Water conspiracy or just poor optics?

●

April 1, 2019

There’s a reason Matt Hurley wears so many hats, his critics say.

And he does wear a lot of hats:

General manager of Angiola Water District, Green Valley Water District and Deer Creek Storm Water District; chairman of the newly formed Tri-County Water Authority; and he’s a director on the Fresno Slough Water District and the W.H. Wilbur Reclamation District.

Hurley says it’s all about improving the water basin.

Uh-uh, say his detractors.

It’s so he can tie up as much groundwater as possible for his “boss,” John Vidovich, to pump out and sell to L.A.

“It’s a very tight-knit operation,” Tulare County farmer Milt Pace said of Hurley’s work on so many boards.

Pace, along with fellow farmer Jack Mitchell, is suing Angiola over what they say is an illegal attempt to take over the tiny Atwell Island Water District.

Hurley insists that’s not true.

Author

Lois Henry

CEO and editor Lois Henry has spent 30 years covering the San Joaquin Valley.

She was raised on a ranch east of Fresno and attended Fresno State where she majored in Journalism.

In Bakersfield she covered a variety of beats including the military, social services, the oil industry, city and county government and did a stint in Sacramento at The Californian’s capitol bureau.

Henry spent 10 years as a manager and was the lead editor for the paper’s many award-winning projects.

In 2007, she began a twice weekly, investigative column and was able to focus on one of her passions – water.

Valley residents innately understand the importance of water. Henry has helped develop that understanding by untangling the complicated knots of rights, lawsuits, contracts and deals by which water is moved and consumed.

She plans to continue that mission through SJV Water.

Henry lives with her husband, one dog and two very spoiled cats in Bakersfield.

Water conspiracy or just poor optics?

Author

Related Articles