In the California desert, a farm baron is building a water and energy empire

The is a  multimedia news story focusing on Mike Abatti, one of the "Water Barons" that controls access to water in the Imperial Valley that shows the enormous confluence of regional influence around a handful of Water Barons, and the complexity in characterizing environmental injustice in the Imperial Valley.

"A few hundred landowning families dominate the Imperial Valley and its lucrative agriculture industry, which produces much of America’s winter vegetables. The valley is one of California’s most impoverished areas, with a stark divide between the mostly white landowners and the mostly Latino farmworkers who labor in their fields."

"But while Abatti looms large in the Imperial Valley, the full story of his enormous influence has never been told. It’s a story about public officials — including Abatti’s friends in elected office, a judge with ties to his family, and a district attorney whose second-in-command is his sister-in-law — repeatedly making decisions that have advanced Abatti’s private interests. And it’s a story about money and influence in an often overlooked corner of California, where political battles over water and energy can have ripple effects across California and the Southwest."