john vidovich sandridge partners

All right reserved. At the upper limit of 300 days per year, that could mean Boswell is pumping up to 140,000 acre feet a year. Boswell has declined to answer questions about its water transfers as well as the amount of groundwater it pumps. I dont believe we should be sending water to LA, he said. Comments from the Boswell camp got downright personal, calling out Vidovich by name and all but accusing him of hiding groundwater usage by moving it through pipes outside the area. And thats the biggest issue. Typically, irrigation pipelines taking water from one portion of a farmers land to another dont require permitting. Vidovich has said he only moves local groundwater to other lands he farms in Kings County. Applicants must be a UK resident aged . At issue? SJV Water is a nonprofit, independent online news publication covering water in the San Joaquin Valley. Attorneys for Sandridge and Angiola argued the pipeline isnt an Angiola project as it lies outside the districts boundaries. Like its neighbors, Kings is intensively farmed. Theres a lot of people who dont like me, but nobody didnt like my dad.. For all its influence and power, Boswell is notoriously tight-lipped. But the appellate court still found Vidovich liable and he could still have to pay out a major amount. 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. gcse.type = 'text/javascript'; The website iswww.sjvwater.org. Our quality commitment does not stop there. Water from Angiola Water District will also be moved in the line, according to a declaration by Angiola General Manager Mark Grewal. The city sued. Vidovich says he uses that Angiola groundwater to farm in Dudley Ridge, so the groundwater isnt leaving its home basin. What Will Become of Fallowed Valley Farmland? News, Business 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. And the company maintains positions on just about every ag and water related board and commission in Kings, giving it considerable political heft. 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. 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. A judge is set to consider the restraining order at a hearing Thursday. Last month, the Tulare Lake Canal Company sued Sandridge Partners, the farming and water giant owned by Santa Clara County native John Vidovich, over the construction of a water pipeline in southern Kings County. Kings County is small by San Joaquin Valley standards only 1,392 square miles, or just about the size of Rhode Island. He ran, unsuccessfully for city council in his hometown of Los Altos Hills in 2006. And, in a rare break with tradition, theyre doing it in public. Vidovich is gobbling up all the parcels he can so he can keep on pumping, Mitchell said. Boswell Company and Sandridge Partners. Validated processes that pasteurize the almonds are performed in-house. 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. Our team includes leading industry operators and executives as well as a seasoned board of advisors from across the food and agriculture industry. 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. But the service area boundaries have yet to be determined. There, a company he controls, Sandridge Partners, grows . Lukas works across all aspects of the firm from business development to portfolio company operations. That leaves smaller farmers with mostly groundwater, which Walker said has dropped 100 feet to 120 feet just this year. strategic advisory firm. LEARN MORE ▸ What We Sell. But he did pass and was admitted to the bar in 1980 at the age of 24. Bilyana holds a BSc in Management with first class honours from Cass Business School and is an ICAEW Chartered Accountant. Enforcement could involve pumping limits, fines, and large pumping fees per acre-foot. Hurley, who also serves as general manager of Green Valley, said that basin, which is separate from the Tulare Lake basin, is actually in balance. 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. 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. But, she said, her department cant really step in until it has reviewed groundwater plans submitted to the state in 2020. Construction on a controversial water pipeline in Kings County has, once again, halted. 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. It shows something about the thought process that we dont usually get to see, she said, wondering if the letter is a kind of smoking gun that exposes the true intent of the pipeline as a public project thats being hidden.. 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. Even if he has access to the California Aqueduct, Vidovich would have to jump through a lot of state hoops to move water independently of Semitropic. Number two, Angiola is trying to maintain the local aquifer by retiring land to limit pumping. Though the project is billed as flood control, the agreement also allows Vidovich to move groundwater. That act requires groundwater agencies in areas with critically over drafted water basins to draw up plans to bring aquifers into balance by 2040, meaning more water shouldnt be pumped out than goes back in. It got to a point where the only way we could get an approval was to go to the voters, he told the Silicon Valley Business Journal hours after filing the initiative paperwork in April 2016. Semitropic has paid him $40 million for an easement and Vidovich would also get a cut of the flood water and be allowed to use the facilities to move groundwater, per the project contract. To get there, the pipeline has to cross under a Boswell-controlled canal. Groundwater and floodwater are two very different things. 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. Weather. 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. But out in the Buena Vista Water Storage District where Vidovich chairs the board, his original detractors all love him, Page said. Boswell and Vidovich also find themselves on opposite sides of whether the Kings River is being fully utilized by all of its rights holders. For his part, Vidovich said the issue isnt about water transfers, its about over-pumping. 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. var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; The purpose of the pipeline is irrelevant, said Sandridge Attorney Marshall Whitney. 