Watch the water?
The Jerry Brown retiring article from previous bread (>>1633951) reminded me of Stewart and Lynda Resnick, California billionaires who have bought up a significant amount of California's fresh water.
They own huge farms - citrus, pomegranate, as well as pistachio and almond. Their farms use "use at least 120 billion gallons a year, two-thirds on nuts, enough to supply San Francisco's 852,000 residents for a decade."
Also, they own a "majority stake in the Kern Water Bank, one of California's largest underground water storage facilities, which they got fairly but sagely from the government 20 years ago.
It is capable of storing 500 billion gallons of water. They have also spent at least $35 million in recent years buying up more water from nearby districts to replenish their supplies."
With Jerry Brown's move to criminalize water use in California, and given what amounts to the Resnick's criminal abuse of water rights, this seems like a pretty underhanded move at the expense of Californians
and seems notable to me.
Here are some additional links about the Resnicks, about Jerry Brown's Prop1 and Prop2 and those in support of these propositions:
Resnicks: Koch Brothers of California Water https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/09/28/18762178.php
Resnicks: Nuttiest Billionaire Couple https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2015/11/04/americas-nuttiest-billionaire-couple-amid-drought-stewart-and-lynda-resnick-are-richer-than-ever/#7eda87653713
Resnicks: The thirstiest Californians: https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/08/lynda-stewart-resnick-california-water/
Resnicks: Expand almond acreage as city dwellers forced to slash water use https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/4/20/1379102/-Resnick-increases-almond-acreage-as-city-dwellers-forced-to-slash-water-use
"Uses as much water for his almonds as 38million Californians are now required to conserve."
Resnicks: Wikipedia:T he Resnicks use at least 120 billion gallons a year, two-thirds on nuts, enough to supply San Francisco's 852,000 residents for a decade.
They own a majority stake in the Kern Water Bank, one of California's largest underground water storage facilities, which the state of California
had spent $75 million to develop. It is capable of storing 500 billion gallons of water. They have also spent at least $35 million in recent years
buying up more water from nearby districts to replenish their supplies." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_Resnick#Criticism
Resnicks: Contributed $150,000 to Jerry Brown's Proposition 1 water grab in the 2014 election" While serving on the board of Conservation International, a corporate "environmental" NGO, Resnick become notorious
for buying subsidized Delta water and then selling it back to the public for a big profit as Delta fish and Central Valley salmon populations crashed.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2014/10/09/1335459/-Corporate-Agribusiness-dumps-850-000-into-Proposition-1
California: Uses eminent domain law to acquire hundreds of farms in the Delta for Gov. Jerry Brown's controversial underground water tunnel. http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/08/18/california-to-seize-farms-for-jerry-browns-water-tunnels/
The following are the donors who contributed $150,000 or more to the Yes on Prop. 1 and 2 campaign:
Sean Parker $1,000,000
California Alliance for Jobs - Rebuild California Committee $500,000
Health Net $445,600
Laborers Pacific Southwest Regional Organizing Coalition PAC $400,000
California American Council of Engineering Companies $250,000
California Farm Bureau Federation $250,000
California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems $250,000
Northern California Carpenters Regional Council Issues PAC $250,000
Reed Hastings $250,000
SW Regional Council Of Carpenters $250,000
Western Growers Service Corporation $250,000
Doris F. Fisher $245,000
John J. Fisher $245,000
Robert J. Fisher $245,000
William S. Fisher $245,000
California Cotton Alliance $200,000
Northern California District Council Of Laborers Issues PAC $200,000
Stewart A. Resnick $150,000
The State Building And Construction Trades Council of CA $150,000
Sean Parker: An interesting aside about Sean Parker (Napster/FB), whose donation to Brown's Prop1 water grab more than doubled the next largest donor's donation.
Given his very public pro-marijuana stance, backed by millions in donations to pro-marijuana Prop64, it seems rather obvious to me that he has or will have interests in marijuana grow operations in at least California and Oregon.
Article: Parker and Soros have donated millions in support of marijuana legalization: https://cannabisinsider.org/2018/05/07/sean-parker-and-george-soros-have-given-millions-to-support-marijuana-legalization/