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Page added on April 11, 2015
The Next Crime Wave in Farm Country: Stealing Water
Madera County sits smack in the middle of the state, and it’s mostly farms. As in many parts of the Valley, wells have gone dry here and water prices have soared. Thieves, who’ve been increasingly targeting rural farms, are starting to understand that anything water-related is a potential bonanza.
“They’re taking the water hoses, taking the copper wiring,” says the county’s District Attorney, David Linn. “We’ve even had instances where they’ve come in and stolen the water pumps from the farmers.”
Linn has recently launched a new task force so rural residents and farmers can reach a deputy district attorney 24-7 to report crime, including illegal well drilling.
Linn says a hypothetical call might be, “You know over the past two weeks, the water flow on my kitchen sink has continued to decrease. I notice there’s a couple of big drill rigs across the road, looks like they’re very active.”
An investigator could come out and talk with the well driller to make sure they’re drilling where they should be.
“We want to stop the wholesale planned attempt by water drillers to essentially tap out entire neighborhoods of homes without proper legal authority,” says Linn.
If water is siphoned out of a storage tank, or a water pump goes missing, the DA’s office could dispatch investigators to the scene to collect evidence for prosecution.
Under last year’s landmark groundwater law, local officials will be taking on the primary responsibility for managing groundwater and enforcing new rules.
The Madera County Task Force also plans to educate farmers about the best kinds of fences and tank enclosures to keep out water thieves.
Officials in urban areas are grappling with similar worries: water robbers pilfering fire hydrants, water delivery trucks taking water to which they’re not entitled, or people tapping into water lines at construction sites.
The Contra Costa Water District has increased fines for stealing water from $25 to $250 for a first offense and $500 for subsequent offenses. An official at the East Bay Municipal Utility District says that agency will be “cracking down” on water theft and plans to enact new penalties as part of a drought emergency plan expected next week.
12 Comments on "The Next Crime Wave in Farm Country: Stealing Water"
paulo1 on Sun, 12th Apr 2015 8:45 am
Cameras and guns should do the trick.
God, is this close to home. I was born and raised in Contra Costa County until we left and moved to Canada, almost 50 years ago. I am sitting here on very green Vancouver Island thinking about our own summer. We have an excellent drilled well, but only because a few years ago a pipe broke and ran our dug well dry. Then a month after that my wife left the water running in the greenhouse and did it again. Two weeks later I had a driller come in and the well is about 50′ below the river level and in a 50′ gravel lense. Last summer I had friends run out of water and it was a big drag for them, coinciding with a house full of wedding guests. They had to haul water in and shower at a rec centre, friends, etc.
Bay Area suffering water woes? I can not even imagine the implications if this drought continues.
I guess people will get fed up and move on if this continues.
ghung on Sun, 12th Apr 2015 9:13 am
Right on, Paulo. I see a lot of folks discounting a troublesome future (’cause they’ll figure something out; they always do…). Meanwhile, here in the land of water-a-plenty, our new greenhouse/hightunnel has been approved and is on the way. My first goal is to improve the water system to the garden area. A new solar pump arrives tomorrow and I’m adding another 1600 gallon tank on (in) the ridge above the garden; total storage will be about 3400 gallons; hoping to pump at least 1000 per sunny day. May not seem like a lot considering the scale of California’s problems, but sufficient for our gardening needs. If not, we have two ponds to fall back on.
I expect the eventual cost/benefit ratio of this project to be quite good considering national/global climate/economic trends.
I got one of those wearable GoPro cameras and plan to do some videos on this latest project. Who knows; perhaps I’ll become a Youtube star 😉
Rodster on Sun, 12th Apr 2015 9:22 am
No country is immune to water problems.
Industrial pollution turning Canadian lakes into ‘jelly’
“The Canadian lakes are slowly but steadily turning into jelly since the industrial pollution has given jelly-clad organisms an edge over their calcium-protected competitors, researchers say, warning about potential impact on drinking water systems.”
http://rt.com/news/207091-ontario-lakes-pollution-jelly/
paulo1 on Sun, 12th Apr 2015 10:51 am
Ghung,
Would you send on the make of your solar pump? I am debating whether or not to buy a gas fired Honda for our pond to water a remote garden….spuds, squash, fruit trees, etc. I looked into a solar pump out of Alberta but it was approx. $1400.00. It seemed to be a Cadillac of pumps. A simple rv 12V would not last. Pumping distance 200′ lateral, maybe 20′ vertical to fill a cistern for gravity drip watering. I have the PV water tank, already. I was going to have a closed loop system keeping the cistern always full, and returning excess back to the pond. I can get a good honda pump for $500. I would appreciate your thoughts.
