Chapter 117: Dispute (4)
TL: Hanguk
Nancy looked at us in silence for a while. She wasn't just a clerk who processed paperwork; she had spent decades watching the struggles and disputes of farm owners, so she understood full well how much of an impact what we'd just said would have on the community.
"...Is this the supplementary material?"
"That's right. Oh, and this is a printout, so feel free to just look at this one."
She took the USB drive and the documents I'd handed her. Then she began checking the contents, turning the pages one by one. The way Nancy's expression hardened, little by little, quietly betrayed just how serious the situation was.
"Pressure waves and rising EC... the data's pretty clear, isn't it? Good. This can go forward as a formal Basin Harm Investigation request submitted to NSJWCD headquarters."
Clenching her fist, Chloe asked,
"Then... their farm gets investigated too, right?"
"It might be more than just an investigation. If the aquifer gets mixed together by reverse pumping like this, it could qualify as a Groundwater Contamination Risk. That's the kind of thing that could lead to fines, restrictions on well use, or even get the EPA involved... so that farm is probably going to find itself in a very tough spot."
Chloe looked at me, her eyes literally going round.
"Oh, I like that."
I let out a small laugh and asked Nancy,
"Is there any additional paperwork we need to submit?"
Nancy pulled out a file folder and spread open a new form. The cover read:
[FORM GW-412]
Groundwater Harm & Overdraft Investigation Request (Groundwater Damage & Excessive Water Extraction Investigation Request)
"Once you submit this, then separately from the dispute investigation that's already under way, the 'southern farm's well usage records, pump power consumption, and groundwater sample collection' will all happen automatically. Would you like to sign?"
It was Chloe, the farm owner, who answered.
"Of course."
Chloe picked up the pen and wrote out her name, clear and deliberate.
Chloe Harris.
Nancy picked up the pen again, squared away the file, and said quietly,
"All right. From here on, this is classified as a formal investigation. Here's your receipt. A 'Request to Open an Investigation' has been registered as of today's date, and within ten days at most, the investigation team from NSJWCD headquarters will move on it."
"Thank you."
Walking out of the Lodi County administrative office and getting into the car, I felt the tightness that had been sitting in my chest suddenly lift. Chloe must have felt the same, because she was grinning ear to ear.
"I was sooo wronged over this. Honestly, if it weren't for you, I'd have told my dad and asked him to help."
"You didn't tell him?"
"Nope. I figured I'd tell him once it was all sorted out."
That she hadn't told Uncle Frederick really came as a surprise. I'd assumed she would have naturally gone to him and gotten his advice.
"Why didn't you?"
"Back when Dad signed the farm over to me, he told me something. Now that I'm a farm owner too, I can't go running to him every time a problem comes up, begging him to just tell me what to do and fix it for me. He said I should at least try to handle things myself, and only come to him when I'm absolutely sure I can't manage it."
"Ah... so that's what he said."
"But since I solved it with your help, it feels like I only half-listened to what Dad said, which kind of bugs me. Still, I think next time I'll be able to handle it on my own."
I could guess at how Uncle Frederick must feel about his daughter. He wanted her to do well, but he also wanted her to grow as a farm owner, so rather than just doing everything for her, it seemed he wanted her to grow into the role on her own.
And yet, with this particular problem, I was certain Uncle Frederick wouldn't have been disappointed even if Chloe had come to him for help. Because a water dispute like this could be the kind of complicated, thorny problem that even a man like him would find awkward to deal with.
"If I'd known that, maybe I shouldn't have helped you?"
"What did you say?"
Watching her instantly bristle, eyes blazing, I quickly got the car moving.
"I'm just saying, that's all... just saying."
"Anyway, once this is all wrapped up, I'm going to tell Dad about it, proudly. And honestly, going back and forth to the administrative office, filing an objection and submitting paperwork when a dispute like this comes up, that feels like a huge experience too. I'd never done it before, so I just vaguely figured it'd be hard and exhausting, but next time I could do it on my own."
"You've definitely grown in that respect."
After that, I mostly spent my mornings checking the soil and the state of the saplings at Chloe's pear farm, then returned to the winery in the afternoons to walk the newly acquired land and oversee the workers. Then, three days later, a call came through on Chloe's cell phone from Nancy.
"Ms. Chloe Harris, the report is being circulated to NSJWCD's upper division. It's gone all the way up to the Regional Hydro Unit. There'll probably be some movement within this week."
"Understood."
After hanging up, Chloe relayed the contents of her call with Nancy to me.
"Regional Hydro Unit, so that means it's being investigated somewhere higher up than investigator Harold?"
"Right. Now let's just watch and see how it plays out."
Smiling, I turned my head toward where the pistachio farm would be, though it was nowhere in sight.
South of Lodi, California, an endless sprawl of pistachio fields.
Jack O'Connell trudged into the farm office in his heavy boots, the same as always. His day always began with a look at the well gauges. It was to check the power consumption of the pumps that had run all night, the water level changes by the hour, and the rest of it.
"Good... not bad."
Just as he muttered it, as if casting a spell on himself, his phone suddenly rang. The caller was Jeffrey Clarkson from the walnut farm.
