HOA Drilled a Well on My Farm, Then My Groundwater Attorney Hit Them With a $3.2M Judgment — Transcript

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1. 0:00At 5:42 in the morning, a sound like a
2. 0:03freight train shook my bedroom window.
3. 0:05By the time I reached my back pasture, a
4. 0:08drilling rig was already 6 feet into my
5. 0:10family's land. The woman standing beside
6. 0:12it smiled and said, "Relax, Caleb. This
7. 0:15is for the community." What she didn't
8. 0:17know was that this one sentence would
9. 0:19cost her over a million dollars.
10. 0:22Veronica Thorne, president of
11. 0:24Stonebridge Estates, HOA, stood there
12. 0:26like she owned the ground beneath her
13. 0:28heels. She waved a stapled document in
14. 0:30my face and called it an easement. I
15. 0:33read it twice. It said nothing about
16. 0:36drilling. Something about it felt wrong,
17. 0:38and I couldn't yet say what. Why
18. 0:40grandfather Eli bought Warren Ridge in
19. 0:431961 with money. He saved coin by coin.
20. 0:46He dug the first well by hand and told
21. 0:48me once that land could be sold, but
22. 0:51water is trust. Then in 2004,
23. 0:54Stonebridge Estates was built next door.
24. 0:56And ever since the HOA had eyed my fence
25. 0:59line like a prize. Veronica said the HOA
26. 1:02was drilling a community well because
27. 1:04their water bills were rising. It
28. 1:06sounded reasonable until I caught the
29. 1:08foreman staring at me like a man
30. 1:10carrying a secret. When Veronica walked
31. 1:12away, he whispered, "Sir, did anybody
32. 1:15tell you how deep we were ordered to
33. 1:17drill?" And then he walked off before I
34. 1:20could ask. I called the sheriff. Deputy
35. 1:22Sam Ortega arrived, listened, and said
36. 1:25it looked like a civil dispute. Veronica
37. 1:27folded her arms and smiled. You can't
38. 1:30stop us, Caleb. I stood in my own field,
39. 1:33powerless, watching the drill spin
40. 1:36deeper into ground. That night, I called
41. 1:38the only person I trusted with a legal
42. 1:40problem like this. Prius Sandaval, a
43. 1:43groundwater attorney. She listened for
44. 1:4510 minutes, then said, "Don't touch the
45. 1:48rig. Photograph everything." and Caleb,
46. 1:52find out who owns a water under your
47. 1:53land. I had no answer, and that scared
48. 1:56me. The next morning, my neighbor, Walt
49. 1:58Eddings, knocked on my door, pale and
50. 2:01shaking. Caleb, my well went dry
51. 2:04overnight. Walt had pulled water from
52. 2:06that same ground for 40 years. Then he
53. 2:08said something that chilled me. Your
54. 2:11granddad warned me this would happen
55. 2:12someday. Pria arrived at Seven Sharp and
56. 2:15read the easement slowly. Surface
57. 2:17utility access. 1998 signed by Eli
58. 2:21Warren. She looked up, "Caleb, when did
59. 2:25your grandfather pass away?" I answered,
60. 2:27"194."
61. 2:30She stared at the signature, then at me,
62. 2:31and said, "Then who signed this?" Priya
63. 2:35didn't blink. That's a forge signature,
64. 2:38and forgery needs a notary stamp. She
65. 2:40sent a cease and letter to the HOA that
66. 2:43same afternoon. Veronica laughed and
67. 2:46told her foreman to drill faster. The
68. 2:48rig never stopped and Priya began to
69. 2:51dig. At dusk, Hank the Foreman found me
70. 2:54at the fence. His hands were shaking as
71. 2:57he gave me a folded envelope. I've got a
72. 2:59daughter. I can't lose this job. But
73. 3:02what you're about to read isn't a
74. 3:03community project. He left without
75. 3:06another word. Inside were the drilling
76. 3:08permit and depth orders. 640 ft deep
77. 3:12into the main aquifer. The permit listed
78. 3:14commercial extraction. The applicant
79. 3:17wasn't the HOA at all. It was
80. 3:19Stonebridge Water Holdings LLC and the
81. 3:22registered agent was Leonard Pike, the
82. 3:24HOA treasurer. I whispered, "They're not
83. 3:28drilling for community. They're drilling
84. 3:30to sell." On day three, my kitchen tap
85. 3:34cough sputtered and spat out brown
86. 3:35water. Then nothing. My cattle trough
87. 3:38was empty and my pump ran dry. A farm
88. 3:41without water has about 3 days before it
89. 3:43starts to die, and I was hauling buckets
90. 3:46by hand. Walt filmed the HOA meeting
91. 3:48that evening. Veronica stood before 300
92. 3:51homeowners and announced a $4,800
93. 3:54assessment per house for the well
94. 3:57project. Then she pointed at my photo on
95. 3:59the screen and called me a selfish
96. 4:01farmer who wanted children thirsty. The
97. 4:04crowd turned on me and I felt the fight
98. 4:07getting heavier. That night, I walked to
99. 4:10my grandfather's old stone wellhouse,
100. 4:12the one place I've been avoiding. Behind
101. 4:15a loose stone, I found a rusted tin box.
102. 4:18Inside was Eli's handwriting. If anyone
103. 4:21ever comes to the water, this is for
104. 4:23you. My hands trembled as I lifted the
105. 4:26first paper. It was a 1993 groundwater
106. 4:29protection declaration recorded with the
107. 4:32county running with the land forever. No
108. 4:35third party could extract water from
109. 4:37beneath Warren Ridge without written
110. 4:39consent. Priya read it three times and
111. 4:42finally smiled. Caleb, your grandfather
112. 4:45just handed us the whole case from the
113. 4:47grave. Priya brought Dr. Alan Reyes, a
114. 4:50hydrogeeologist, to test the wells.
