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. Applicants must be a UK resident aged . Local In 2017, he made news again for his part in a plan to take Kings River flood water out of the county an effort thats still ongoing. On 06/28/2019 SANCHEZ filed a Labor - Wrongful Termination lawsuit against VIDOVICH. It doesnt make economic sense. 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. Home | DMCA | SJV Content Use | Contact, Copyright 2022 SJV Water. The Fresno Bee reported the verdict against McCarthy Family Farms and San Francisco Bay Area developer John Vidovich and Sandridge Partners. 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. The association contends that even though those lands are in the county, they are beyond whats considered the rivers service area. And river water cannot be taken outside that service area, according to the lawsuit. Click here to read all the comment letters on groundwater sustainability plans submitted to the Department of Water Resources. His nephew spun the company into a $2.5 billion international farming and development powerhouse. The giant JG Boswell Company has little love for Sandridge Partners. 2022 by Sunridge Partners (UK) LLP. In 2016, the levees had to be built up another four feet. The Water Board began holding hearings on the issue this past summer. That shadow drove him to work hard in an effort to be useful to De Anza. Our unique focus on food and agriculture, allows us to better understand particular agribusiness needs faster and have in-depth sector and sub-sector expertise bringing solutions to your business. The comments dont come from Boswell and Vidovich themselves, of course, but from the groundwater sustainability agencies each farming operation essentially controls. But a portion of the Sandridge pipeline has been laid on land owned by Stratford PUD, Chrissakis noted. 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. Vidovich, meanwhile, is accusing Boswell-backed groundwater agencies of dragging their feet on pumping reductions to the point their actions could sink the small, rural town of Corcoran up to another 11 feet. Sandridge filed a restraining order to have the excavators, bulldozers and trucks removed, but Kings County Superior Court Moving well water to irrigate better ground is another Vidovich hallmark. The difference, Vidovich has charged, is that Boswell continues to farm using groundwater. Not a chance. He was in military intelligence and had a top secret clearance that involved gathering data and evaluating products they made, he said. 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. And Kings County doesnt have an ordinance against moving groundwater outside its borders. Construction of the pipeline, on land owned by Sandridge Partners, is causing concern among Kings County farmers and others. Because the urban places would pay a hell of a lot of money for it. Vidovich made headlines - and a lot of enemies - in 2009 by permanently selling rights to 14,000 acre feet of state water from a Kings County water district to southern California for $73 million, according to media reports. 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. SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site dedicated to covering water in the San Joaquin Valley. They argued that McCarthy Farms breached a contract when they sold the land and water rights to Vidovich and Sandridge Partners, which included members of Vidovichs family. He said Sandridge is controlled by developer John Vidovich of Los Altos Hills and others. Vidovich is, after all, a powerful landowner in the Central Valley. 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. gcse.src = 'https://cse.google.com/cse.js?cx=' + cx; Vidovich has said he only moves local groundwater to other lands he farms in Kings County. (Vidovich said he didn't think Sandridge had hit 100,000 acres, total, yet.) Site development by. 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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. Muriel joined in 2022 and provides executive assistant support to the partners. Weve all seen it, said walnut farmer Steve Walker. Longtime friend and associate Ted Page defended Vidovichs operations. People just dont want to face the music.. But hes also moved his State Water Project supplies south to lands he owns in Kern County. According to legal briefs filed by Tulare Lake, all the floodwater that can be put to beneficial use has been, and theres no leftover water available for Semitropic. Digging a new well can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and as each farmer chases water deeper into the earth, it not only pushes others to go deeper, it undermines expensive efforts to recharge the aquifer. But its just a cover for taking water out, Pace said. John Lewis plc, 171 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 5NN. The Kings River Water Association, where Boswell is a major rights holder, is suing Tulare Lake Reclamation District 761, controlled by Vidovich, for shipping its Kings River water to Dudley Ridge. That said, she explained the department would be looking closely at groundwater pumping and water transfers from Kings County, because it appears this is a hot spot where the math doesnt work.. Vidovich shrugged it off, saying the flaw amounted to putting the descriptions on the wrong pages and quickly appealed. But thats become increasingly challenging. That could trigger intervention by the State Water Resources Control Board, SGMAs enforcement arm. 