Apneaman on Sun, 12th Apr 2015 1:58 pm
The infrastructure theft is on the rise in many places. Especially where there is high unemployment and very little of a social safety net. Regardless of one’s opinions of the poor the fact of the matter is that poverty is on the rise and hopeless people often become desperate people. There will come a point when the resources are no longer there to “lock them up” and the police will only become more brutal – cheered on by those who have not been thrown under the bus and want their families and property protected. It’s a vicious cycle and it’s going to lead to more crime, violence and social unrest. In the ME all the suicide bombing has much more to do with having no future-no hope than simple religious beliefs, especially for testosterone fueled young men who are unlikely to be able to get married without a job.
The rush to humiliate the poor
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-rush-to-humiliate-the-poor/2015/04/07/8795b192-dd67-11e4-a500-1c5bb1d8ff6a_story.html?postshare=391428516662506
Just How ‘Socially Advanced’ Is the U.S.? You Might Be Surprised
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/where_does_the_us_rank_among_the_worlds_most_socially_advanced_nations_201
ghung on Sun, 12th Apr 2015 7:14 pm
Yo, Paulo, my choice for clear water solar pumping is from Sun Pumps ( https://www.sunpumps.com/ ), truly great pumps but a bit costly. Ours (for the house) set us back about $600, but has been chugging along reliably for 9 years. Entirely field repairable. For the garden I’m going to try a Chinese knockoff for about $130: http://www.ebay.com/itm/191234721646 . It’ll be here tomorrow and I’ll let you know what I think. Both of these are clean water pumps; diaphragm type.
In your case you may want to do something like this considering your relatively low head: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPvPJuvLw9Q
Heavy duty DC bilge pumps can be had fairly cheap and can tolerate some trash/particulate pumping since they are centrifugal pumps.
Makati1 on Sun, 12th Apr 2015 8:29 pm
Apneaman, you seem to be navigating the path to the future with your eyes open. Others are just in various stages of denial. They think they are seeing reality, but it is the reality twisted through the “Ministry of Truth”. I wonder what George Orwell’s “1984” novel would have been like if he had known about the NSA and the tech available today?
BTW: For those who have NOT read “1984”, I recommend you pick up a copy in the classics section of your local book store and read it this summer. See how many similarities there are to today in America. You might be surprised.
Davy on Sun, 12th Apr 2015 8:50 pm
Makster, I realize you consider Wiki a tool of the iron curtain people but this report places Asia as mostly not free or partly free. The P’s are just partly free. You are always telling me how free they are. Are you embellishing the truth again?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_in_the_World
paulo1 on Sun, 12th Apr 2015 9:06 pm
Thanks Ghung. Our power was out today due to a falling tree, thus the delay in response.
Makati1 on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 2:23 am
Davy, with the Us in green, I know right away that it is all BS. You have fewer “freedoms” than the Filipinos. You have no idea how trussed up and ready for the fire you really are. But it would take a book not a few paragraphs to explain. As you do not want to see, it would be a waste of my time to try.
The Bill of Rights are dead. The Constitution died long ago. You have no rights when ‘the man’ comes to your door. Wait and see.
You don’t even chose your leaders anymore, unless you are a billionaire. I say ‘you’ collectively as an American. I have no rights either. I accept that as I am also an American of 14 generations. I am no longer proud of my native country. It is no longer America, except in name. The sooner it dies, the better for the rest of the world.
Davy on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 6:46 am
OH, Makster, you cannot stand when your super heroes in Asia look bad by real analysis. The linked analysis is I am sure flawed but not completely. If these analysis does not fit your agenda it is an automatically referenced as propaganda by the iron curtain people. You use the same selective facts and distortions as the propaganda you rail against.
I do not deny any of your assertions. I am US anti-establishment and I am railing against such abuses. Yet, you are in delusion and denial your Asia has much freedom. In places like China there is little freedom except narrow windows. The P’s is a third world country of little significance hence a carefree control. You are such an agendist which does not allow you the breath of analysis someone using the truth can have.
You have to have the good verses bad position which can only be black and white and not account for grey subtleties. You make yourself look like an idiot by bashing and trashing the US and glorifying Asia. The anti-Americans here love it and show you support but that does not make you right. You ignore the worst aspects of Asia with its overpopulation and ecological destruction. You instead focus on the west and its problems. This is agenda in its pure form. It springs from a personal message of a failed US life.
Daddio7 on Mon, 13th Apr 2015 6:15 pm
On one hand, senior water rights, on the other, Democracy. So we vote to see gets the most water? Kind of like voting for social programs, you know, three wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for lunch.