Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
As California Cracks Down on Groundwater, What Happens to Fallowed Farmland?
dan_walters
By Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary
Published 1 year ago on
April 30, 2024

California enforces groundwater management in Kings County, signaling a major shift in water use and prompting discussions on transforming farmland into solar energy farms. (CalMatters/Larry Valenzuela)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A couple of weeks ago, the California Water Resources Control Board put five agricultural water agencies in Kings County on probation for failing to adequately manage underground water supplies in the Tulare Lake Basin that have been seriously depleted due to overpumping.

Dan Walters Profile Picture
Dan Walters

CalMatters

Opinion

It was the state’s first major enforcement action under the State Groundwater Management Act, passed a decade ago to protect the aquifers that farmers have used to supplement or replace water from reservoirs that’s curtailed during periods of drought.

In some areas, so much groundwater has been pumped that the land above it has collapsed, a phenomenon known as subsidence.

The board’s action on April 16 not only subjects the Kings County agencies to fees and tighter monitoring but sends a message to irrigators throughout the state that they must get serious about eliminating overdrafts after having a decade to adopt aquifer management plans.

Curtailing groundwater use is not an isolated event, but rather a significant piece of the state’s declared intent to reduce the share of water devoted to agriculture – roughly three quarters of overall human use – as the state adjusts to the effects of climate change.

As if to punctuate that goal, federal water managers have told San Joaquin Valley farmers that despite two wet winters they will receive less than half of their contracted allocations of water during this year’s growing season.

Estimated 500,000 Acres Will Be Fallowed

In decades past, when surface water from reservoirs has fallen short of demand, farmers have drilled deep wells to tap aquifers. With the state water board cracking down on groundwater, it is inevitable, experts say, that some fields will have to be taken out of production.

The Public Policy Institute of California, which closely monitors management of the state’s water supply, has estimated that at least 500,000 acres of farmland will be fallowed when the groundwater law is fully implemented.

Whose lands will be affected, what happens to idled acreage and the financial impacts are issues hovering over groundwater reduction.

One day after the water board’s crackdown on Kings County, a hint of those issues surfaced as the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee approved legislation that would make it easier for farmers whose access to groundwater is restricted to convert their fields into solar energy farms.

Easing the Conversion From Crops to Solar

Assembly Bill 2528, carried by Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, a Fresno Democrat, would allow affected farmers to withdraw their land from Williamson Act conservation contracts and use it for solar power generation without paying the stiff cancellation fees now in current law.

The six-decade-old Williamson Act gives farmers big reductions in their property taxes in return for making long-term commitments to keep land in agricultural production.

Arambula told the committee that “many agricultural landowners are at risk of losing access to water that is essential for their ability to farm their land (and) this confluence of water sustainability needs and clean energy demand creates an opportunity for us to craft an approach that addresses multiple economic and environmental goals.”

The bill is backed by the solar power industry and the Western Growers Association, which generally represents large farmers. However, the California Farm Bureau, with many relatively small farmers as members, is opposed, saying the bill could undermine the Williamson Act’s goal of conserving farmland.

The split between the two farm groups implies that as groundwater is curtailed, there will be a scramble over the conversion of fallowed fields. Some farmers are already lining up deals with solar energy interests that would be even more lucrative if they can cancel their Williamson Act contracts without paying hefty cancellation fees, as much as 25% of the land’s value.

About the Author

Dan Walters has been a journalist for nearly 60 years, spending all but a few of those years working for California newspapers. He began his professional career in 1960, at age 16, at the Humboldt Times. CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more columns by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

Make Your Voice Heard

GV Wire encourages vigorous debate from people and organizations on local, state, and national issues. Submit your op-ed to bmcewen@gvwire.com for consideration.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

It’s Final. No Live Horse Racing at Big Fresno Fair in 2025

DON'T MISS

Clover Is Eager to Bring You Good Luck and Great Joy

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Seek Help Identifying 7-Eleven Robbery Suspects

