Judge Chrissakis found the potential involvement of two public entities, the Stratford Public Utilities District and Angiola Water District, could take the line out of the private realm and require a study of potential environmental impacts. This is all being driven by the JG Boswell Company out of animus, not out of practicality, Whitney told the judge. Typically, irrigation pipelines taking water from one portion of a farmers land to another dont require permitting. It specifically set aside $2.7 billion for water storage projects. My business approach right now is to acquire as much water as I can to be diversified in water. 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. Absolutely not. Avila says corporations are gobbling up the land to plant more permanent crops and draining the countys water in the process. Thats partly due to drought but also greater use. Nor the end of the clash of Kings Countys most powerful water titans. His operation is extensive and very smart.. Thats true of the entire San Joaquin Valley, where he said farmings footprint is retracting because of pumping restrictions looming under the states new groundwater law. Their concern is where Vidovich is taking the groundwater. He came on board full-time in 2011, give or take, he said. He said he bought his first parcel here in 1994 when he invested in a foreclosed property in Kings County. Vidovich and a co-defendant were found guilty in 2014 of conspiracy to breach a land sale contract and ordered to pay nearly $130 million in compensatory and punitive damages. A single walnut requires nearly five gallons of water to produce. One of Angiolas main well fields is actually inside the Pixley Irrigation District boundaries where water managers were concerned by the amount of water leaving their district. People complain all the time about whats happening with our water, but no one wants to do anything, he said. Its principals and employees are rarely quoted in the media. David Avila is a talkative 75-year-old of Portuguese ancestry whose family first came to California in the 1840s and has been farming in the Hanford area since around 1900. Though Vidovich describes them as simply having known each other at school, others in Tulare and Kings water circles say Hurley is Vidovichs right-hand man some say henchman. It will likely never be forgotten that Vidovich sold the rights to 14,000 acre feet of State Water Project water for $79 million in 2009 to the San Bernardino-based Mojave Water District. Its really, really not cool, Vidovich said. At this point, he said, he uses about 30 percent of his land for farming and 70 percent for water. 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. It agreed to pay Pixley/Lower Tule $240,000 a year to bring in federal water to recharge the groundwater. Vidovich freely acknowledges that hes moving some surface state water out of Kings County. But the letter continued to intrigue Chrissakis. It was a permanent water loss for Kings County and put Vidovich under a lingering cloud of suspicion among area farmers and water managers. A judge found this past March that the initiative was flawed because Vidovich used his own project description instead of the neutral description by the Cupertino city attorney. Page had been a longtime board member of the Semitropic Water District and Vidovich wanted that kind of expertise. So far, the 48-inch pipeline has been trenched and laid out from somewhere north of Lemoore more than 10 miles south near the community of Stratford on private land with no public notice or oversight. All right reserved. Number two, Angiola is trying to maintain the local aquifer by retiring land to limit pumping. Latest John Vidovich, owner of Sandridge Partners Those plans were posted online and the public comment period recently closed. California Farming Country Buckles Under COVID-19. The SDGs where we. Farming runs deep in the blood of growers like Jeff and Karen Gilcrease. So, if i cant make money on that water farming, I will sell it eventually to an urban area and thats a right I have. 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. We lose innovation., Still, Zetland didnt fault Sandridge or Boswell. The Tulare Lake Canal Company only has an easement allowing it to pass water through the land. Though he did sell a chunk of water rights to southern California in 2009, Vidovich scoffed at the idea that hes currently selling water to the southland. There is some uncertainty by El Rico GSA with regard to this request because of the hidden nature of Sandridges operations. News Applicants must be a UK resident aged . They are suing Angiola for what they say was Hurleys illegal takeover of the tiny Atwell Island Water District. If the plans are rejected and local groundwater agencies refuse to make corrections, the state can refer the issue to the Water Resources Control Board, which could set pumping limits and issue fines but only after a lengthy process. Two days after the Tulare Lake Canal Company sued Sandridge Partners, the farming and water giant owned by John Vidovich, to halt trenching work on a water pipeline set to cut across the company's south of Stratford, Vidovich turned the tables and filed suit against Tulare Lake Canal. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); (function() { Semitropic Water Storage District in Kern County has applied for the flood water which it plans to store on land owned by Vidovich near Kettleman City, between the Blakeley Canal and California Aqueduct. I dont believe we should be sending water to LA, he said. Legendary Valley Thoroughbred Elected to Racing Hall of Fame, Collision Ends Smyly Perfect Game Bid, Cubs Top Dodgers 13-0, Analysis Its unclear, though, if thats the litigation Wyrick is referring to as he did not return numerous phone calls and emails from SJV Water seeking comment. And one Kern County water district could be the linchpin to it all. He tried to get the county to pass an ordinance barring the export of native groundwater but said he could not get enough votes. Most recently, Muriel started and successfully built her own hospitality business. Vidovich used the $73 million in 2010 to buy nearly 75 percent of the land in the Angiola Water District. Angiola agreed not to pump more than 36,000 acre feet a year, or more than 130,000 acre feet in any consecutive five-year period. We listen to our customers, understand their needs and are never satisfied until they are. From ending poverty and hunger to climate change and sustaining our natural resources, food and agriculture lies at the very heart of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In any event, Vidovich