… [Last] Tuesday, Californians voted to approve Proposition 4, $10 billion in bonds for environmental projects. That includes $200 million for the state’s Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program (MLRP) which pays farmers and local agencies to put farmland to less water intensive uses such as, solar, wildlife habitat, recreation and groundwater recharge basins.  … Research shows that when farmland is converted to other beneficial uses near disadvantaged communities, that can also uplift the local economy. Residents in the small town of Fairmead in Madera County are trying to do just that. Fairmead is surrounded by crops and has suffered from plummeting aquifer levels which have left household wells dry in recent years and even dried up one of the community wells. 

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