Tulare County land trust embarks on projects to protect groundwater and farming
A unique land trust in southwestern Tulare County that aims to preserve farming by strategically fallowing land for habitat is moving forward on several projects. The Tule Basin Land & Water Conservation Trust was formed in 2020 by area farmers and water managers intent on finding solutions to the region’s groundwater woes that didn’t include a massive and random shuttering of productive farmland. How is it possible to save farming through fallowing? The trust’s ongoing Capinero Creek and Lower Deer creek projects are two examples. Capinero Creek is a 467-acre former dairy next to the Pixley National Wildlife Refuge. The project, funded by a grant from the Bureau of Reclamation, will restore alkali scrub habitat on the site for threatened and endangered species.