The Company Controlling Water Amidst Deadly Wildfires

October 9, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The Billionaire Couple Who Controls California’s Water

In January 2025, as wildfires tore through Los Angeles—scorching nearly 24,000 acres, destroying 6,800 structures, and forcing 105,000 people to evacuate—firefighters ran into an unexpected obstacle. Hydrants in the Pacific Palisades and elsewhere began running dry, delivering nothing more than a slow trickle. The Santa Inez Reservoir had been drained for maintenance. But there was another factor: the Kern Water Bank, an underground reservoir that holds a massive share of California’s stored water, did not release additional supplies to Los Angeles. The bank is 57% owned by a single private company: the Wonderful Company, controlled by billionaires Stewart and Linda Resnick. During the fire, the state did not compel them to share.

How Two Entrepreneurs Built a $12 Billion Empire

Stewart Resnick grew up in New Jersey before his family moved to California. While studying at UCLA, he started a janitorial business that grew to over 100 employees before he finished law school. Linda Resnick, born in Baltimore, got her start in entertainment through her father, a film distributor who produced The Blob. At 19, she founded her own ad agency. The two met in 1970 when Stewart hired Linda for marketing help, and they married in 1973.

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What you'll learn

1 (01:30) **The Core Question: Who Controls California's Water?** - The episode opens with the provocative claim that a billionaire couple has been criticized for hoarding Southern California's water supply during deadly wildfires, setting up the central mystery: who are these people, how did they gain control, and what are lawmakers doing about it?
2 (06:06) **The Founders: Stewart and Linda Resnick** - The host reveals the names behind the empire: Stewart and Linda Resnick, a couple whose individual backgrounds in business and marketing converged to build a multi-billion dollar agricultural and water empire.
3 (11:51) **Building the Wonderful Empire** - The host details how the Resnicks' acquisitions of land and brands, including POM Wonderful, Paramount Farms, and Fiji Water, turned pomegranates from an obscure fruit into a health craze and created a luxury water status symbol.
4 (15:50) **California's Water Reality: A Desert State** - The host explains California's water infrastructure, revealing that agriculture consumes 80% of the state's water, with almonds and pistachios being the thirstiest crops, and that control of this infrastructure is a matter of power.
5 (18:56) **The Kern Water Bank Heist** - The host explains how the state of California, after spending $70 million on the Kern Water Bank, ran out of money and in a closed-door meeting, handed control of this public resource to a private corporation owned by the Resnicks.
6 (23:23) **The Profiteering Scheme: Paper Water** - The host describes how the Resnicks' control of water allows them to buy water from the state at a subsidized price and then sell it back to the state for a profit, all on paper, without the water ever moving.
7 (27:40) **The Housing Development Scam** - The host explains how the Resnicks use their "paper water" to sign off on large housing developments in the desert, guaranteeing water supply without actually having enough to deliver, effectively facilitating fraud.

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Show Notes

When deadly wildfires spread and communities desperately need water, a troubling question emerges: who controls one of our most essential resources? In “The Company Controlling Water Amidst Deadly Wildfires,” explore a gripping story about water access, corporate power, and the challenges communities face during environmental emergencies.As fires threaten homes, wildlife, and entire communities, the availability of water can become a matter of life and death. This episode examines the concerns surrounding private control of water resources, the role of corporations during crises, and the difficult questions about public safety, accountability, and access to essential services.Discover the complex relationship between natural disasters, water management, and corporate influence. Through a thought-provoking look at the issues, consider what happens when an essential resource becomes the centre of a wider debate over power, responsibility, and survival.