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 . Legendary Valley Thoroughbred Elected to Racing Hall of Fame, Collision Ends Smyly Perfect Game Bid, Cubs Top Dodgers 13-0, Analysis Second, Im a farmer, Vidovich says. Hes so involved, in fact, he even chairs the monthly meetings for Buena Vista Water Storage District where Sandridge owns thousands of acres. Because, while he does farm thousands of acres of pistachios, almonds and grapes, many believe the only harvest Vidovich is truly interested in is water. Some farmers cant afford to do either, making the difficult decision to get out of agriculture all together. And thats the biggest issue. In addition to inshell and raw natural almonds, a state of the art processing facility provides manufacturing and roasting to your specifications. Over the years, the farm has truly been a family operation with Karen keeping the books and their children helping to bring in the harvests. At face value, the Tulare Lake Canal Company is simply making sure a construction project doesnt harm its current or future operations. 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. First of all, the myriad laws and rules that govern water wouldnt allow that to happen, they say. Farming runs deep in the blood of growers like Jeff and Karen Gilcrease. 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. All right reserved. And the consequences of this could be far reaching. 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. 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. The elder Vidovich built a regional real estate powerhouse, which the younger Vidovich grew into a statewide empire. Crime Contributed Developer, farmer and water trader John Vidovich plans to build a beef feedlot and processing plant near Lemoore according to a preliminary application filed with the county. Posted on August 6, 2018 Bakersfield Californian. Vidovich says he uses that Angiola groundwater to farm in Dudley Ridge, so the groundwater isnt leaving its home basin. Boswell Company, and Sandridge Partners, controlled by John Vidovich, filed a blizzard of court actions alleging the other was trespassing and seeking injunctions to . (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. After Vidovich sold his Dudley Ridge state water, Pace said he drilled several wells in Green Valley, built a pipeline across I-5 and took the valleys groundwater to keep his Dudley Ridge trees alive. Enforcement could involve pumping limits, fines, and large pumping fees per acre-foot. Boswell and Sandridge are the two biggest kids on the block when it comes to farming and water in Kings County. Groundwater and floodwater are two very different things. 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. The title Baron Sandridge was given to Churchill by James II in 1685, and was his first English peerage title (his earlier title, Baron Eyemouth, had been created in 1682 by James . The difference, Vidovich has charged, is that Boswell continues to farm using groundwater. (See sidebar online.). He was previously also a consultant for Bayer Crop Science and BASF Agriculture in Seeds and Traits with a focus on Wheat. So, its going somewhere, Walker said. About 25,000 acre feet of groundwater. 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. 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. News Vidovich dismissed the Boswell letter as throwing rocks to distract from the larger issue over-pumping. And, you know, at some point in time that water is in risk of going to an urban area. When you first meet John Vidovich, everything from his ball cap to his dirty boots tells you hes a farmer. 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. All the rest of that stuff its just jealousy and innuendo, jealousy and innuendo, jealousy and innuendo.. This is all being driven by the JG Boswell Company out of animus, not out of practicality, Whitney told the judge. 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. In exchange, the state would get banking rights in Semitropic, said General Manager Jason Gianquinto. 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. 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. Michael is seasoned agribusiness investment and business development professional with more than a decade of experience. declaration by Angiola General Manager Mark Grewal. Ive learned that I have to be diversified in my water, Vidovich said. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Its not good in the long term, he said. We are driven by agribusiness experts, with hands-on sector specific investment, operations, and business development expertise. Sunridge Partners (UK), LLP (FRN: 821518) is an Appointed Representative of Kroll Securities Limited, (FRN: 466588) which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Our goal is to supply the highest quality almonds, at competitive prices, to customers worldwide. Hugues was also divisional CFO in Turkey. Kings Officials Unhappy About Water Proposal, Local Water Guys Eyeing Kings River Flood Water. 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. 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. He specialised in product and growth strategy projects within the consumer and food space. We amalgamate our water to use on our most productive land. Over the past 12 years, hes moved about 137,000 acre feet of his state water from Kings County south to nut orchards he owns on the west side of Kern, according to state and other water district records. There, a company he controls, Sandridge Partners, grows . Angiola was ordered to stop pumping and eventually the districts came to a settlement. True, Angiolas canal stops about 23 miles southeast of the project. The judge on Thursday may find in Sandridges favor as she already issued a tentative ruling last week which noted that, The use of the heavy equipment to stop the pipe project is not a protected tactic under the law.. The website iswww.sjvwater.org. The most recent Boswell-Vidovich beef joins at least two other ongoing legal battles over water. But Semitropic is the first district to get this close to making it a reality. But in the ongoing legal fracas, a declaration by Sandridge Farm Manager Craig Andrew sketches out the picture. 