A bill making it easier for water-starved California farmers to convert their land to solar has passed the state Legislature, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The legislation “gives farmers and local communities in our most water-constrained regions another option for land that can no longer be productively farmed: use it to generate clean energy,” said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), who authored Assembly Bill 1156.

The legislation is now on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. If the bill becomes law, it will represent a reversal of more than 60 years of California policy protecting land to grow crops.

As the Times explained, “Decades ago, state lawmakers were concerned about too many farms being turned into new subdivisions. So in 1965, the state started giving tax breaks to growers who agreed to keep their land in farming. But now farmers who want to switch to solar are finding the strict rules are like expensive locks on their property, with high fees to get out of the agreements.”

Those agreements are under the Williamson Act in which landowners voluntarily agree to restrict their activities to farming in exchange for reduced property tax assessments.

Most Valley Lawmakers Vote Against the Bill

Late changes to the bill drew opposition from Valley lawmakers, as well as those from other rural counties.

“While AB 1156 previously protected prime farmland and ensured that the bill would only apply to truly water-constrained lands, the bill no longer includes those safeguards,” stated Rural County Representatives of California, an advocacy group.

“Recent AB 1156 amendments strike provisions exempting the bill’s application from prime farmland and allow cancellations to move forward on any lands in vast swaths of the state, regardless of the actual availability of water. Under AB 1156, a landowner with access to long-standing and senior water rights could walk away from their Williamson Act contracts on prime farmland simply because it is more profitable to lease those lands to a solar developer.”

The bill passed the Assembly on Monday, 56-6 with 17 votes not recorded. It had a much tougher fight in the Senate, where it passed, 21-14, with five votes not recorded.

More Electricity Generation, Less Water Pumping

Supporters said the legislation would help California meet its goal of reaching 100% clean electricity by 2045.

The Public Policy Institute of California has estimated that at least 500,000 acres of irrigated land in the San Joaquin Valley (San Joaquin River and Tulare Lake regions) will need to come out of production by 2040 to end the groundwater overdraft.