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. Home | DMCA | SJV Content Use | Contact, Copyright 2022 SJV Water. Those are just some of the indirect costs attached to moving large amounts of water out of a region, Zetland said. A strong, diverse farming sector is vital to the local economy and food security and it requires water. Ben also has experience working in the investment banking division of Credit Suisses general industrials team. Both entities are large growers in Kern County as well. Michael began his career in commodities trading at Dominion Resources, one of the largest physical and financial traders of natural gas in the US. 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. Sandridge owns the property that the canal cuts through, he said. A new groundwater ordinance approved Nov. 29 by the Kings County Board of Supervisors could put the county in the middle of a water war being waged by its two largest farming entities, the J.G. So, it went old school and blocked the pipeline with bulldozers, trucks and excavators. It has 61 wells capable of pumping a combined 240 cubic feet per second. 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. Besides, Pace and others say, overreaching is another Vidovich hallmark. In terms of special enforcement to shut things down, thats not what SGMA provides to the department, she said. Enter your email address to receive INSTANT ALERTS of new articles and to be added to SJV Waters WEEKLY NEWSLETTER. Boswell and Vidovich are also on opposite sides of whether Kings River flood water is being fully utilized by its rights holders. Yeah, hes got a lot of money and hes been buying up land, makes some people nervous, Page said. He certainly looks the part in his well-worn jeans and checkered shirts. But in terms of equity, yes, there is a problem.. We pioneer innovative approaches to solve many of the headwinds facing modern agriculture and always put environmental, social and governance considerations at the heart of our investments and operations. Copyright 2023 SunnyGem. Sunridge Partners provides patient capital, deep industry expertise and a hands-on approach to achieving outsized returns for all stakeholders. 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. Farmers in the heart of Californias agricultural belt Kings County sense something is awry with their water supplies. Its a decimal point, Vidovich said of state water amounts compared to what farmers use from rivers and groundwater. Now Boswell is. The fight between the Tulare Lake Canal Company, controlled by the J.G. Numbers havent been set in stone just yet, but its looking like the Kings/Tulare farming areas will settle somewhere near allowing 1.5 acre feet of water to be pumped per acre. After all, Vidovich, water and pipelines have a history in Kings County. While the letter was improvident, attorney Whitney said, it certainly wasnt any kind of peak behind the curtain maintaining it wasnt an official indemnification by Angiola. He was semi-retired living in Clovis when another Kings County farmer, Pat McCarthy not Vidovich called him to do some work for Angiola. 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. Vidovich freely acknowledges that hes moving some surface state water out of Kings County. The only water Green Valley got was some surplus state water and natural groundwater, Pace said. Im a small guy over here and the big-time guys, well I thought they were big at 10,000 acres, even theyre selling out.. Vidovich is the owner of Sandridge Partners, LP - a farmland investment firm that has undertaken more than 100,000 acres of Valley farmland. Our quality commitment does not stop there. Vidovich owns that land, and Semitropic has already paid him $40 million for an easement. Avila, along with his wife and children, grows nearly 100 varieties of fruit trees on multiple small plots of land and sells the produce at dozens of farmers markets from Beverly Hills to San Luis Obispo. Thats partly due to drought but also greater use. The association contends that those lands arent in the rivers service area.. None of that has been discussed yet, he stressed. Five key principles guide us in a unified approach across the food and agribusiness investment landscape: Safeguarding and improving the livelihoods and social wellbeing of individuals producing food and processing agricultural products, Conserving, protecting and enhancing our natural ecosystems, Instilling transparent governance within natural and human systems, Fostering holistic innovation and sustainable growth for all stakeholders. Partnership Credit Card accounts: John Lewis plc is a credit broker and not a lender, introducing the Partnership Credit Card under exclusive arrangements with the lender NewDay Ltd. (Source: Sandridge Partners cross-complaint) This fight between Boswell and Sandridge is just the latest between the two farming giants, which own more than 230,000 acres in Kings County between them. Water moves remembered It will likely never be forgotten that Vidovich sold the rights to 14,000 acre-feet of State. However, Vidovich has been somewhat of a welcome presence to some in Kings County. His strategy has always been to use about 30% of his land for farming and 70% for its water. 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. HANFORD, Calif. (AP) A Kings County jury has awarded $128.6 million to developers of a proposed solar-powered city who claimed the land sellers broke a contract when they sold the parcels and water rights to someone else. The company is run from its Pasadena offices by James W. Boswell, chairman, CEO and great-nephew of the founder. Trenching for the pipeline was slated to cut under the Tulare Lake Canal in late January but the canal company, which is controlled by Boswell, made several demands. Later, Page would run for and win a seat on the Kern County Water Agency board. The Fresno Bee reported the verdict against McCarthy Family Farms and San Francisco Bay Area developer John Vidovich and Sandridge Partners. 