales.</p>
<p>Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton is prosecuting the case, which
was investigated by the Interior’s Office of Inspector General,
IRS-Criminal Investigation, and the FBI.</p>
<h3>Panoche Agreed to Repay $7.5 Million to Bureau of Reclamation</h3>
<p>In 2021, Panoche agreed to pay the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation nearly $7.5 million to compensate for the “unauthorized
diversion of water” from two federal canals, <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/article253369598.html#_=_" target="_blank" rel="noopener" aria-label="The Sacramento Bee reported - opens in new tab">The Sacramento Bee reported</a>.</p>
<p>The district also agreed to pay $798,000 plus
$172,000 in interest to the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water
Authority, which delivers water from the Bureau of Reclamation to
Panoche and 28 other member districts.</p>
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