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Aquafornia news June 24, 2025 SFGate

Dried-up California farmland to become site of world-record solar facility

… On June 11, the California Energy Commission officially approved the Darden Clean Energy Project, a sprawling solar farm and battery storage facility proposed for a stretch of fallow farmland in western Fresno County. Darden is the first project approved under a new fast-track permitting program, which gave the commission just 270 days to finish its environmental review. …The land for the project, near Cantua Creek, was once a productive site for agriculture. But droughts and decades of farming have left the 9,500-acre area with dry and alkaline soil. The Westlands Water District currently owns the land and is shutting down irrigation on it and other swaths of former farmland, aiming to conserve water for areas with better dirt.

Other water and agriculture news:

  • The Business Journal (Fresno, Calif.): Long-term energy project could bring relief to California ratepayers, reclaim farmland
  • CalMatters: Opinion: Calif. politicians ignore agriculture trials, boost film business
  • AgNet West: Call to prioritize California farming amid environmental controversy
  • California Rice News: Rice water quality programs monitoring update

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