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. Once a river is at flood stage, that usually means all other rights have been filled and the overflow is free game. Related Story: Westlands Again Is Eyeing San Joaquin River Water. What Will Become of Fallowed Valley Farmland? At the time, I was heavy with state water but the state water had low allocations and I had no other water source over there (Dudley Ridge land in western Kings County).. 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. Vidovich is gobbling up all the parcels he can so he can keep on pumping, Mitchell said. At one point, he was moving nearly 30,000 acre feet a year, according to Angiolas records. Carol has been working with the Sunridge team since 2014. Anything that has water on it, youre going to contend with big money. That includes land with river rights, state water contracts or even just groundwater. Right, smoke from local fires mutes the South San Joaquin Valley sky over I-5 and farms operated by . No way, according to Vidovich and his longtime associates. 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. Its an unusual letter and I was surprised to see it, Chrissakis added. var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; 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. Ben works across all aspects of the firm from business development to portfolio company operations. And, importantly, Angiola promised not to take the groundwater outside of Tulare or Kings counties or allow any of its landowners to do so. By locking up the land, he said, Vidovich will be able to deny smaller farmers like him and Pace the water they need for their own operations. He does enough farming in the area to make it look like hes a farmer. In 2016, the levees had to be built up another four feet. 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. As far as Walker knows, no agency, city or county board is trying to figure out whats really happening. 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. Those are just some of the indirect costs attached to moving large amounts of water out of a region, Zetland said. Whos Responsible for Farm Towns Multibillion Dollar Sinking? 2023 www.visaliatimesdelta.com. gcse.async = true; Kings County passes law to keep its groundwater from being sold beyond 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. Vidovich isnt the only pumper in that area, his supporters note. s.parentNode.insertBefore(gcse, s); 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. If the State Water Resources Control Board decides not, it could give those rights away. Sunridge Partners (UK), LLP (FRN: 821518) is an Appointed Representative of Kroll Securities Limited, (FRN: 466588) which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Will Political Reality Shape a Mighty Morro Bay Wind? Sunridge Partners provides patient capital, deep industry expertise and a hands-on approach to achieving outsized returns for all stakeholders. Though he also acknowledged that during the drought he sold some to fellow Dudley Ridge landowner Stewart Resnick, who owns the massive Wonderful Company. 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. From that perspective, it becomes massively economically inefficient, said Zetland. He asks DWR to demand a full accounting of how much water Sandridge moves, where it comes from and where it ends up. Based in Los Altos, California, De Anza Properties is a collaborative, nationwide firm owned and operated by its Principals. A large water pipeline being built near Lemoore in Kings County is raising eyebrows as much for its possible uses as for the name associated with its construction John Vidovich. Where is the water going? - Center for Collaborative Investigative 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. Yes, critics agree, but Boswell uses that water to irrigate in the district. 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. More recently, he filed a voter initiative in 2016 to allow a 48-foot-tall hotel after the Cupertino City Council shot down a De Anza proposal for building a 105-foot-tall hotel in the western Santa Clara Valley town. But thats water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, not native Kings County water. The case is being heard in Kern County by Judge David Lampe. Home | Sunridge Partners Hes a 61-year-old developer who grew up on a farm in Sunnyvale in the heart of what would become the Silicon Valley. He and his son know their land so well they can point out which areas retain more water in which seasons and the direction the water moves underground. Construction of the pipeline, on land owned by Sandridge Partners, is causing concern among Kings County farmers and others. Powell Warns That Long Downturn Would Mean Severe Damage, Poll: Americans Are the Unhappiest They've Been in 50 Years, Valley Hospitals Overwhelmed and Over Capacity As COVID-19 Cases Surge. 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. Independent farmers are selling out, said Kings County farmer Robert Smith, who grows walnuts, almonds, corn and cotton on about 1,000 acres. He came on board full-time in 2011, give or take, he said. SunnyGem is the one-stop-shop for your almond needs, packing and shipping California varieties worldwide. 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. Not one acre foot, he insisted. 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. He Toppled Vince McMahon. For his part, Vidovich said the issue isnt about water transfers, its about over-pumping. Philipp began his career at Goldman Sachs, where he advised public and private companies in European real estate, lodging and gaming sectors on strategic and financial matters. And in 2017, the levees had to be raised another two feet at a cost of $14 million to residents, according to the letter. Pace farmed in the valley and partnered with Vidovich for a while. Nor the end of the clash of Kings Countys most powerful water titans. 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