Is John Vidovich planning to sell off the valley’s lifeblood? Or is he just the newest water baron on the block?
When you first meet John Vidovich, everything from his ball cap to his dirty boots tells you he’s a farmer. He certainly looks the part in his well-worn jeans and checkered shirts. But this outwardly unassuming multimillionaire has become a lightning rod of controversy. Because, while he does farm thousands of acres of pistachios, almonds…
Read MoreTwisted saga of failed McAllister Ranch development takes another turn
The saga of a local icon of the 2007 real estate crash continues with yet another twist. McAllister Ranch, once touted to become a 6,000-home, elite Bakersfield suburb with its own Greg Norman-designed golf course, has a new owner. Well, part of it. And the owner is only sort of new. Buena Vista Water Storage…
Read MoreGroundwater repayment coming due early for some valley farmers
Fixing our groundwater deficit will be painful. No way around it. And growers in the massive Semitropic Water Storage District are learning that sooner than most. Though the state has set a series of short- and long-term deadlines to restore the depleted water table, Semitropic is so far in the hole it got special legislation…
Read MoreDeclining agricultural land values tied to water
It’s all about the water. As far as agricultural land values, that is. A new report on the outlook for Kern County ag land values shows water emerging as a major deciding factor in what land is worth, according to Michael Ming, a broker for Alliance Ag Services LLC. His report shows that, depending on…
Read MorePollution plumes stopped by drought but how much longer for cleanup?
The good news is that more than 40 million pounds of petroleum hydrocarbons have been sucked — literally — out of the ground around the former Shell Oil (now Alon) refinery on Rosedale Highway. And the really good news is that toxic plume, which had been creeping toward the Kern River bed and several drinking-water…
Read MoreSurvey says! We got a boatload of water coming soon
The numbers are in and they are good. Amazing, actually. The April 1 manual snowpack survey for the Kern River basin shows we are at an overall 215 percent of average, according to the Department of Water Resources. (See side box for particulars.) The basin was at 49 percent of average last year and that…
Read MoreWater districts stuffing Kern River water in every nook and cranny they can
The good news is that not a drop of Kern River water is going into the California Aqueduct to fill Southern California taps. Yet. But water managers are keeping an eagle eye on the snowpack and the weather hoping there are no sudden moves from either in the near future. A warm rain or rapid…
Read MoreWater districts’ split leaves groundwater bank even more up in the air
If all had gone as planned six years ago, the failed McAllister Ranch housing development would be brimming with water right now. Instead, the two agricultural water districts that had hoped to turn the foreclosed subdivision into a groundwater bank are now in court over the 2,000-acre property. The whirlwind courtship that brought Rosedale-Rio Bravo…
Read MoreLittle Poso Creek causing big problems for farmers in northern Kern
Poso Creek wreaked havoc on a number of northern Kern County farms in recent weeks, flooding thousands of acres. Farmers were busy patching levees and pumping remnants of the flood water off their lands Thursday. But even as berms were rebuilt and their fields dried, farmers eyed the giant Sierra snowpack and warned, “It’s not…
Read MoreFarm land in Kern is down, but don’t fret
Agricultural land values in the Central Valley, and Kern County, have slipped a bit but most analysts aren’t worried about a major drop. Though water will become a larger question mark in coming years. For now, analysts are looking at the recent dip in values as more of a “breather” from the meteoric rates at…
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