Nancy looked at us in silence for a while. She was not merely an employee who processed paperwork, but someone who had watched the suffering and disputes of farm owners for decades, so she fully understood just how great an impact what we had just said could have on the local community.
“...Is this the supplementary material?”
“That’s right. Ah, I printed this out as documents, so you can look through these at your convenience.”
She accepted the USB and the documents I handed her. Then she began checking the contents, turning through the pages one by one. Nancy’s gaze, growing more rigid by the moment, indirectly revealed just how serious the situation was.
“Pressure waves and rising EC... The data is quite clear. Good. This can go forward as an official request to NSJWCD headquarters for a Basin Harm Investigation.”
Chloe clenched her fist and asked,
“Then... that farm will be investigated too, right?”
“It may not stop at a simple investigation. If aquifers are mixing due to reverse pumping, as appears to be the case here, it may fall under Groundwater Contamination Risk. That’s an issue that could lead to fines, restrictions on well use, or even involvement from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)... That farm will likely find itself in a very difficult position.”
Chloe literally stared at me wide-eyed.
“That’s good, isn’t it?”
I gave a faint laugh and asked Nancy,
“Are there any additional documents we need to submit?”
Nancy took out a file and spread out a new form. On the cover, it read:
[FORM GW-412]
Groundwater Harm & Overdraft Investigation Request
“If you submit this, separate from the dispute investigation already issued, ‘well usage records, pump electricity usage, and groundwater sampling’ for the southern farm will automatically be carried out. Will you sign it?”
The answer came from Chloe, the farm owner.
“Of course.”
Chloe picked up the pen and carefully wrote her name.
Chloe Harris.
Nancy picked up her pen again, organized the file, then spoke quietly.
“Good. From this point on, this will be classified as an official investigation case. Here is your receipt. As of today, a ‘request to initiate investigation’ has been registered, and the NSJWCD headquarters investigation team will move within a maximum of ten days.”
“Thank you.”
When we left the Lodi County Administrative Office and got into the car, the tightness in my chest eased a little. Chloe seemed to feel the same, smiling to herself.
“I was re~ally frustrated. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for you, I would’ve told Dad and asked him to help.”
“You didn’t tell him?”
“I didn’t. I was going to tell him after everything was resolved.”
The fact that she hadn’t told Mr. Frederick was truly unexpected. I had naturally assumed she would have talked to him and gotten advice.
“Why didn’t you?”
“When Dad helped me take over the farm before, he told me this. Now that I’m a farm owner too, I shouldn’t come running to him whenever a problem comes up and ask him to know everything and solve everything for me. He said I should at least try to solve things on my own first, and only tell him when I really thought there was absolutely no way.”
“Ah... I see.”
“But since I solved it with your help, I’m a little upset because it feels like I only half listened to Dad. Still, I think next time I’ll be able to handle it on my own.”
I could guess what Mr. Frederick’s feelings were as a father. While wanting his daughter to do well, he also wanted her to grow as a farm owner, so rather than doing everything for her, he wanted her to grow on her own.
But with a problem like this, even if Chloe had asked, Mr. Frederick surely wouldn’t have been disappointed. A water dispute like this was so complex and troublesome that even he might have found it difficult to deal with.
“If I’d known that, maybe I shouldn’t have helped you?”
“What did you say?”
Seeing her instantly glare at me, I hurriedly started the car.
“It’s just a figure of speech, that’s all...”
“Anyway, once everything’s resolved, I’m going to tell Dad proudly. And going back and forth to the administrative office, filing objections, and submitting documents when a dispute like this happens was a huge experience. I’d never done it before, so I just vaguely thought it would be difficult and exhausting, but next time, I think I can do it by myself.”
“You’ve definitely grown in that area.”
After that, I usually spent the mornings at Chloe’s pear farm checking the soil and the condition of the saplings, then returned to the winery in the afternoons to look over the farmland I’d acquired and manage the workers. Then, three days later, Chloe received a call from Nancy on her cell phone.
“Ms. Chloe Harris, the report is being circulated to the upper divisions of NSJWCD. It’s gone up as far as the Regional Hydro Unit. There will likely be movement within this week.”
“Understood.”
After hanging up, Chloe told me what Nancy had said.
“If it’s the Regional Hydro Unit, then that means someone higher up than that investigator Harold is looking into it, right?”
“That’s right. Now let’s watch and see how they respond.”
I smiled and turned my head toward where the pistachio farm, though invisible from here, would be.
---
South of Lodi, California, in an endlessly stretching pistachio field.
Jack O’Connell dragged his heavy boots as usual and entered the farm office. His day always began with checking the well control panel. It was to check the electricity usage of the pumps that had run overnight, the changes in water level by time period, and so on.
“Good... Not bad.”
He was muttering as if casting a spell on himself when his phone suddenly rang. The caller was Jeffrey Clarkson from the walnut farm.
“What’s going on this early in the morning...?”
Before he could finish speaking, an extremely flustered voice came through the receiver.