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 Lukas works across all aspects of the firm from business development to portfolio company operations. Previously, Michael was an investment professional at RJI Capital, a boutique private equity and California produces 99% of all domestic walnuts. Its happened before, he said, up in Green Valley, which is west of Interstate 5 and a few miles north of the Kern County line. The sprawling Semitropic Water Storage District in Kern County wants Kings River flood water that it says current rights holders are letting flow to the ocean in heavy precipitation years. Groundwater agencies up and down the San Joaquin Valley had to file plans with the Department of Water Resources earlier this year showing how they will bring the areas seriously depleted aquifers into balance by 2040 per the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. 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. The boundaries of that service area, however, have yet to be determined. gcse.async = true; If they pass a law saying I cant sell it, then I cant sell it. And one Kern County water district could be the linchpin to it all. He paid em three times what anyone else wouldve for their land and now theyre all gettin water because of his policies, Page said. Less surface water creates a greater need to pump from underground, which lowers the water table for all users. He Toppled Vince McMahon. Looking back, he said he wouldnt make that sale today. Everyone else is just pumping and pumping, he said. Previously, Hugues was a principal investment professional at GDF SUEZ, leading transaction in LNG, infrastructure and power projects globally. Floodwater is considered a nuisance, a menace even. Though he also acknowledged that during the drought he sold some to fellow Dudley Ridge landowner Stewart Resnick, who owns the massive Wonderful Company. We welcome you to contact us to discuss how we might partner to create mutually beneficial opportunities in the agribusiness sector. Yeah, hes got a lot of money and hes been buying up land, makes some people nervous, Page said. His letter states that if all the groundwater being pumped out of the Tulare Lake subbasin isnt fully accounted for, that could harm other GSAs in the subbasin. 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. Thats fine for a farming operation the size of Sandridge or Boswell, but smaller growers cant afford to let that much ground go unplanted. However, Vidovich has been somewhat of a welcome presence to some in Kings County. Are They as Bad as Reported? The fight between the Tulare Lake Canal Company, controlled by the J.G. Philipp holds a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.. Many Kings County farmers, who have watched water leaving their region, wonder if its being sold to Los Angeles. The project was made possible by a grant from the Water Foundation with additional support from INN and the Fund for Investigative Journalism (FIJ). I understand the fear, but its not based on reason.. In contrast, John Vidovich, who helms Sandridge, comes from a Silicon Valley farming-turned-developer family. 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. I did sell water out of Kings County to an urban user and people didnt like it, Vidovich said. All right reserved. Related Story: Its Farmers vs. But thats the way it is. Why work with Sunridge Partners. 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 should be noted here that Angiolas general manager is Matthew Hurley. Kings County Can Prosecute Woman in Fetus Death Case Over Becerra Objection, Proposed Agreement Could Boost Funds To Fix Friant-Kern Canal. 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. The difference, Vidovich has charged, is that Boswell continues to farm using groundwater. Im actually not supposed to talk about it.. No, he said. 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. Water, Latest 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. And Kings County doesnt have an ordinance against moving groundwater outside its borders. SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site dedicated to covering water in the San Joaquin Valley. We are a specialist agribusiness investment group, with deep industry expertise and hands-on operating experience, helping mid-sized food and agriculture companies grow to become clear industry leaders. But thats become increasingly challenging. Other water districts contended it was much more. 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. 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 (See sidebar online.). Sandridge filed a restraining order to have the excavators, bulldozers and trucks removed, but Kings County Superior Court Mitchell agreed, giving Vidovich credit for seeing where groundwater laws were headed before anyone else. SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site dedicated to covering water in the San Joaquin Valley. We lose innovation., Still, Zetland didnt fault Sandridge or Boswell. They are suing Angiola for what they say was Hurleys illegal takeover of the tiny Atwell Island Water District. The project was ordered to remain in stasis until the issue comes back to court. 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 idea of capturing Kings River floodwaters isnt new. It was a permanent water loss for Kings County and put Vidovich under a lingering cloud of suspicion among area farmers and water managers. To bring it to fruition the district would have to apply to the United States Department of Agriculture or California state revolving fund for money, then build a new treatment facility and construct a line to get its wastewater to the Sandridge line. 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 . Boswell Farming Company and Sandridge Partners, controlled by John Vidovich. And if its not economical, you dont have to question the morality.. The. 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 Copyright 2023 SunnyGem. Legally? 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. Observers worry that Vidovich plans to pump Kings and Tulare counties dry, park that water in Kern County and then sell it to the highest bidder in dry years, leaving a once-thriving farm district barren. On 06/28/2019 SANCHEZ filed a Labor - Wrongful Termination lawsuit against VIDOVICH. Now Boswell is. 