The wildfires in Los Angeles have drawn attention to agricultural tycoons Stewart and Linda Resnick, whose farms consume more water than the entire city. Despite their Beverly Hills mansion and art collection remaining safe, the Resnicks face criticism for their extensive water usage amid a severe drought, with accusations of manipulating California’s water politics through political donations. Their ventures, including a stake in Kern Water Bank, underscore their significant influence over local resources. Critics liken them to the “California water Koch brothers,” highlighting the intertwined nature of politics and water management, especially during the devastating fires affecting the region.
The wildfires sweeping Los Angeles have put an uncomfortable spotlight on two of the city’s wealthiest residents, agricultural magnates Stewart and Linda Resnick, whose farms are eating up a vital and scarce resource: water. are.
So far, the Resnicks’ Beverly Hills mansion and the Picasso paintings that adorn its walls have survived the fires in nearby Palisades and Eaton, even as nearby celebrities’ homes have gone up in smoke.
But just as L.A. firefighters can’t get a single drop of water out of the fire hydrants that line the streets, they can’t so easily escape criticism of an agricultural empire that siphons more water than the entire city.
Critics say these so-called “Beverly Hills farmers” and their relationship with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and other politicians may be one reason California is grappling with such an environmental apocalypse. states.
“The Resnick family is powerful and it’s ridiculous that they control so much water,” filmmaker Yascha Levin, co-director of the upcoming documentary Pistachio Wars, told DailyMail.com. told Com.
“How can one family own more water than the entire city of Los Angeles, home to about 4 million people, uses in a year?”
Levine said wildfires, the region’s chronic drought and other environmental issues are part of a “larger political-technical apparatus in which both Los Angeles and the Resnick family are embedded.”
The Resnick family, worth $13 billion, is California’s wealthiest farmer, owning about 185,000 acres of land and a stake in the Kern Waterbank, a reservoir of about 20,000 acres of surplus water in the San Joaquin Valley. There is.
Mr. Stewart and Linda Reznis, 87 and 81, respectively, are worth $13 billion from their control of California’s farmland and water resources. The photo was taken at a mansion in Beverly Hills decorated with art.
Los Angeles couple’s farming operations and water consumption come under intense scrutiny as apocalyptic wildfires tear the city apart
The octogenarian couple’s vast Wonderful Company business empire includes Pomme Wonderful Pomegranate Juice, Wonderful Pistachio, Fiji Water, Haros Mandarin and flower delivery service Teleflora.
They reportedly donated $1.9 billion to academic institutions, climate change efforts, and cultural organizations and programs in California’s Central Valley. An entire pavilion at the LA County Museum of Art bears its name.
Despite their philanthropic efforts, the Resnick family has been repeatedly criticized for the large amounts of water siphoned off on their farms and their ability to persuade politicians to take ever greater control over a scarce and precious resource.
A 2016 investigation by Mother Jones found that in some years, the Resnick family’s farming operations consumed more water than the residents of Los Angeles and the entire San Francisco Bay Area combined.
The report says their business was built on controlling the water supply by manipulating the underground politics of California’s Byzantine water regulations and befriending the politicians who run the Golden State. insisted.
These include six-figure donations over the years to governors ranging from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Jerry Brown. In 2021, they raised $250,000 for the campaign to stop Mr. Newsom from being ousted from office.
In the 1990s, the Resnick family reportedly bought up tens of thousands of acres of almond, pistachio, and citrus orchards on the cheap in and around Kern County in the San Joaquin Valley.
At the time, California used taxpayer money to divert rivers and store water to provide water to farms and cities in drought-prone areas during dry seasons. We were building new water infrastructure.
The Resnicks have been awarded a long-term contract that includes a majority stake in the Kern Water Bank, a 32-square-mile recharge pond that stores up to 1.5 million acre-feet of water, according to Forbes. Banks may also sell water back to the state.
Years of litigation have not been enough to break water agreements that benefit them, and the Resnicks appear to have enough support from state politicians to weather criticism of their farming practices.
The fire put a spotlight on the Resnick family’s relationship with California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The Resnick family owns more than 185,000 acres of farmland throughout California, including the Ahmosud Forest, like this photo from Firebaugh
The Resnick family has long battled criticism over the vast amounts of water used to irrigate crops, such as this almond orchard’s irrigation system.
Stewart and Linda Resnick attend the annual gala at one of the museums they fund
Last year, Newsom praised Resnicks for making a smart contract at the right time.
“These are the rules of the road, the rules we set, and they act on them,” Newsom told the New York Times.
“If we are going to criticize, we as policymakers need to reflect on the system we have created.”
A spokesperson for The Wonderful Company has defended the Resnicks in the past against allegations that they are guzzling water and making essential supplies difficult and expensive for others to obtain.
In 2021, a spokesperson told Forbes, “We do not believe we have sufficient purchasing power to impact water prices.”
However, the company did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
Like the Resnicks, many of the company’s staff live or work in Los Angeles, but their lives have been upended by the fires that have torn through the city.
As of Friday morning, the wildfire had killed at least 10 people and destroyed nearly 10,000 structures, with the dry desert winds that fanned the devastating blaze showing some signs of slowing. .
The Palisades Fire, on the city’s west side between Santa Monica and Malibu, and the Eaton Fire, on the east side near Pasadena, were the most destructive in Los Angeles history, burning 53 square miles and reducing entire neighborhoods to ash.
The fires were made possible by unusually dry conditions and prolonged drought across Southern California.
Firefighters battling the blaze have been repeatedly hampered by low water pressure and dry hydrants, exposing the vulnerability of water systems not built for wildfires of this scale.
This raises troubling questions about the control of California’s water supply and the influence of the Resnick family and other billionaire farmers entangled in state politics.
Couple’s Amazing Pistachio is known for its catchy “Get Crackin” ad campaign
The couple acquired a majority stake in Kern Water Bank, one of California’s most important water storage resources.
The Resnick family is a major philanthropist and their name is engraved on the redesigned Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, California.
Activist and YouTuber Lauren Steiner called the Resnicks the “California water Koch brothers” and held a rally outside their 25,000-square-foot mansion to protest their increased control over state supplies. I am doing it.
“I’m worried that Newsom, a neoliberal who needs campaign funds to run for president, won’t challenge control and management of California’s water,” Steiner told DailyMail.com. Ta.
For Levine, the fires illustrate how the “terraforming water systems” California built over the past century can cause disasters to spread across America’s second-largest city.
“Everyone who lives in L.A., from celebrities to TikTok influencers to pistachio oligarchs to the guy working in the kitchen, is bound to L.A.,” Levine told DailyMail.com.
“They can live in Los Angeles because of this terraformed water system. Without that water supply, the city would still be a sleepy little town rather than the sprawling metropolis it is today. It will remain.”