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. Everyone else is leaving.. But its difficult when right next door theyre dropping [water levels] 60 to 100 feet, Russ Freeman, Westlands Deputy General Manager for water resources, said in a previous SJV Water article. The State Water Project rarely delivers full allocations and, in fact, only delivered 5% of contracted water during this past drought year. 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. 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). Michael is seasoned agribusiness investment and business development professional with more than a decade of experience. 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. Sandridge has since installed coffer dams in the canal to dry a section in anticipation of cutting through the banks, but otherwise construction has stopped. Resnick also has lands just south of the Kings/Kern county line in Lost Hills and many of Vidovichs detractors believe thats where a lot of that Angiola groundwater is going. It would involve a public permitting process and be very difficult, not to mention expensive, both men said. 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 And the company maintains positions on just about every ag and water related board and commission in Kings, giving it considerable political heft. 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. Vidovich dismissed the Boswell letter as "throwing rocks" to distract from the larger issue over-pumping. According to news reports, he owns Sandridge Partners, LP, a farmland investment firm that has accumulated more than 100,000 acres of Valley farmland in recent years. In 2013, the Lower Tule River and Pixley irrigation districts sued Angiola Water District, whose largest landowner is Vidovich, for over pumping groundwater from a well field in Tulare County and moving it outside the county. And thats the biggest issue. It is also tasked with reviewing groundwater plans under the states Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), passed in 2014. Page met Vidovich in 2005 when Page was farming 400 acres out near Wasco. Either way, Judge Chrissakis ordered the pipeline halted until she decides whether it should come under CEQA review at a March 23 hearing. U.S. 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. The elder Vidovich built a regional real estate powerhouse, which the younger Vidovich grew into a statewide empire. Its an unusual letter and I was surprised to see it, Chrissakis added. News And in 2017, the levees had to be raised another two feet at a cost of $14 million to residents, according to the letter. Ultimately, he said, even if Boswell and Sandridge did move all their state water out of Kings County, its a fairly minor loss to the county. And thats the deeper current here. The canal company sued but couldnt immediately stop the project. Michael holds a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MSc with Distinction in Shipping, Trade, and Finance from Cass Business School. Carol provides administrative support to the Team and ensures that the office runs smoothly. News Its just smart business. Doug Verboon, a Kings County farmer and member of the county board of supervisors, sounds weary when he talks about Kings Countys water. Except when you plug John Vidovichs name into the equation. Posted on August 6, 2018 Bakersfield Californian. But out in the Buena Vista Water Storage District where Vidovich chairs the board, his original detractors all love him, Page said. Our team includes leading industry operators and executives as well as a seasoned board of advisors from across the food and agriculture industry. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for credit broking and consumer hire activity (FRN 724309). Attorneys for the Tulare Lake Canal Company, controlled by the giant J.G. He made friends everywhere he went, John Vidovich told the Mercury News in 2007. We are one of the largest vertically integrated almond suppliers in the world. Sandridge Partners, controlled by Silicon Valley developer John Vidovich, is a relative newcomer to the region, making large land acquisitions in the last three decades. They are suing Angiola for what they say was Hurleys illegal takeover of the tiny Atwell Island Water District. 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. Boswell has refused requests to answer questions about the companys water moves including how much it pumps. 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. Previously, Bilyana spent five years working for the Controllers division at Goldman Sachs in the Investment Accounting and Corporate Accounting teams. Founded in 1966, with legacies dating back more than 100 years; our highly trained staff provides value-added, client-centric investment sales, leasing, advisory, management, and financing services to clients across the . Mitchell agreed, giving Vidovich credit for seeing where groundwater laws were headed before anyone else. Not one acre foot, he insisted. Gianquinto and Vidovich have repeatedly said that it would be nearly impossible for an individual to use state facilities to create a private water market using any water, let alone groundwater.