Former California water official pleads guilty to conspiring to steal water from irrigation canal

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A former California water official has pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal water under a deal with federal prosecutors in the state’s crop-rich Central Valley. The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that 78-year-old Dennis Falaschi entered the plea in federal court in Fresno. The former head of the Panoche Water District also pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return. Falaschi was accused in a case that alleged that more than $25 million in water was stolen over two decades from a federal irrigation canal. Falaschi declined to comment after a hearing on Tuesday.