The Cuyama Valley, the driest region in Santa Barbara County, is awash in discontent. The world’s largest carrot producers, newly subject to restrictions on over-pumping, are suing all other landowners over their water rights, and legal fees are mounting.

The Cuyama groundwater basin, which overlaps with Kern, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties, is on the list of the state’s 21 basins in “critical overdraft.” Over time, more than twice as much water has been pumped out by farmers as has been replenished, resulting in ever-declining water levels underground. The valley gets an average 13 inches of rain per year; 10 is the definition of a desert. Wells are the only water supply here.

During the second half of the 20th century, alfalfa, a water-intensive crop, was largely responsible for the groundwater drawdown; today, carrots, a $69 million annual crop, are dominant, spurred by the demand for baby carrots.

Last year, records show, Grimmway Farms, the largest carrot corporation in world, and Bolthouse Farms, the second largest, pumped 28,500 acre-feet of water from the Cuyama basin — equivalent to nearly a year’s supply for three cities the size of Santa Barbara, population 87,000. The two companies alone account for more than 40% of basin pumping.

“The thing that bothers me personally the most is that Bolthouse and Grimmway have known for years that every year, they lower their pumps, and they haven’t chosen to make any changes,” said Jim Wegis, a pistachio and olive grower in Ventucopa, at the southeastern end of the valley. “They’re putting a real strain on everybody, trying to get that last little bit of water out.”

Under the state Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014, depleted aquifers such as Cuyama’s must be back in balance by 2040. In May, the Cuyama Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA), run by a group of county officials and major landowners, including Bolthouse and Grimmway, announced the first-ever pumping restrictions here — a 5% cutback from 2021 levels.

For now, the restrictions apply only to the flat central portion of the basin where the overdraft is most severe. Of about 32,000 acres here, Bolthouse and Grimmway own or lease more than half the land.

Beginning in 2025, under a GSA plan that was approved by the state in May, the pumping cutbacks are slated to increase to 6.5% yearly. In all, reductions of as much as 67% may be required basin-wide to achieve sustainability by 2040, the GSA says.

Lawyers’ Bonanza

That prospect is difficult enough. But what’s really roiling the waters now is the lawsuit that was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in 2021 by Grimmway Enterprises Inc. and its farm management companies; and Bolthouse Land Co. and Bolthouse Farms Inc. against “all persons claiming a right to extract or store groundwater “ in the Cuyama basin.

The companies are asking a judge to assign specific water rights to each valley pumper, a complex and potentially years-long process called an adjudication.

Bolthouse and Grimmway also asked the judge to halt the schedule of pumping reductions until the case can be resolved — even though two of their past and present executives sit on the GSA board.

“How much worse can it get?” asked Jake Furstenfeld, manager of the Walking U Ranch and a member of the citizens’ advisory committee to the GSA. “They don’t want to cut back. They just want to bypass the whole plan. They want a different plan.”

Wegis, a fourth-generation farmer in the valley, replaced most of his former 500-acre alfalfa operation years ago. With a drip irrigation system in place for his pistachio and olive trees, he says he’s cut his water use by three-quarters. He pumped 234 acre-feet of water last year, or less than 1% of what Bolthouse and Grimmway used.

“In this end of the valley, we’ve chosen to make changes,” Wegis said.

Wegis said he and 10 of his neighbors have together spent $150,000 in lawyers’ fees in the water rights case to date.

“Right now, the main basin has to take all the cuts,” he said. “Bolthouse and Grimmway want to spread those cuts out to the entire basin. They’re trying to get a better deal from the court.”

The first trial in the case will be held in August to consider the basin boundaries. Court documents show that 90 landowners in the valley have hired 20 law firms to defend their water rights. They include pistachio, olive, apple, vegetable, alfalfa and cannabis growers; vintners; dairy owners; cattle ranchers; the Cuyama school district and two small water agencies.

By now, it’s likely that these defendants, including the water district representing 700 New Cuyama residents, have collectively spent several hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawyers’ fees. Residents say some of their neighbors are selling their trucks to pay lawyers’ fees; others are taking second jobs or postponing their retirement. Some are living on Social Security and have borrowed money from their children.

The places where most residents live — Cuyama, New Cuyama and Ventucopa — are all on the state’s list of “disadvantaged unincorporated communities,” or communities with low-income populations and unmet infrastructure needs.

“People are highly upset,” Furstenfeld said. “They know that Bolthouse and Grimmway have all the money in the world to carry on, and we’re going to get drug through a lawsuit we can’t afford. It’s very much a financial strain on a lot of people. Do you pay for the lawyer or do you feed your family? This is the modern-day David vs. Goliath, without a doubt.”

Roping in Small Users

Furstenfeld pumps water for his family and 32 cows. Walking U has not seen a drop in its well water levels since the 1970s, he said.

An estimated 200 owners of valley properties such as Walking U use less than 2 acre-feet of water yearly, a tiny fraction of what the carrot companies consume. In court filings, they are called “de minimus pumpers.” If they fail to file a response in court, they risk losing their water rights altogether.

“Before the Court can determine what is de minimus water use in the Cuyama Basin, we need to better understand the number of pumpers and the quantity of water being pumped,” the Bolthouse and Grimmway lawsuit states.

Lawyers for Bolthouse and Grimmway declined to comment this month on the lawsuit or the companies’ farming practices. A reporter’s emails to corporate headquarters in Bakersfield requesting comment went unanswered.

In court filings, the companies argue that the Cuyama basin adjudication is “necessary to protect the Basin’s limited water supply” and “ensure that the waters of the Basin are put to maximal reasonable beneficial use.”

“Plaintiffs bring this action to protect the general welfare of the Basin, protect Plaintiffs’ right to pump groundwater and to achieve sustainability of the Basin,” they state.

County Board of Supervisors Chair Das Williams, who represents the Cuyama Valley and sits on the GSA board, wants Bolthouse and Grimmway to drop their suit. The GSA plan must be allowed to go forward so that “wells don’t run dry,” he said.

“I just hope they do some soul-searching and realize this adjudication is not good for the valley,” Williams said. “Their neighbors are being hurt. My constituents are all feeling nervous and insecure about the future of their water supply. The reality is, the government doesn’t want their water: It seems Bolthouse and Grimmway do.”

Melinda Burns is an investigative journalist with 40 years of experience covering immigration, water, science and the environment. As a community service, she offers her reports to multiple publications in Santa Barbara County, at the same time, for free.