“Damn it! They say the order to suspend well usage at Chloe’s pear farm has been deferred!”
“What?”
“Looks like that little brat filed an objection with Lodi County.”
“And they accepted it?”
Jack O’Connell’s face hardened grimly. He had been farming in this region for a long time, so he knew that Lodi County didn’t accept half-baked objections. And such a swift response, at that... He had expected, at the very least, that she would be tied up fighting with the neighboring farm owners for several weeks, wasting time.
“For now, the surrounding farms seem to be withdrawing their suspicious looks, but...”
“No. Let’s keep pushing. You know that’s what makes things easier for us.”
“I know. That’s why I called you in such a hurry. Damn it... I paid Harold, the investigator, two thousand dollars, and now this happens... We could’ve squeezed at least thirty thousand dollars out of them.”
If the objection had failed, Jack O’Connell and Jeffrey had intended to sue the pear farm and collect at least thirty thousand dollars in compensation. That was precisely why the surrounding farms had charged in so aggressively from the very beginning.
“Can’t be helped. Let’s wait and see for now.”
After hanging up, Jack stared at his laptop with a grave expression. They would need to prove, with objective figures regarding the aquifer issue, that there was nothing wrong with the pear farm—and he couldn’t believe they had managed to do that in such a short amount of time.
Then, in the distance, he saw two white trucks entering the farm at the same time. Dust was swept up by the wind, and the blue lettering written on the sides of the trucks gradually became clearer.
NSJWCD – REGIONAL HYDRO UNIT
Jack’s face turned pale.
“Why... why is that coming here?”
The doors of the trucks that stopped in front of the office opened, and an investigator in a neat shirt stepped down, carrying a file as he approached.
“Are you Mr. Jack O’Connell?”
“Yes, but what is this about...?”
The investigator took out a document and said,
“We need to conduct an on-site verification due to suspicions of reverse pumping and Aquifer Disturbance. Please allow access to the wells.”
Jack O’Connell felt as if his heart had dropped with a thud. What on earth was happening all of a sudden...? How did the investigator know about this and come to investigate?
He did his best to remain rational and spoke as if nothing was wrong, trying not to reveal the tremor in his voice.
“What on earth are you talking about? What wrongdoing has our farm committed... Who reported something like that?”
“We cannot tell you who filed the report. We are simply acting according to instructions.”
“Fine. I won’t ask who reported it, but you can’t just show up without warning and say you’re going to investigate whatever you want, can you? Besides, our farm has been operating a pistachio farm here for over ten years. We’re not some place with no history like that new pear farm over there!”
But the investigator did not so much as twitch an eyebrow.
“I understand you perfectly, sir. However, an independent verification is currently underway for the entire southern zone, including your farm. Furthermore, the investigation of your farm is essential.”
Unable to accept it, Jack let out a hollow laugh.
“...This is fabricated. It’s obvious fabrication. That Harris brat must have cooked something up!”
At that, the investigator quietly added,
“I’m sorry, but we do not launch investigations without any basis. We review matters thoroughly before investigating. Of course, since we have also referenced a report from a hydrology consultant, I must inform you that statements calling this fabrication may themselves become a legal issue.”
At the warning delivered in an extremely polite tone, Jack shut his mouth. He knew very well what kind of influence and authority these people had in the region, and that he couldn’t simply insist on his way by force.
As the investigation team headed toward the well, Jack hurriedly took out his cell phone and called Jeffrey, the walnut farm owner he was usually close with.
“Hey, we’re in big trouble. Those bastards from the pear farm reported our farm as the culprit behind the reverse pumping!”
“What? Is that true?”
“Yeah. The investigators have barged in right now! We can’t just sit back like this...”
But the answer he received was not what he had expected.
“Uh, Jack... I’m sorry, but I’m pulling out.”
“...What the hell are you talking about right now?”
“I’m sorry. But I’ll look into legally possible methods.”
Jack could look into legal methods too. It was simply a way of saying he found it burdensome to step forward, so from now on, he wouldn’t be taking the lead.
“Are you really going to do this?”
“I’m sorry... And to be honest, your farm is the one that used the most water. We’ve been on your side all along and we’ll keep supporting you, but if I step forward this time, our farm will take serious damage. Anyway, I’ll look into every possible method I can.”
“Hey...”
“I’m sorry. Please understand.”
With those words, the call ended. Jack was so flustered that he could only stare at his cell phone for a while.
Then, when he looked toward the well in the distance, two investigators were opening the well cover.
“Damn it...”
Before he knew it, cold sweat had soaked his palms. His heart pounded rapidly, and no matter how much air he breathed in, his racing heartbeat would not calm down.
He covered his face with both hands.
At that very moment, an investigator walked toward the truck and said,
“Mr. O’Connell, we will be holding a briefing on the first inspection results at nine o’clock tomorrow morning.”
His heart sank once more. The investigator’s words were no different from a declaration that said, “Your farm is now an official suspect.”