115. 4:53After hours of measuring, he looked
116. 4:55grim. Your water table has dropped 31 ft
117. 4:58in 72 hours. This new well is draining
118. 5:01the same aquifer feeding yours and
119. 5:03waltz. Time was running out and we
120. 5:06hadn't even reached court. We filed for
121. 5:09restraining order. Hearing set in 48
122. 5:11hours. At 2:00 a.m. I woke to flood
123. 5:15lights to my pasture. The rig was
124. 5:17running at night and from my window I
125. 5:19saw something that made my heart stop. A
126. 5:22huge white tanker truck pulling up to
127. 5:24the drill pad. I crept to the fence and
128. 5:26recorded everything. The tanker was
129. 5:29labeled Clear Crest Beverage Company.
130. 5:31Hank's crew was pumping my family's
131. 5:33water straight into it. Behind the
132. 5:35truck, Leonard Pike signed papers on a
133. 5:37clipboard, and beside him stood Veronica
134. 5:39Thorne, counting something in an
135. 5:42envelope. A flashlight beam hit my face.
136. 5:45Veronica marched toward me and hissed.
137. 5:47Delete that video, Caleb, or I'll bury
138. 5:49you in fines and leans until you lose
139. 5:51his farm. I held up my phone calmly.
140. 5:55Keep talking, Veronica. It's still
141. 5:57recording. She called Deputy Ortega,
142. 6:00expecting him to arrest me. Instead, he
143. 6:03watched the video in silence, his jaw
144. 6:05tightening. Then he looked at her and
145. 6:07said, "Ma'am, I'm taking this as
146. 6:10evidence." For the first time, I saw
147. 6:12Veronica Thorne's confidence crack.
148. 6:15Priya went all in. She filed emergency
149. 6:17subpoenas for the notary records and the
150. 6:19Clear Crest contracts, and she called
151. 6:22the state water inspector, Tina Brooks.
152. 6:24No export permit exists. Tina said if
153. 6:28they're selling this water, they're
154. 6:29breaking state law. The net was
155. 6:32tightening, but Veronica still had one
156. 6:34more move. The hearing began. Veronica's
157. 6:37attorney insisted the easement was
158. 6:39valid. Priya asked for the original
159. 6:41document and studied the notary stamp.
160. 6:44Your honor, this notary's commission
161. 6:46number belongs to a man who died in
162. 6:481997, a year before this document was
163. 6:51supposedly signed. The courtroom went
164. 6:53silent. I will never forget Veronica's
165. 6:56face. Leonard Pike took the stand,
166. 6:59sweating through his shirt. He denied
167. 7:01knowing Clear Crest. Then Priya placed a
168. 7:03bank record in front of him. A $410,000
169. 7:07deposit into Stonebridge Water Holdings,
170. 7:09plus a text from Veronica reading,
171. 7:11"Don't let the farm guy find a
172. 7:13covenant," Leonard whispered. "I want a
173. 7:16lawyer." Then Veronica took the stand
174. 7:19and claimed she did it all for
175. 7:20community. Priya answered quietly, "Miss
176. 7:23Thorne, you collected $4,800 from every
177. 7:27home. Where did the money go?" The
178. 7:30contract showed Clear Crest will receive
179. 7:3240 million gallons a year for 20 years,
180. 7:34and Veronica would receive a personal
181. 7:37consulting fee. During the recess,
182. 7:39Veronica cornered me in the hallway. Her
183. 7:42voice was soft for the first time. "Name
184. 7:44your price, Caleb." Drop the case. I
185. 7:48thought about my grandfather, the tin
186. 7:50box, and Walt's empty jug. I looked her
187. 7:52in the eye and said, "Some things aren't
188. 7:54for sale. Water is one of them." Dr.
189. 7:57Reyes testified that the new well had
190. 7:59damaged both our wells and that the
191. 8:01aquifer would need 8 years to recover.
192. 8:04Then, Inspector Tina Brooks confirmed
193. 8:06that no commercial export permit had
194. 8:08ever been issued. Judge Marsh took off
195. 8:10her glasses, rubbed her eyes, and said
196. 8:13she'd seen enough. Judge Marsh declared
197. 8:15the easement void and the signature
198. 8:18forged. She granted a permanent
199. 8:20injunction and ordered the well-capped
200. 8:22at the HOA's expense. Then came a
201. 8:25number, $1.1 million for damages and
202. 8:28$2.1 million in punitive damages, a
203. 8:31total judgment of $3.2 million.
204. 8:34Veronica's knees nearly gave out. The
205. 8:37HOA's insurance refused to cover
206. 8:39intentional misconduct. The boar
207. 8:41resigned within a week and the
208. 8:43homeowners voted Veronica out. The
209. 8:45district attorney received a file on
210. 8:47forgery and fraud. When she walked out
211. 8:50at courthouse, no attorney and no
212. 8:52neighbor walked beside her. I could have
213. 8:54crushed the whole neighborhood for
214. 8:56revenge. Instead, I met with the
215. 8:59homeowners who had been lied to. Two, I
216. 9:02offered them a legal water sharing
217. 9:03agreement at a fair price protected by
218. 9:06my grandfather's covenant. They had been
219. 9:08victims of eronica as much as I was, and
220. 9:12Walt cried when his tap ran clear again.
221. 9:15That evening, I sat by the old stone
222. 9:17wellhouse as clear water ran through the
223. 9:20pipes. Grandpa Eli's note was still in
224. 9:23my pocket. It said, "Water remembers who
225. 9:26protects it." And I finally understood
226. 9:28what he meant. If you enjoyed this
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229. 9:34in the comments below.