John Lindt

Critics of high-speed rail are out collecting signatures this week to put a controversial measure on the ballot.

The group wants Californians to approve an amendment that would take money earmarked for high-speed rail construction to add more high Sierra water storage to help fight the drought and bring water to depleted water basins.

High-Speed Rail moving forward in Tulare County

But what if the train that farmers in the Central Valley love to hate would somehow help those same farmers store more water?

Now there is a twist.

Kings County farmer Brad Johns says he is negotiating with the contractor for high-speed rail to buy 320 acres of his farmland next to the Kings River for a 20 feet deep recharge basin that would be gravity-fed from the river. He said land could be tilled when it was not flooded for groundwater recharge. His family farm runs right next to the proposed train alignment in Kings County.

Johns said he understands talks are going on up and down the rail alignment with other farmers and irrigation districts.

“This will be a major benefit for all of Kings County,” Johns said. “The train needs dirt to build bridges and other infrastructure and the cheapest place to get it is next to where they want to build.”

He argues this is a “win-win for everyone.”

Indeed, high-speed rail’s awarded construction package 2 and 3 will include approximately 36 grade separations in Fresno, Tulare and Kings counties, including viaducts, underpasses and overpasses. Each will require a mountain of dirt.

So if you need to build a mountain, might as well build a lake or many ponds, Johns said.

Diana Gomez, California High Speed Rail’s Central Valley manager, confirms the contractors are in discussions with both private farmers as well as irrigation districts along the 100-mile stretch in the Central Valley where the train will run

“In some cases, we can help build or enlarge a basin they already have or are planning for,” Gomez said.

In certain situations, as in Fresno, the California High Speed Rail Authority is building drainage basins that also function to replenish groundwater.

“Much of the alignment is in rural parts and more basins will benefit farms,” Gomez said. “We own over 100 parcels in Kings County now, so we are ready to talk with parties on where we can get construction dirt.

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“These discussions are evolving right now.”

Gene Kilgore, general manager for Corcoran Irrigation District, said so far talks with the contractor have centered on the possibility of deepening or expanding existing district basins in exchange for materials.

“They’ve taken some soil samples,” he said.

He added they want to look at ways to add capacity. His district covers 23,000 acres of farmland.

Lakeside Irrigation District’s General Manager Shawn Corley has also been in talks about dirt.

“A recharge basin would make sense” he said, although talks are not that far along.

The rail alignment runs about six miles along the length of that water district.

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“Any place we can sink more water in a wet year is a good idea,” said Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District’s Larry Dobson, even if it is at the western edge of the district.

After four years of drought, Kings County groundwater is considered in “critical overdraft,” according to several recent reports — as less surface water has been flowing into the county, forcing farmers to suck up more groundwater.

The overdraft situation appears most critical at the edge of the old lakebed around Corcoran where the land is sinking fast due to increased water withdrawals.

NASA recently found that the Tulare Lake area measures approximately 60 by 25 miles with depths of up to 37 inches, and reaches up toward the California Aqueduct. It is considered to be one of the worst incidences of subsidence in the State of California, and continues to sink at a rate unseen before — nearly two inches per month in some locations.

Farmers have been extracting as much as two million acre-feet a year from beneath the San Joaquin Valley, even before the drought began, says the Department of Water Resources — that has now ramped up to an estimated five million acre-feet a year.

California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, signed into law in 2014, adds new regulatory pressure on farmers to replenish the state’s groundwater. The law requires local water agencies to manage the aquifers.

The bullet train alignment runs through some of the most productive farmland in the county — a fact often presented by farm interests as a key reason not to build it.

But it appears these same farms will likely enjoy an unexpected windfall of water recharge right where it is needed — as soon as scores of basins are built or enlarged in the next year or two at no extra cost.