jeff st john
| For USA TODAY Network
How pumping water in the San Joaquin Valley caused land subsidence problems
Learn about the serious subsidence problem in California’s San Joaquin Valley, its impact on water quality, and its impact on the local economy.
California’s largest agricultural water district wants to turn its growing water crisis into an economic pivot.
The Valley Clean Infrastructure Plan aims to repurpose tens of thousands of acres of water-depleted farmland in California’s San Joaquin Valley into a massive solar power and battery storage network, producing power for the state’s grid, reducing energy costs for farmers and creating a new economic lifeline as groundwater regulations force fields to fallow.
“This is not just the largest project in California or the United States,” said Jeff Fortune, chairman of the Westlands Water District Board of Directors. “This will be the largest project in the world.”
Once built, the network could add approximately 21 gigawatts of solar and battery storage capacity to approximately 136,000 acres of reclaimed farmland. This would be an energy boost equivalent to all the large-scale solar power that California currently has on its power grid, district documents show.
Westlands provides federal and state-supplied water to 1,000 square miles of farms in western Fresno and Kings counties, one of the most productive agricultural regions in the country. But decades of water scarcity and the state’s new groundwater restrictions are forcing producers to rethink how they use their land.
California groundwater regulations could force Westland growers to fallow land
What you need to know about California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
This video provides an overview of the history of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and its impact on the agricultural community.
Westland producers have long relied on surface water supplies and deep groundwater pumping from the Central Valley Project. Both are currently severely restricted.
Under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the San Joaquin Valley aquifer must reach a sustainable state by the early 2040s, severely limiting the amount of water farmers can pump. District officials say this could force producers to fallow hundreds of thousands of acres.
“Our hands are being forced,” Fortune said. “Everyone is on the same sinking ship together.”
Much of the land targeted for solar development is already difficult or impossible to cultivate due to drainage problems and soil salinity. Instead of leaving these acres idle, the district is marketing solar power as an alternative crop.
“We look at it as a new crop,” says Jeremy Hughes, a Westlands board member and fifth-generation farmer. “We collect the sun and produce electricity.”
How Westlands sells solar power through California’s power grid
Will farmers decide the future of green energy?
As the United States seeks affordable energy solutions, questions remain about growth without avoiding environmental responsibilities.
Westlands is not becoming a utility. Instead, a state law passed in 2024 allows the district to generate, transmit and sell electricity through California’s electric grid operator.
Under the plan:
- Some of the electricity will be used locally to help run water pumping stations and irrigation infrastructure.
- Most of the power will be sold to the state’s power grid, where utilities and other buyers will purchase power through California’s independent operators.
Hughes said running pumps and moving water takes a lot of energy, so reducing these costs could help agriculture survive.
“This area will have lower electricity costs to provide water,” Fortune said. “And producers will have access to lower-cost power on their side.”
Westlands also plans to fund and build new high-voltage transmission lines to bring power to the market and ease congestion between Northern and Southern California.
“In that sense, this is a transmission plan, not a solar plan. Solar is viable because we have transmission,” Hughes said.
Why converting farmland to solar power will transform California’s water and energy
California needs far more clean electricity, even as water scarcity takes land away from agricultural production.
Supporters say the Valley Clean Infrastructure Plan simultaneously addresses both issues: providing the state with large amounts of clean electricity while helping farmers withstand stricter groundwater regulations.
“This ticks all the boxes,” said Ross Franson, president of agriculture for Wolf Farming and Processing, which already hosts solar projects on its land. “Energy transition, water issues, electricity demand, it all comes together here.”
But for communities built around agricultural workers, the changes raise concerns.
As irrigation dwindles and crops are replaced by solar power, longtime farm worker Rosa Ramirez worries about job losses. “In the ’90s, we had tomato fields, lettuce and onions,” she said in Spanish. “Now there are fewer and fewer of them.”
Her son, Dany Garcia, asked a question that local leaders still can’t fully answer: “Is she going to do solar system work there? She doesn’t have the experience.”
How big is Westlands’ solar plan?
The land proposed for solar power development (approximately 136,000 acres) is vast.
it is:
- Approximately 212 square miles
- More than four times the size of San Francisco
- Approximately 9 times the size of Manhattan
Westlands says its size justifies building its own power transmission system: about 110 miles of high-voltage lines and five substations that connect to the California-wide power grid.
Impact of this project on farm employment and nearby communities
State law requires the project to include a community benefits plan aimed at providing jobs, investment and environmental improvements to nearby towns, many of which face high unemployment rates, unsafe drinking water and some of the highest electricity rates in the state.
“We believe everyone should be involved,” said Espi Sandoval of Rural Communities Rising, a coalition of western Fresno County communities. “Residents want to be part of the conversation before decisions are made.”
But some local leaders worry the benefits are coming too slowly.
Westland city officials have said that once the project is up and running, local funding tied to solar revenue will likely begin several years after construction begins, a worrying timeline for residents already struggling with rising rates and fewer agricultural jobs.
When will construction of Westland’s solar power and transmission facility begin, and what remains to be determined?
No solar power plants or power lines have been built yet. This project will be developed in the future Individual solar power generation will continue to develop over the next 10 years Based on the district-wide environmental framework approved at the end of 2024.
Key questions remain unanswered, including:
- Which utility company buys most of the electricity?
- Amount of electricity used locally and exported
- When will community benefit funding begin?
For Westland producers, the plan is less about exiting agriculture and more about adapting to its limitations.
“If we could keep doing all the farming, we would,” said Rebecca Kaser, whose family has farmed in the area for generations. “This is a tool in our toolbox to continue farming, at least to the best of our ability.”
This article originally appeared in Visalia Times-Delta on the USA TODAY Network. To read the unabridged story, go here.
