Growers in Fresno-headquartered Westlands Water District and elsewhere are celebrating the Trump administration’s $540 million commitment to water storage and conveyance projects in California.

Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), who is facing a tough re-election bid in the 22nd District, joined growers in applauding the announcement Tuesday.

“After nearly a year of work, I’m proud to announce California will receive $540 million to support critical storage and conveyance projects across the state — the most significant water investment California has ever seen,” Valadao said in a statement.

“These funds, which my California Republican colleagues and I secured through the Working Families Tax Cut, will restore capacity, strengthen reliability, and improve our ability to capture and deliver water supplies.”

The big-ticket project benefitting from the funding is the enlargement of Shasta Dam, which stores water that flows south to the San Joaquin Valley’s farm fields.

Shasta Dam Enlargement

“The federal funding provided for the Shasta Dam enlargement project represents an important step toward advancing a long-overdue investment in water supply reliability,” said Westlands General Manager Allison Febbo.

“This critical funding will help put shovels in the ground and position California to better capture and store water during wet years for use during inevitable dry years.”

The total Shasta project cost is estimated between $1.4 billion to $2 billion. Last month, a group of Central Valley farmers urged Trump to move forward with Shasta’s enlargement.

Environmentalists have long objected to raising the dam’s height on grounds that it would flood parts of the McCloud River and sacred tribal sites in years with high rainfall.

While Westlands, the nation’s largest public water district, supplies growers and communities in western Fresno County, Friant Water Authority administers water distribution on the Valley’s east side.

“As is the case with many of the issues and projects Congressman Valadao works on, the announcement made today will leave a lasting imprint on the east side of the San Joaquin Valley for generations. And the districts and communities that rely on the Friant-Kern Canal will forever be grateful,” said Friant CEO Johnny Amaral.

The Big Beautiful Bill

Valadao’s district has a 64% Medicaid enrollment rate — the highest of any Republican seat in the country. However, he voted for Trump’s domestic policy “Big Beautiful Bill” that slashed more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and other programs.

Included in the bill was the Working Families Tax Cut, which critics say amounts to a tax cut for billionaires at the expense of poor and middle-class families. But Valadao and other House Republicans say the tax cuts will deliver larger tax cuts and paychecks for millions of Americans.

Valadao faces four Democrats in the June 2 primary. Among that quartet, Randy Villegas, a Visalia Unified trustee, and Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains (D-Delano) appear to be his strongest rivals.