He asks DWR to demand a full accounting of how much water Sandridge moves, where it comes from and where it ends up. The Water Board began holding hearings on the issue this past summer. Sandridge - Wikipedia SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site dedicated to covering water in the San Joaquin Valley. On 06/28/2019 SANCHEZ filed a Labor - Wrongful Termination lawsuit against VIDOVICH. Now Eric Bischoff to Tell Story in Fresno. A 2020 groundwater sustainability report shows that over the previous five years, agriculture in Kings County relied on an average of about 319,000 acre feet from local rivers and streams, 475,000 acre feet from groundwater and just 37,000 acre feet of state water. Judge: Kings Co. water pipeline blockade can continue Their concern is where Vidovich is taking the groundwater. Construction on a controversial water pipeline in Kings County has, once again, halted. Its not true, he wants to farm.. Boswell has also transferred or sold large chunks of its surface water, both state and Kings River supplies out of the county, over the years. Trucks and heavy equipment emblazoned with the distinctive diamond B logo parked on the banks of the Tulare Lake Canal late last month werent sending a subtle message. The SDGs where we. Between March and May of this year, 25 new sales were recorded in Kern alone, according to ParcelQuest, a web service that tracks real estate deals by county. Groundwater and floodwater are two very different things. Theres a lot of people who dont like me, but nobody didnt like my dad.. Meanwhile, the complaint against Sandridge by Tulare Lake Canal Company is still pending. Pace farmed in the valley and partnered with Vidovich for a while. Water War New Money Vs. Old Power in Parched California Angiola was rehabbing old wells, drilling new ones and installed a large pipeline. Water moves remembered It will likely never be forgotten that Vidovich sold the rights to 14,000 acre-feet of State. He made friends everywhere he went, John Vidovich told the Mercury News in 2007. Secretary - John Vidovich, Sandridge Partners Director - G. Patrick O'Dowd, representing Irvine Ranch Water District Director - Bernard Puget, Wonderful Orchards Management General Manager - Mark A. Gilkey Assistant Manager-Engineer - Dale K. Melville, PE, Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group Something Vidovich declared is Really, really not cool, in an area that has already sunk more than 11 feet in the past 14 years because of groundwater extractions. Whitney said the letter wasnt an actual agreement, but part of a back and forth between Sandridge and Tulare Lake Canal Company that was never accepted nor executed. Wyrick writes that it is believed Sandridge uses a canal/pipeline system to move groundwater from the Tule and Westside subbasins south and west for use in the Southwest Kings GSA as well as lands in the Kern Subbasin. SANDRIDGE PARTNERS | LinkedIn In the meantime, Boswell and Vidovich have brought their concerns to Californias DWR, which oversees transfers involving state water. Local Education Sandridge owns the property that the canal cuts through, he said. Boswell repeatedly declined requests for interviews on this story. In an interview, Vidovich denied sending groundwater out of Kings County. True, Angiolas canal stops about 23 miles southeast of the project. Now Boswell is. We partner with exceptional agriculture and food companies to guide them through rapid yet sustainable growth, to become clear industry leaders. But a pipeline, which Vidovich is allowed to build under the Semitropic agreement, could span that distance. Lois Henry is the CEO/editor of SJV Water. Incorporate ESG considerations into our investment analysis and decision-making processes, Prioritize ESG issues in our ownership policies and practices, as active owners, Seek appropriate disclosure on ESG metrics within Sunridge investments, Promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry, Work with internal and external stakeholders to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles, Report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles, We invest in experienced management teams and companies to build and grow sustainable champions across the food and agribusiness value chain, Seeds, genetics, fertilizers, crop protection, equipment, services, Produce, plantations, aquaculture, specialty crops, Shipping, infrastructure, cold storage, distribution, Our focus is on member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), We have the ability to scale businesses globally beyond OECD countries. Longtime friend and associate Ted Page defended Vidovichs operations. He does enough farming in the area to make it look like hes a farmer. The GSAs are supposed to set pumping limits to stop overdraft. Semitropic Water Storage District, in northwestern Kern, has raised a lot of eyebrows with its ambitious, some say audacious, Tulare Lake Storage and Floodwater Protection Project. News The Tulare Lake Canal Company only has an easement allowing it to pass water through the land. The canal company sued but couldnt immediately stop the project. The state of California is at fault. Copyright 2023 SunnyGem. He paid em three times what anyone else wouldve for their land and now theyre all gettin water because of his policies, Page said. Its a $500 million project, of which Semitropic is hoping to get $250 million from Proposition 1 funding. Enter your email address to receive INSTANT ALERTS of new articles and to be added to SJV Waters WEEKLY NEWSLETTER. Kings Officials Unhappy About Water Proposal, Local Water Guys Eyeing Kings River Flood Water. Kings County passes law to keep its groundwater from being sold beyond Boswell Farming Company and Sandridge Partners, controlled by John Vidovich. Were preparing for SGMA. Ag Giants Boswell, Vidovich