fallowed his Angiola land and took its groundwater about 25 miles west to his Dudley Ridge lands. Hes serious about taking water out of this valley, Pace said. And he served two terms on the Santa Clara County Planning Commission, appointed once in 1990 and he again in 2010, igniting controversy among activists concerned about sprawl. They just do what they want and you have to sue to stop em, Mitchell said. It would involve a public permitting process and be very difficult, not to mention expensive, both men said. They point to three new pump stations along Angiolas main canal just north of the county line that have the ability to move 100,000 acre feet a year into pipes that head south and west. Hugues holds a BEng in Applied Maths from the Universite Catholique de Louvain, an MSc in Financial Economics from the University of London, a PhD in Operations Research from the Centre for Operations Research and Econometrics (UCL) / Columbia University and attended INSEADs General Management Program. Its an unusual letter and I was surprised to see it, Chrissakis added. Carol provides administrative support to the Team and ensures that the office runs smoothly. Sandridge filed a restraining order to have the excavators, bulldozers and trucks removed but Kings County Superior Court Judge Valerie Chrissakis denied that request on Thursday. The little guy is gone, said Walker, the walnut farmer. Though the Gilcreases expanded to 700 acres at one point, they had to sell off part of their land because they didnt have the water to keep farming it. Related Story: Westlands Again Is Eyeing San Joaquin River Water. It might be legal, but its not moral, Karen said of water leaving Kings. 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. The titans behind the comments are J.G. The citys political clout, money and history of reaching north to quench its thirst make it an obvious water bogeyman to growers in the San Joaquin Valley. The plaintiffs, Kings County Ventures and Green Renewable Organic and Water Holdings, sued after the deal fell through in 2009 for their Quay Valley project. In terms of special enforcement to shut things down, thats not what SGMA provides to the department, she said. Kings County Can Prosecute Woman in Fetus Death Case Over Becerra Objection, Proposed Agreement Could Boost Funds To Fix Friant-Kern Canal. No way, according to Vidovich and his longtime associates. What is indisputable is that over the past 20-plus years, Vidovich has quietly amassed more than 100,000 acres in the Central Valley, gaining footholds on numerous water boards, which has given him control over vast amounts of groundwater the valleys lifeblood. In an interview, Vidovich denied sending groundwater out of Kings County. Validated processes that pasteurize the almonds are performed in-house. EDMUND JOHN VIDOVICH Lake Havasu City, Arizona Trinitas Partners LLC Investment Management . I did sell water out of Kings County to an urban user and people didnt like it, Vidovich said. Stephen Vidovich retired but kept a watchful eye on the company, getting daily reports and giving advice, John Vidovich told the San Jose Mercury News after his fathers death. Designed with by Trinity Mobile Apps, use of the heavy equipment to stop the pipe project is not a protected tactic under the law., Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window), Gov.s proposed $40 million for farmland retirement is welcome but more needed, Boswell bulldozers allowed to stay put, blocking Kings County pipeline project, SJV Water about this new pipeline, Vidovich. Ive learned that I have to be diversified in my water, Vidovich said. Floodwater is considered a nuisance, a menace even. Sandridge was one of the earlier homes of the great English general, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, and his infamous wife, Sarah, a favourite of Queen Anne. And thats the deeper current here. The 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno has overturned a $73.4 million verdict against McCarthy Family Farms and Bay Area developer John Vidovich and Sandridge Partners involving a land. SANDRIDGE PARTNERS, L.P. Company Number 201005600010 Status Active Incorporation Date 4 February 2010 (about 13 years ago) Company Type Limited Partnership - CA Jurisdiction California (US) Registered Address 920 WEST FREMONT AVE SUNNYVALE CA 94087 United States Directors / Officers JOHN VIDOVICH, LLC, general partner Inactive Directors / Officers She commenced her career working administratively for a medium sized American oil company until it was bought by BHP Billiton, where she continued as Executive Assistant running the London office of the Chairman & CEO. Vidovich dismissed the Boswell letter as "throwing rocks" to distract from the larger issue over-pumping. If the little guys disappear, we lose business diversity and expertise, Zetland said. Nor for the man who runs it, John Vidovich, nor for his current pipeline project that will move water from various places in Kings County to various other undisclosed locations. Sports, Crime })(); Ghana Business News Copyright 2022, All Rights Reserved, Inside the News by Mpakoo All pieces appearing in this column are satire. He was in military intelligence and had a top secret clearance that involved gathering data and evaluating products they made, he said. 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. While he was just starting out, he also enlisted in the Navy and served in the reserves for six or eight years, he cant recall the exact term. Yeah, hes got a lot of money and hes been buying up land, makes some people nervous, Page said. Our stewardship and value creation track-record is unparalleled and our investing, operations and business . This case was filed in Kern County Superior Courts, Kern County Metropolitan Division located in Kern, California. That shadow drove him to work hard in an effort to be useful to De Anza. They get some water from the Kings River but rely mostly on groundwater. In a letter to the state last summer, Boswells vice president attorney Jeof Wyrick who chairs the El Rico Groundwater Sustainability Agency, accused Vidovich of moving groundwater out of the area via pipeline where it cannot be tracked. To do that, the state requires each area to form Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) to account for whats going in and coming out of the aquifer. Attorneys for Sandridge and Angiola argued the pipeline isnt an Angiola project as it lies outside the districts boundaries. 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. Its not good in the long term, he said. 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.