Photo by Tiffanie Cheng

Keith Gardiner, owner of Gardiner farms, may lose over a thousand acres of his prime farmland in a few years because a portion of California's massive high-speed rail network may be routed his Bakersfield property.

Gardiner is one of the many farm owners who face the prospect of eminent domain if the California High-Speed Rail Authority chooses to continue with their plans to place an 800-mile high-speed rail system through the Golden State.  

The proposed system has two potential routes; one is to align itself with the current Burlington North Santa Fe Railway, and the other is to cut a shorter path through farms and ranches in the Central Valley.

In hopes of cutting operation costs, the authority has proposed placing the high-speed rail through the second route, which may affect thousands of acres of farmland.

Members of the Shafter Wasco district, Gardiner included, hope that the Rail Authority will alter its original intentions and choose not to cut through the Golden State farm area. 

“I’m a proponent of high-speed rail, but I’m not a proponent of losing my farm over it," he said. "Our fear is that once they put the lines on the map, we wont be able to change it. It’s scary. It will affect my family, our families, and some of the best farmland in the world.”

This new high-speed rail system, which will connect commuters from Borden down to Bakersfield, will open up job opportunities to the residents of the Central Valley and will help alleviate gridlock on the interstate freeways during rush hour traffic. 

The authority held its monthly board meeting this week at the Union Station Gateway Plaza in Los Angeles to present its preliminary alternative analysis regarding the Los Angeles to San Diego line. Many other homeowners may find themselves in Gardiner’s predicament as the question of eminent domain comes into place. 

The authority is likely to face increasing questions of whether removing people from their property for faster commutes and a more cost-efficient transit method is worth it.

Reach reporter Tiffanie Cheng here.