Sling Mud at Each Other, Tulare Man Convicted on 20 Counts of Molesting Two Girls and a Boy, Big Raises for SCCCD Part-Time Faculty 'A Really Good First Step, But Just The First Step', Bud Light Sales Fall 26% as Transgender Backlash Worsens, Speaker Kevin McCarthy Blasts Russia Over 'Killing of the Children' in Ukraine, Its Farmers vs. Both men saw Hurleys involvement in numerous local districts including Angiola, Deer Creek Storm Water District, Green Valley Water District and the Tri-County Water Authority, a newly formed GSA, as more Vidovich control. Known Addresses for Sandridge Partners, L.P. 960 N San Antonio Rd Los Altos, CA 94022 920 W Fremont Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94087 PO Box 719 Kettleman City, CA 93239. transferred or sold large chunks of its surface water, Too little or too much, theres always controversy brewing over Kern River water, Kern River water heads north through flood channel but wont hit Tulare Lake yet, Kaweah River water managers prepare for more high water as the valley heats up, Vibration in Isabella Dam power plant causes temporary halt of Kern River outflows. Four years ago, Dudley sold several thousand acre-feet of its annual State Water Project contract to. Theyve (Vidovich and Hurley) been way out front on SGMA, Mitchell said. Sandridge filed for a restraining order. Work with nature; dont fight it, Avila said repeatedly. John Vidovich General Partner Contact 2 Contact 3 Contact 4 See All Contacts Dynamic search and list-building capabilities Real-time trigger alerts Comprehensive company profiles Valuable research and technology reports Get a D&B Hoovers Free Trial Financial Data We havent sat down and put dye in the water to watch where it actually goes. Then there was the nail in the coffin for folks like Pace and Mitchell when Vidovich appeared in a National Geographic film called Water and Power: A California Heist, which ran in mid-March and again on June 25. Satellite images from NASA show the area around the well fields Angiola was pulling from is the epicenter for land subsidence in eastern Tulare County from overpumping. The comment letter from the Southwest Kings GSA, which Vidovich said he wrote the draft for, notes that subsidence from over pumping has been a large and ongoing problem in the Tulare Lake subbasin and the plan submitted to the state simply doesnt do enough to stem that downward trajectory. Number two, Angiola is trying to maintain the local aquifer by retiring land to limit pumping. And Kings County doesnt have an ordinance against moving groundwater outside its borders. Vidovich says the animus against him goes back to his 2009 sale of State Water Project (SWP) contract rights tied to land he owned in the Dudley Ridge Water District in Kings County. If they pass a law saying I cant sell it, then I cant sell it. (Vidovich said he didnt think Sandridge had hit 100,000 acres, total, yet.). If the State Water Resources Control Board decides not, it could give those rights away. Page had been a longtime board member of the Semitropic Water District and Vidovich wanted that kind of expertise. Now the land is covered with huge almond and pistachio orchards, permanent crops which account for more than 66,000 acres of Kings total 782,731 harvested acres, according to county crop reports. (Vidovich said he. Ive learned that I have to be diversified in my water, Vidovich said. LOIS HENRY: Is John Vidovich planning to sell off the valley's We partner with private, mostly family owned companies that have: Exceptional management teams with a shared passion to grow and develop their businesses, Operate in interesting niches within the food and agriculture value chain that are growing rapidly, Aligned goals and strict adherence to environmentally, ethically and socially responsible principles, Ability for Sunridge Partners to add value beyond capital, Our customary transaction size is between US$ 15-50 million in equity over the lifetime of an investment. Sandridge Partners plans new beef processing plant | John Lindt Zakaria: These Revolutions May Help India Really Take off at Last, Future of California at Risk if CEQA Environmental Law Remains Unchanged, NBA Playoffs: Star-Studded Round 2 Has Big Names, Intense Rivalries. SANDRIDGE PARTNERS | 16 followers on LinkedIn. Kings County Can Prosecute Woman in Fetus Death Case Over Becerra Objection, Proposed Agreement Could Boost Funds To Fix Friant-Kern Canal. The State Water Project rarely delivers full allocations and, in fact, only delivered 5% of contracted water during this past drought year. Transportation, Education All rights reserved. The Kings River Water Association, including the Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District, where Boswell is the majority landowner, are fighting the plan tooth and nail. Left, a cracked, ripened walnut skin at Steve Walker Farms in Hanford, California. Those figures dont include recent land purchases hes made in the Kern Delta Water District and Fresno Irrigation District both areas Sandridge is targeting for even more land purchases because of its solid rights to the Kern and San Joaquin rivers. By comparison, its closest neighbors, Kern, Fresno and Tulare sit at 8,000, 6,000 and 4,800 square miles, respectively. Where is the water going? - Ghana Business News Except when you plug John Vidovichs name into the equation. But the service area boundaries have yet to be determined. The Water Board began holding hearings on the issue this past summer. Vidovich is, after all, a powerful landowner in the Central Valley. We have an exceptional and experienced customer service and quality control team that supports our efforts and assist our customers with any questions they may have about our products. News, California Enforcement could involve pumping limits, fines, and large pumping fees per