Investigating Shadiness | Water & Power: A California Heist

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Some people gave a tip to Public Citizen, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization, about what appeared to be some shady water deals going on in Central Valley of California. The first thing I did was I looked up the Kern Water Bank online. Google was in its early years--more or less, 2003.

Well, it turns out it's largely controlled by something called "Roll International." And when I called their headquarters and asked to speak to a public relations person, they said they didn't have one. And I said, "Well, to whom should I address any research questions?" They said, "We don't give information to the public. We suggest you don't research us," and hung up.

So I drive down to Bakersfield and then followed the directions out to the address, and I'm a little bit confused because the sign outside says "Paramount Farming Company"--not "Kern Water Bank Authority." Walk in the front door and ask a receptionist, "Is--the Kern Water Bank, do you know where that office is?"

"Oh, yeah. They're just down the hall," they said. It's like, "OK." The Kern Water Bank is this supposedly public entity, and the members are a number of different water districts--water agencies, water storage districts, and also a private company called "Westside Mutual Water Company, LLC."

And I remember asking, "Who are they?" "Well, they're landowners." "Well, what land do they own?" "Well, they represent their own land." They didn't want to mention the name "Paramount Farming," which was notable considering where we were sitting--which was inside Paramount's office building.

It seemed as if this is a case of extremely valuable public property, an essential element of the state public water system, which had essentially been given to a very wealthy private company--but really just one landowner, one corporate farmer. [music playing]