And thats the deeper current here. He asks DWR to demand a full accounting of how much water Sandridge moves, where it comes from and where it ends up. The giant JG Boswell Company has little love for Sandridge Partners. That could trigger intervention by the State Water Resources Control Board, SGMAs enforcement arm. Michael began his career in commodities trading at Dominion Resources, one of the largest physical and financial traders of natural gas in the US. Kings and Tulare farmers and water managers want to know. Hes so involved, in fact, he even chairs the monthly meetings for Buena Vista Water Storage District where Sandridge owns thousands of acres. If the State Water Resources Control Board decides not, it could give those rights away. 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. But those numbers reflect full contracted allocations. Less surface water forces growers to pay for deeper wells or additional water supplies particularly expensive during one of the worst droughts in recent state history. Litigation is pending with respect to some of the suspected transfers, but not all., Sandridge is being sued by the Kings River Water Association, which claims it is moving river water outside its rightful place of use.. Related Story: Groundwater Plan Could Give Corcoran More of a Sinking Feeling. The Fresno Bee reported the verdict against McCarthy Family Farms and San Francisco Bay Area developer John Vidovich and Sandridge Partners. The end result, though, is less water staying in Kings County. That water would then be moved south through the aqueduct and banked in Semitropic. But comments made during a hearing Monday on Sandridges restraining order pulled back the curtain on the real concern. Sandridge Partners, L.P. Company Profile | Los Altos, CA | Competitors Vidovich owns that land, and Semitropic has already paid him $40 million for an easement. No, he said. The project was ordered to remain in stasis until the issue comes back to court. What is clear is that over the past 12 years, Boswell and Sandridge have moved a combined 239,000 acre feet of State Water Project water out of Kings County all with approval from the states Department of Water Resources (DWR). Pace farmed in the valley and partnered with Vidovich for a while. Our team includes leading industry operators and executives as well as a seasoned board of advisors from across the food and agriculture industry. Vidovich dismissed the Boswell letter as throwing rocks to distract from the larger issue over-pumping. News California Farming Country Buckles Under COVID-19. Most recently, Muriel started and successfully built her own hospitality business. Kings County approved 1,238 new agricultural well permits between the start of the last drought in 2012 and 2021, according to county records. 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. The district has already paid him $40 million for an easement, or right of way, on that land and signed an agreement with him for how the project would operate. 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 . 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. 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. And the company maintains positions on just about every ag and water related board and commission in Kings, giving it considerable political heft. He specialised in product and growth strategy projects within the consumer and food space. The Kings is as erratic a river as the Kern so floodwaters are unpredictable. Now, hes involved in a project that could set him up as a water marketer on an extreme scale. Our farming company, Sandridge Partners, farms thousands of acres of almonds each year in the central region of California providing an ever-increasing supply of almonds. But, she said, her department cant really step in until it has reviewed groundwater plans submitted to the state in 2020. Absolutely not. DWR staffers now have two years to decide if the plans come up to snuff or not. With water from the delta becoming more unreliable, he said, farmers have to hoard land for the groundwater. believe Sunridge can have the greatest impact are: Previously, Michael was an investment professional at RJI Capital, a boutique private equity and. SJV Water is a nonprofit, independent online news publication covering water in the San Joaquin Valley. He said Sandridge is controlled by developer John Vidovich of Los Altos Hills and others. Where is the water going? - Ghana Business News Water fight between two of Valley's largest growers heads to court
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