DON'T MISS

Fresno Council Scraps Cannabis Advisory Group, Extends Advance Peace Funding

DON'T MISS

Buss Family to Sell Lakers at $10 Billion Valuation, ESPN Says

DON'T MISS

Massive Security Breach: 16 Billion Passwords Leaked From Apple, Google, Facebook Accounts

DON'T MISS

‘I’m an American, Bro!’: Latinos Report Raids in Which US Citizenship Is Questioned

DON'T MISS

Florida Congresswoman to Revive Bipartisan Immigration Bill. Valley Leaders Join the Push

DON'T MISS

LA Dodgers Say They Denied ICE Agents Access to Stadium Parking Lot

DON'T MISS

Netanyahu Says Fall of Iran’s Leadership Not a Goal but Could Be a Result

UP NEXT

Sen. Alex Padilla: This Is How an Administration Acts When It’s Afraid

UP NEXT

CA Prison Union Strikes $600 Million Contract With Newsom That Includes Furloughs

UP NEXT

Bay Area Transit Systems Want More Money. But Their Payrolls Soared as Ridership Declined

UP NEXT

History Suggests the GOP Will Pay a Political Price for Its Immigration Tactics in California

UP NEXT

Only Nonviolence Will Beat Trump

UP NEXT

Newsom Gave Political Rival a $380K Job. See the Special Interests Who Paid for It

UP NEXT

Gavin Newsom Finally Admits He’s Contemplating a Run for President

UP NEXT

Israel’s War of Choice With Iran Puts Trump in a Bind

UP NEXT

Millions of Americans Like Trump Better in Theory Than in Practice

UP NEXT

Newsom Wanted To Fast-Track the Delta Tunnel Project. The Legislature Slowed the Flow

Fresno Police Seek Help Identifying 7-Eleven Robbery Suspects

12 hours ago

Fresno Council Scraps Cannabis Advisory Group, Extends Advance Peace Funding

13 hours ago

Buss Family to Sell Lakers at $10 Billion Valuation, ESPN Says

13 hours ago

Massive Security Breach: 16 Billion Passwords Leaked From Apple, Google, Facebook Accounts

13 hours ago

‘I’m an American, Bro!’: Latinos Report Raids in Which US Citizenship Is Questioned

13 hours ago

Florida Congresswoman to Revive Bipartisan Immigration Bill. Valley Leaders Join the Push

14 hours ago

LA Dodgers Say They Denied ICE Agents Access to Stadium Parking Lot

14 hours ago

Netanyahu Says Fall of Iran’s Leadership Not a Goal but Could Be a Result

14 hours ago

Hunger Strike Begins as California Prisons Hand Down Biggest Restrictions Since COVID

15 hours ago

Sen. Alex Padilla: This Is How an Administration Acts When It’s Afraid

15 hours ago

Muslim NY Mayoral Candidate Reports Threats, Jewish Ohio Lawmaker Threatened Separately

WASHINGTON – The New York City Police Department said on Thursday its hate crime unit was probing anti-Muslim threats against mayoral ...

11 hours ago

Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani talks to people after the New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary Debate at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the Gerald W. Lynch Theater in New York City., U.S., June 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
11 hours ago

Muslim NY Mayoral Candidate Reports Threats, Jewish Ohio Lawmaker Threatened Separately

11 hours ago

It’s Final. No Live Horse Racing at Big Fresno Fair in 2025

12 hours ago

Clover Is Eager to Bring You Good Luck and Great Joy

Fresno police are seeking the public’s help to identify two suspects involved in a May 31, 2025, robbery at a 7-Eleven on East McKinley Avenue. (Fresno PD)
12 hours ago

Fresno Police Seek Help Identifying 7-Eleven Robbery Suspects

13 hours ago

Fresno Council Scraps Cannabis Advisory Group, Extends Advance Peace Funding

13 hours ago

Buss Family to Sell Lakers at $10 Billion Valuation, ESPN Says

13 hours ago

Massive Security Breach: 16 Billion Passwords Leaked From Apple, Google, Facebook Accounts

13 hours ago

‘I’m an American, Bro!’: Latinos Report Raids in Which US Citizenship Is Questioned

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend