Friant Kern Canal gets $200m in federal funding
The Trump administration has earmarked $540 million to repair subsidence impacted Central Valley canals and funding to plan the raising of Shasta Dam.
Passed in 2025, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill provides $1 billion to the Bureau of Reclamation through 2034 to restore and expand existing water conveyance systems and increase surface water storage capacity across the West.
California projects include the Delta-Mendota Canal that like all the canal projects funded – is suffering from land subsidence due to nearby groundwater pumping, The canal will receive $235 million, the largest allocation from the legislation.
Funding will support rehabilitation of the upper canal, including raising canal embankments, repairing check structures and advancing potential construction of a new concrete-lined canal segment.
The Friant-Kern Canal will receive $200 million for subsidence correction efforts along the canal.
In an update the Friant Water Authority board voted this week to use this funding from the federal government to continue more subsidence-related repairs on the canal.
The SJV Water publication reported this week “The canal had sunk over 33 miles from about Pixley to the Kern County line due to excessive groundwater pumping that caused the ground to collapse. Repairs on just one 10-mile section have cost $326 million so far.”
The San Luis Canal will receive $50 million to address subsidence issues affecting water delivery reliability.
The Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority pumping plant will receive $15 million to increase flow rates and improve system performance.
An additional $40 million will support planning and preconstruction activities associated with raising Shasta Dam, which will increase water storage capacity by approximately 634,000 acre-feet. That volume of water is enough to supply about 2.5 million people for a year, says the Dept of Interior.