the essential
As controversies swell across the Atlantic over the scale of the fires in Los Angeles and the lack of water to put out the flames, one name stands out. That of the Resnick family, at the head of a multi-billion dollar agricultural empire, singled out for its enormous water consumption in a state regularly hit by drought.
There is not enough water to put out the megafires hitting Los Angeles. The controversy swells and one name returns to public debate in the United States: Stewart and Lynda Resnick. This billionaire couple is accused of having monopolized the water reserves of the megacity on the American west coast.
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Californians were quickly asked by the authorities to save water, because certain tanks supplying fire hydrants were emptied by the fight against the flames. While the first fire broke out around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7, by 3 a.m. Wednesday all water tanks in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood were dry, reducing flow from hydrants. “Fires located at altitude, declared Janisse Quiñones, general director of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Electricity in the columns of Los Angeles Times. A situation due to the “huge demand” on the system, “four times higher than normal for 15 hours straight”.
“450 million m3 of water each year”
Drought and water supply problems are regular occurrences in California. Despite everything, the situation arouses indignation among the Angelines, the inhabitants of Los Angeles. And, for some Internet users, the culprits are obvious. Many of them point the finger at Stewart and Lynda Resnick, a couple at the head of an agri-food empire worth nearly $5 billion accused of monopolizing the water reserves of the American state.
Already in 2016, the magazine Mother Jonesrelayed by International Mailclaimed the couple consumed “more water than all of Los Angeles”, with crops pumping “nearly 450 million m3 of water each year”. Also in 2015, and when California had just experienced four years of record drought, the magazine Forbes pointed to the couple’s agricultural “oasis” which consumed enough water “to supply San Francisco’s 852,000 residents for a decade.”
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Quasi-monopole
Resnick is the name behind Wonderful pistachios, Fiji Water and Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice. “The Resnicks are the world’s largest producers of pistachios and almonds,” Mother Jones reported in 2016. They also grow citrus fruits, among other things. Very water-intensive activities. “Skillful maneuverers in the face of the rules for water use in California, they consume, in certain years, larger quantities than all the inhabitants of Los Angeles and the entire San Francisco Bay combined,” asserted the 2016 survey.
What gives them this quasi-monopoly of water is an agreement concluded in 1994 called “The Monterey Agreement”. Thanks to this, they hold the majority of the water in the Kern reserve, which they share with other private companies. A situation which led several NGOs to initiate proceedings but these were obviously never successful.
Most of the water used by Los Angeles comes from the Colorado River. 80% of the state’s water resources are used for agriculture.
