Other options for water on the table
-November 7,2021-
The statewide drought has put small communities in a bind when it comes to water. Kettleman City may easily be the poster child. Benzine and arsenic in the water wells in this I-5 town led to state and federal help to build an $11 milion water treatment plant in 2020 so the town could finally get clean water from the California Aqueduct that runs right through town.
But now with the drought of 2021 the state says they can offer only a measly 96AF of water this coming year to run through this state of the art plant.There is only a 5% allocation for water users on the westside of the Valley.That is not enough to supply the residents and businesses of Kettleman City this coming year and in fact – they are 214AF short, says Kettleman City Community Service Districtengineer Brian Skaggs.
The solution – there are lots of balls in the air admits Skaggs including coming up with about $300,000 to buy that amount of water from other state water contractors. Skaggs says they are on the prowl for federal money to pay for that.
Then there is the widespread criticism of the state Dept of Water Resources accused in multiple media reports of not caring about the poor people of Kettleman City or the Valley farm community for that matter. Could all the cussing loosen the purse strings?
Jackson Ranch connection
One new twist you may have not heard about is a plan to help the Kettleman City Community Service District hatched by the nearby Jackson Ranch development in return for use of the town’s brand new water treatment plant .
We need each other explains Jackson Ranch developer John Lash who hopes to begin building the first phase of the fully -entitled development some 6 miles down I-5 as soon as the first quarter of next year. They plan to begin constructing a 4.2 mile pipeline soon that would connect to the Kettleman City facility.
In return Jackson Ranch John Lash says they have plenty of water even with a 5% canal allocation to help Kettleman City with at least part of the shortfall. Lash would not say exactly how much water has been promised, citing a confidentiality agreement.
The Jackson Ranch project got its final approval from Dudley Ridge Water District who manages Jackson Ranch water as of Oct 15. The final agreement includes the water supply number promised to Kettleman.
In their EIR, Jackson Ranch says they will save a large amount of their ag water requirements with the removal of a block of almond trees – freeing up water for the development project.
Despite the assurances, KCCSD engineer Brian Skaggs says he has yet to receive a firm plan.But Lash says his partner is in regular touch with Skaggs.
Dudley Ridge WD who manages the water for Jackson Ranch, may be interested in the success of the I-5 development with board members well versed in the market for big logistics projects in the Valley that could land at Jackson Ranch. Three board members, representatives of Wonderful Company, John Vidovich and Larry Ritchie all have big industrial/distribution projects in the Valley.
Already Lash says Jackson Ranch has landed a major truck stop and two gas stations, all of which are expected to go vertical in the first quarter of 2022. Lash expects the initial 30 acre project,now fully graded,will not need potable water for now – taking only raw water they get from the aqueduct to be used for fire fighting and installing hydrants required before the new tenants can break ground,
While Kettleman City and mostly small disadvantaged communities don’t have the where -with-all to have banked water or to carry on trade deals with Kern River Water Bank and Irvine Ranch – Dudley Ridge has. The westside district needs at least 60,000AF to meet its crop requirements including water for pomegranate and almond trees. Most of that will not come from their contract with state water but from banked water and trades.
In the end it may not be the government that saves Kettleman City but neighboring farmers turned logistics developers.
Besides this option Skaggs says the district is also asking for federal help based on the fact there is a small section of the aqueduct that is federally owned and could be a source of water. Probably time to call Sen Feinstein.
Despite all those big plans a few miles away at Jackson Ranch, Kettleman City got some good news recently too when Tesla announced that it would build a second supercharger station in the community taking the number of charge stations to nearly 100 in town -the largest supercharging complex in the world. The second 56 units are planned away from the first 40-built in 2017.
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