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. Regardless of Thursdays ruling, onlookers can expect it wont be the end of this issue. Often an equal amount of water splits south, wreaking havoc on farmland in the old Tulare Lake bottom, about 60 miles northwest of Bakersfield. But the purpose of the 48-inch Sandridge pipeline has been the subject of intense curiosity since last November when farmers first noticed excavators gouging a giant trench into the earth from north of Lemoore meandering 12 miles south to Stratford and, presumably, ending in the Blakeley Canal. Vidovich isnt the only pumper in that area, his supporters note. Heavy equipment blockading a pipeline project from cutting through a canal was ordered removed on Friday and the pipeline project was halted temporarily by a Kings County Superior Court judge. Kings and Tulare farmers and water managers want to know. Sunridge Partners actively seek investment opportunities that address the growing challenges in food and agriculture. - John Vidovich, owner of Sandridge Partners. Carol has been working with the Sunridge team since 2014. That could trigger intervention by the State Water Resources Control Board, SGMAs enforcement arm. Get inside access to SJV Water by becoming a member. The titans behind the comments are J.G. Combined, the two companies control close to 90,000 acre feet of the total 140,600 acre feet of contracted state water. The truth, as always, probably lies somewhere in between. The elder Vidovich built a regional real estate powerhouse, which the younger Vidovich grew into a statewide empire. When he brought the issue to the Kings County Water Commission in February 2020, it was tabled and the commission has not met since. 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. They get some water from the Kings River but rely mostly on groundwater. The line will transfer well water belonging to Sandridge Partners for irrigation purposes, Andrews declaration states. 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 Kings River Water Association, including the Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District, where Boswell is the majority landowner, are fighting the plan saying all available water is already being used. California Farming Country Buckles Under COVID-19. 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. 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. Enter your email address to receive INSTANT ALERTS of new articles and to be added to SJV Waters WEEKLY NEWSLETTER. He demanded Sandridge provide more data to the other groundwater sustainability agencies. As the processing and sales branch of the organization, SunnyGem almonds are sorted, processed and sold to the wholesale ingredient industry. Muriel started her career in the US as a personal assistant and then, 14 years was an Executive Assistant working with a large team at Eurostar International. But, in the last five or 10 years, only corporate guys have been coming in. Even if I were to move water and sell it, it would be to farming operations.. believe Sunridge can have the greatest impact are: Previously, Michael was an investment professional at RJI Capital, a boutique private equity and. But when the Kings does flood, as its doing now, millions of acre feet rush north to join up with the San Joaquin River and empty into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. It would involve a public permitting process and be very difficult, not to mention expensive, both men said. A trial date has been set for December 2022. Related Story: Groundwater Plan Could Give Corcoran More of a Sinking Feeling. 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. Or even to the great water bogeyman that haunts so many valley farmers Los Angeles? Our stewardship and value creation track-record is unparalleled and our investing, operations and business . Sandridge sent a hold harmless letter and refused the rest. And in 2017, the levees had to be raised another two feet at a cost of $14 million to residents, according to the letter. Vidovich freely admits that most of his land is for water rights. Vidovich owns that land, and Semitropic has already paid him $40 million for an easement. SANDRIDGE PARTNERS | 16 followers on LinkedIn. About 90% of its farms are considered family owned, according to the 2017 US Department of Agriculture farm census. Mortgage Fees Increase Today. Putting a blockade on the canal banks was not a legitimate use of that easement, he said. Boswell has been woven into the fabric of Kings County since its founder, James Griffin Boswell, first set foot on the old Tulare Lake bed 100 years ago and envisioned a cotton empire. Avila says corporations are gobbling up the land to plant more permanent crops and draining the countys water in the process. 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. Sandridge filed for a restraining order. 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. Hes so involved, in fact, he even chairs the monthly meetings for Buena Vista Water Storage District where Sandridge owns thousands of acres. And its that groundwater part of Semitropics agreement with Vidovich that is raising hackles along with eyebrows. When you have a bowl and only three straws, it takes longer to empty, Walker said. Vidovich owns the property in question, and he is well known in Valley circles. Yes, critics agree, but Boswell uses that water to irrigate in the district. As far as Walker knows, no agency, city or county board is trying to figure out whats really happening. Vidovich later made an offer for Page to come work for him as a consultant or, as Page says in his slow drawl, his firemancause I put out fires.. From that perspective, it becomes massively economically inefficient, said Zetland. First off, Hurley said, hes not Vidovichs henchman. Vidovich shrugged it off, saying the flaw amounted to putting the descriptions on the wrong pages and quickly appealed. In 2016, the levees had to be built up another four feet. Boswell Company, and Sandridge Partners, controlled by John Vidovich, will be back in court March 23 where Judge Valerie Chrissakis will decide whether the Sandridge pipeline is subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). 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. The little guy is gone, said Walker, the walnut farmer.

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