SJV water districts get $800,000 in federal grants to save water

Two agencies in the San Joaquin Valley are closer to funding water conservation projects thanks to an $800,000 grant from the Bureau of Reclamation. 

The money comes from the Bureau’s Agricultural Water and Conservation Efficiency grants. 

About $362,000 will go to the Corcoran Irrigation District in Kings County and $430,000 will go to the Lost Hills Water District in Kern County. 

The money will partially fund projects aimed at water savings and streamlining water transportation and storage. The rest of the funding will come from local contributions. 

The Corcoran Irrigation District project will convert 4,100 feet of open canals into PVC pipelines. Significant amounts of water are lost in canals from seepage and evaporation. A pipeline would avoid much of those losses. The project is expected to save 424 acre feet of water per year. Total cost for the project is $724,850.

The Lost Hills Water District project will line two reservoirs with a plastic material to reduce seepage loss. It is expected to save 158 acre feet of water per year over it’s 50-year lifespan. The total project cost is $861,000.

The Bureau’s grant program is shared with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and is meant to, “promote district level water conservation improvements that facilitate on-farm water use efficiency and conservation projects,” according to a Bureau press release.