A state grant to the nation’s largest water district will help mitigate disasters like those the Valley saw in 2023 while at the same time refill thirsty aquifers.

The California Department of Water Resources awarded Westlands Water District $1 million to transform land in the district to help divert flood flows to recharge areas.

“This grant will greatly assist us in clearing the way for flood diversion and support our ongoing groundwater recharge efforts as we navigate through climate-driven weather extremes and continued decline in reliable surface water supplies and work towards groundwater sustainability,” said Allison Febbo, general manager of Westlands.

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Clearing Land Will Help Stabilize San Luis Canal

The district removed 450 acres of orchards from land near the San Luis Canal. The state grant money will help pay for work that’s already been done.

That land is especially prone to falling water tables, and that subsidence can damage the nearby waterway.

Clearing the land will reduce groundwater demand and open it up for recharge. What Westlands will do with the land depends on what the coming rain season has in store for the Valley.

Should the sky open and pour like it did in 2023, the district can quickly furrow the land — similar to digging out rows as if crops were to be planted — so that it can better absorb diverted floodwater. Should 2025 be a normal water year, the district can dig out a recharge basin.

Westlands did not suffer the same flooding disasters that befell Tulare and Kings counties in 2023, but it flooded nonetheless.

“We can’t predict the weather, as much as we’d like to,” said Elizabeth Jonasson, deputy general manager of external affairs at Westlands. “So sometimes these massive rain events happen and we quickly need to find places to put all that water to avoid downstream impacts. This would definitely help with that.”