"What's going on this early...?"
Before he could even finish, a thoroughly flustered voice came through from the other end of the line.
"Dammit! They're saying the well-use suspension order on Chloe's pear farm has been put on hold?"
"What?"
"Looks like that kid filed a reconsideration request with Lodi County."
"And they accepted it?"
Jack O'Connell's face hardened into a scowl. He had been farming in this region for a long time, so he knew that Lodi County didn't entertain half-baked objections. And on top of that, such a fast response... he'd figured the thing would stall out for at least a few weeks, the dispute dragging on with the surrounding farm owners.
"For now, the neighboring farms are at least easing off the suspicious looks, but..."
"No, let's keep pushing. You know that's how we make this easy on ourselves, right?"
"I know that. That's exactly why I'm calling you in such a panic. Dammit... we slipped investigator Harold a whole two thousand bucks, and it ends up like this... we could've squeezed at least thirty grand out of them."
If the objection had failed, Jack O'Connell and Jeffrey had been planning to file a lawsuit against the pear farm and collect at least thirty thousand dollars in damages. That was precisely why the neighboring farms had come at it so aggressively from the very start.
"Can't be helped. Let's just sit tight for now."
After hanging up, Jack stared at his laptop with a grim expression. The pear farm had needed to prove, with hard objective numbers, that there was no problem on their end with the aquifer, and the fact that they'd managed it in such a short span of time was unbelievable.
Just then, he saw two white trucks pulling onto the farm in the distance at the same moment. Dust swirled up in the wind, and the blue lettering on the sides of the trucks grew clearer and clearer.
NSJWCD – REGIONAL HYDRO UNIT
Jack's face went pale.
"Wh... why is that coming here?"
The trucks stopped in front of the office, a door opened, and an investigator in a crisp shirt stepped down and approached, file folder in hand.
"Are you Jack O'Connell?"
"Yes, but what's this...?"
The investigator pulled out a document and said,
"We need to conduct an on-site inspection on suspicion of reverse pumping and aquifer pressure disturbance. We'll need you to grant us access to the wells."
Jack O'Connell felt as though his heart had dropped straight to the floor. What was this, all of a sudden...? How could the investigator possibly have known to come and investigate this?
Keeping himself as composed as he could, he spoke casually so as not to let the tremor in his voice show.
"What in the world are you talking about? What has my farm done wrong... who filed a report like that?"
"I can't tell you who filed the report. We simply act on the orders we're given."
"Fine. I won't ask who reported it, but you can't just show up with no warning and announce you're going to investigate, can you? Besides, my farm has been running a pistachio operation here for over ten years. We're not some place with no history, like that pear farm that just sprang up over there!"
But the investigator didn't so much as raise an eyebrow.
"I understand completely, sir. But at present an independent verification is under way covering the entire southern zone, your farm included. What's more, the investigation of your farm is mandatory."
Unable to accept this, Jack let out a hollow laugh.
"...This is rigged. This is blatantly rigged. That Harris kid cooked something up, I'm telling you!"
At that, the investigator quietly added,
"I'm sorry, but we don't launch an investigation without any basis. We review it thoroughly before we move. And since we've also drawn on the report of a hydrogeological consultant in this case, I should advise you that talk of it being 'rigged' could become a legal problem for you."
At this warning, delivered in the most courteous of tones, Jack fell silent. He knew all too well the extent of these people's influence and authority in the region, so he knew, too, that he couldn't just dig in his heels and argue blindly.
As the investigation team headed for the wells, Jack hurriedly pulled out his phone and called Jeffrey, the walnut farm owner he was usually close with.
"Hey, we've got a big problem. Those pear farm bastards reported my farm as the main culprit behind the reverse pumping!"
"What? Is that for real?"
"Yeah. The investigators just barged in! We can't just sit here and take this..."
But the answer that came back was not what he'd expected.
"Uh, listen, Jack... I'm sorry, but I'm out."
"...What the hell are you saying right now!"
"I'm sorry. But I'll look into what we can do legally."
Looking into the legal angle was something Jack could do on his own too. It just meant that, finding it too much of a burden to be out front, Jeffrey wouldn't be stepping forward anymore.
"Are you seriously going to do this?"
"I'm sorry... and honestly, the one that used the most water is your farm. We've been backing you all along and we'll keep backing you, but if I step out in front this time, my farm's going to take a serious hit. In any case, I'll do my best to look into whatever options I can too."
"Hey..."
"I'm sorry. Try to understand."
With that, the call went dead. Jack was so rattled that for a while all he could do was stare at his phone.
Then, looking off toward the wells in the distance, he saw two investigators lifting the cover off a wellhead.
"Dammit..."
Before he knew it, cold sweat had seeped into his palms. His heart was racing, and no matter how deeply he breathed in, the frantic pounding wouldn't settle.
He buried his face in both hands.
Right then, an investigator walked over toward the truck and said,
"Mr. O'Connell, we'll hold a briefing on the first round of test results tomorrow at nine a.m."
His heart sank once again. The investigator's words were, in effect, a declaration that "your farm is now an official suspect."
*****
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