The Record: A fix is proposed to address sinking land beneath the Friant-Kern Canal
When it opened in 1951, the Friant-Kern Canal carried at least 4,000 cubic feet of water per second along its route from Millerton Lake, north of Fresno, to Bakersfield. Then something unfortunate happened.
A 25-mile stretch of land between Terra Bella and Pixley began to sink, and kept sinking, to the point that part of the canal's gravity-powered water flow has slowed to about 1,700 cubic feet per second. The subsidence, caused by over-pumping of groundwater during drought years, means 60 percent less drinking and irrigation water can be delivered to communities along the 152-mile conveyance.