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Podcasts Take Two
What happened to $2.7m in Central Basin's trust fund?
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Dec 20, 2013
Listen • 4:53
What happened to $2.7m in Central Basin's trust fund?
The water district transferred $2.7 million into a secret trust fund set up to create an EIR for a water project. One board member called it a "slush fund."
The offices of the Central Basin Municipal Water District in Los Angeles County are seen in Commerce, Calif., in a Wednesday, June 12, 2013 photo. The state has hundreds of local water districts, which often deal with millions of dollars but operate as quasi-government entities with very little oversight or public scrutiny. They pay six-figure salaries, dole out millions in contracts and sometimes have the same type of unfunded pension liabilities that have led to so much trouble for the state. Dozens of them even ignore annual requests by the state controller for salary and staffing information, choosing to hide their operations from state government agencies. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The offices of the Central Basin Municipal Water District in Los Angeles County are seen in Commerce, Calif., in a Wednesday, June 12, 2013 photo. The state has hundreds of local water districts, which often deal with millions of dollars but operate as quasi-government entities with very little oversight or public scrutiny. They pay six-figure salaries, dole out millions in contracts and sometimes have the same type of unfunded pension liabilities that have led to so much trouble for the state. Dozens of them even ignore annual requests by the state controller for salary and staffing information, choosing to hide their operations from state government agencies. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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Damian Dovarganes/AP
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The water district transferred $2.7 million into a secret trust fund set up to create an EIR for a water project. One board member called it a "slush fund."

The FBI is investigating the water district that serves much of southeast LA. The Central Basin Municipal Water District serves more than two-million people in 24 cities.  

KPCC has learned part of the federal investigation is focused on finding out what happened to nearly $3 million slated for one project. KPCC's Karen Foshay is on the same trail.