acre-foot. The entire San Joaquin Valley, including Kings County, is critically over drafted. Later, Page would run for and win a seat on the Kern County Water Agency board. He often points out that water districts, which oversee water allocations and maintain infrastructure, are public entities, and the public has a right to information, as he told SJV Water in an interview for this story. Combined, the two companies control close to 90,000 acre feet of the total 140,600 acre feet of contracted state water. Boswell Company and Sandridge Partners, owned by John Vidovich. Some farmers cant afford to do either, making the difficult decision to get out of agriculture all together. They have the original 1881 homestead certificate signed by a secretary in the James Garfield administration for 80 acres southeast of Lemoore, where they still live and farm. Both entities are large growers in Kern County as well. But a portion of the Sandridge pipeline has been laid on land owned by Stratford PUD, Chrissakis noted. Mavens Notebook is an excellent daily accounting of California water happenings statewide. Water is a key variable smaller farmers have little to no control over. The most recent Boswell-Vidovich beef joins at least two other ongoing legal battles over water. It agreed to pay Pixley/Lower Tule $240,000 a year to bring in federal water to recharge the groundwater. Who We Are - SunnyGem The case status is Disposed - Dismissed. Kings County judge orders both sides to neutral corners in Boswell He was semi-retired living in Clovis when another Kings County farmer, Pat McCarthy not Vidovich called him to do some work for Angiola. Though he doesnt seek out media attention, when asked about water under his control, he rarely refuses to talk. ECG tells public to buy enough power ahead of Christmas break, African countries urged to review double taxation agreements. Strafford PUD attorney Ray Carlson said during the hearing that the district had been in very preliminary talks with Sandridge about the future possibility of moving its wastewater through the pipeline. He sold rights to more than 14,000 acre feet a year to the Mojave Water Agency in San Bernardino County for a headline-grabbing $73 million. Michael began his career in commodities trading at Dominion Resources, one of the largest physical and financial traders of natural gas in the US. U.S. The data show thats already happening. It was a permanent water loss for Kings County and put Vidovich under a lingering cloud of suspicion among area farmers and water managers. Stephen Vidovich died in 2007, at the age of 81, driving a tractor near one of his remaining vineyards. There is some uncertainty by El Rico GSA with regard to this request because of the hidden nature of Sandridges operations, Wyrick wrote in the June 2020 letter. To get there, the pipeline has to cross under a Boswell-controlled canal. Though he insists this flood water isnt being used and is, in fact, a nuisance, locals consider it an attempted theft of the Kings River. Even if I were to move water and sell it, it would be to farming operations.. Number one, the settlement agreement between Angiola and Lower Tule/Pixley irrigation districts wont allow Angiola or Sandridge to move the water out of Kings County. But the size of farms increased 14.5% from an average 559 acres to 640 acres. Your email address will not be published. Welcome to Kings County, where water wars still rage both in and outside the courthouse and often have deeper currents than what appears in legal papers. Number three, water from Angiola cant physically get to Semitropics proposed storage cells. The titans behind the comments are J.G. Through Sandridge, Vidovich owns about 130,000 acres with 38,500 acres in Kern, 82,000 acres in Kings, 9,500 acres in Tulare and 300 acres in Fresno county, per ParcelQuest. What we do not agree with is the assessment that the (plan) is managing subsidence effectively. Im at a loss to understand why Angiola would execute a hold harmless agreement, putting its funds at risk and opening the district to liability, but then says the pipeline isnt on our property so its not our project, Chrissakis said during Fridays hearing. Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth acknowledged she had met with representatives of groundwater agencies regarding allegations that Boswell is aggressively pumping its Kings County lands, because its selling off its state water. Will Pandemic Make or Break the Valley? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); (function() { He recalls that when he was growing up, the region was dotted with small dairies, orchards, rotating crops of corn, cotton and alfalfa, and open grazing land with sloughs that could absorb water in flood years. Controversial Kings Co. water pipeline faces familiar foe in legal His law license is inactive, according to the California State Bar Association website. We lose innovation., Still, Zetland didnt fault Sandridge or Boswell. Every move Vidovich has made, through Hurley and other public water districts, has been about gaining control of water, they say. At the center of the controversy, a physical barrier stopping Sandridge Partners, the diversified farming and water giant owned by Santa Clara County native John Vidovich, from constructing a water pipeline in southern Kings County. But the letter continued to intrigue Chrissakis. If so, it would mean the pipeline would have to undergo a full blown environmental impact report, including multiple public hearings. Whether the water is leaving Kings County for cash payments or to grow crops that will eventually be sold for profit, its all the same thing, said economist David Zetland, who lectures on the politics and economics of water at Leiden University College in the Netherlands.
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