Facing water uncertainties, Fresno County farmers seek the sun for new revenue | Opinion BY TAD WEBER

April 1, 2024

Stuart Woolf, president and CEO of Woolf Farming, stands next to land the company leases for solar-power generation. The farm is near Huron on Fresno County’s west side. / Contributed Some Bee colleagues and I recently took a tour of Westlands Water District — the nation’s largest agricultural water district, located on the western edges of Fresno and Kings counties. The district covers 1,000 square miles, and provides water to about 700 farms, with more than 50 different crops being grown, including almonds, pistachios, tomatoes, wheat, garlic, grapes and cotton. Westlands estimates its growers generate $4.7 billion in farm-related economic activity in Fresno and Kings counties. The district says its growers produce more than 5% of the nation’s vegetables and melons and 3.5% of the nation’s fruits and nuts. They do this despite not having local surface-water supplies. Westlands growers rely on the federal Central Valley Project, which moves Sacramento River water from Northern California south, as well as pumping underground supplies.

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