SACRAMENTO — Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) issued the following statement today after Congress passed an appropriations bill last night that includes $206 million to repair the Friant-Kern Canal:

“I’m thrilled that Republicans and Democrats — led by the persistent Dianne Feinstein — pulled together to recognize the strategic importance of the Central Valley to our Nation’s food supply and economy. This is great news for not only the Central Valley farms that feed the world, but also our hardworking farmworker families who power this economy and who deserve the clean drinking water that will come as result of this investment. Now that Congress has done its part, I plan to re-introduce legislation this session to ensure the state becomes a true partner on funding and implementing this project as quickly as possible.”

The Friant-Kern Canal, in the Eastern San Joaquin Valley, delivers water to a quarter million Central Valley residents and irrigates more than a million acres of Valley farmland. It also delivers water used to recharge overdrafted groundwater basins, a function that is critically needed as the Valley works to achieve the goals of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. In recent years, a substantial stretch of the canal has subsided, or sunk, due to groundwater extraction. As a result, this section of the canal has lost over half its capacity to deliver water. It’s estimated that the total cost to fix the canal is nearly $500 million.

During the last legislative session, Senator Hurtado authored Senate Bill 559 that would have — in its original form — invested $400 million to restore the Friant-Kern Canal to its designed capacity. The bill was amended in the State Assembly to require the California Department of Water Resources to report on a proposal for the state to pay a share of the cost to fix the canal. Senate Bill 559 was approved by the Legislature on a bipartisan basis, but ultimately vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom. 

About Senator Melissa Hurtado

Senator Melissa Hurtado represents a new generation of Latina leaders as the youngest woman ever elected to the California State Senate, where she represents parts of Fresno, Kern, Kings and Tulare Counties. Melissa is the daughter of immigrant parents and is the first in her family to graduate college. As Chair of the Human Services Committee in the State Senate, she has fought to expand access to healthcare, quality schools and good paying jobs. In July 2020, she was appointed to the national Biden Latino Leadership Committee alongside former Labor Secretary and current Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis — the only two California Latinas on the committee.

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