By Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Land owners can now officially submit proposals to Madera County to convert their ag land to less water intensive uses under a new program adopted by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday using $10 million in state funds.
The money comes from the state’s Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program, which aims to reduce reliance on groundwater by putting cropland to other uses such as solar energy, water recharge basins, wildlife habitat and recreation, to name a few.
Any landowners in Madera County can submit proposals since this state funding came to the county, not the county’s groundwater sustainability agency. Interested landowners can submit pre-application proposals here.
The program adopted Tuesday is separate from a farmland repurposing program under the county’s groundwater plan. That program has been delayed due to a lawsuit and temporary injunction, which has stymied the county groundwater agency’s ability to collect fees to fund the program.
Madera County was also part of a third farmland conversion program called LandFlex, launched by the state Department of Water Resources. LandFlex was created as a response to the last drought, but it fell flat, according to county officials.
“Turned out no one was interested, which is a total bummer,” said Stephanie Anagnoson, director of water and natural resources for Madera County.
Because of the lack of interest, the state never ended up sending the money from LandFlex to Madera County, said Anagnoson.
Part of the problem with LandFlex was that it rolled out very quickly in 2023 when there was plenty of water, said Anagnoson. People had already committed to irrigating so it was difficult for them to change course at that point, she added.
The Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program comes through the state Department of Conservation. It has a three-year process and is heavy on engagement with community members, said Anagnoson.
“LandFlex was sort of like going to the supermarket and buying a cake. The cake is made. There’s a little bit of choice, but you have whatever they have,” said Anagnoson. “And then the Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program is more like someone says, ‘Okay, you need to make a dessert.’ I have lots of choices now. But also more freedom takes more time, and everybody has an opinion.”
Pre-application proposals are being accepted until November 22. Then, county staff will work with landowners to develop their projects until final proposals are due in February, 2025. The projects will be scored by county staff and, hopefully, approved, said Anagnoson.
The program is currently in its second round of funding, according to a spokesperson from the Department of Conservation. Madera County was selected in the first round.
So far, the program has doled out $85 million, according to the spokesperson. That money has gone to Pixley Irrigation District groundwater sustainability agency (GSA,) Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District, California Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency, Merced Subbasin GSA, Westlands Water District GSA and East Turlock Subbasin GSA.
“I’m trying to remain hopeful with it,” said Christina Beckstead of Madera County’s $10 million from the Multipurpose Land Repurposing Program. Beckstead is the executive director of the Madera County Farm Bureau, which is one of county’s program partners. “I don’t think we’re going to get anything huge accomplished out of it.”
About $3 million of the grant goes to administrative needs, leaving roughly $7 million for the repurposing projects, said Beckstead. That’s not enough to get very far on projects, she added.
Still, she thinks the program could be useful for growers who want to put their operations on hold and potentially return to ag in the future when more groundwater solutions are in place. And there are growers who have ideas about shifting to less water intensive crops, she said.
Beckstead and county staff are working on yet another pilot repurposing project which is gearing up to start. It will be partially funded by the $10 million grant.
The project will take out about five acres of orchards directly next to the small community of La Vina. The land will then be converted into pollinator habitat. The project should lead to some water savings and improved air quality, said Beckstead. So far, the cost is unknown and hasn’t been finalized, she added.
Beckstead said the contract for the project will hopefully be finalized next week but work won’t begin until harvest is over.
“This has been a very collaborative effort,” said Beckstead. “We wanted to make sure that whatever came out of this still afforded farmers the opportunity in the future to be able to maybe come back and farm that land instead of a program that says, ‘Sorry, you’re out of luck.’”
SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site covering water in the San Joaquin Valley, www.sjvwater.org. Reach us at sjvwater@sjvwater.org
