Prop 1E Flood Corridor Program

In 2011, Kings River Conservation District (KRCD) submitted a grant application to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) Flood Corridor Program (Prop 1E, 2006) to compete for funding to complete an innovative on-farm floodwater capture project. DWR awarded KRCD $5,039,950.00 in grant funding for the McMullin On-Farm Flood Capture and Recharge Project. The grant agreement between KRCD and DWR was executed on November 30, 2012 and is expected to conclude on or before November 30, 2020.

PROJECT: McMullin On-Farm Flood Capture and Recharge Project

Located north of Helm, CA, Terranova Ranch serves as the project site for the McMullin On-Farm Flood Capture and Recharge Project, a multi-phase project that aims to capture Kings River flood flows and utilize flows for on-farm conjunctive use activities (i.e. direct recharge, in-lieu recharge, irrigation). The 6,000 acre Terranova Ranch sits adjacent to the Kings River and has an executed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Kings River Water Association for access to flood flows (when available). Phase I of the Project is the diversion of flood flows, when available, through a 500cfs capacity turnout onto farm fields for conjunctive use activities. Construction work for the Project includes an upgrade to the turnout from Kings River and James Bypass in the Terranova Canal, installation of 400cfs crossing under McMullin Grade, and extension of Terranova Canal two (2) miles to Manning Avenue and one (1) mile east pass Highway 145 (McMullin Grade).

The goals of Phase I is to:

1) Capture 150cfs of winter flood flows, when available, for direct recharge
2) Capture an average of 2,025 AF/Mo for in-lieu recharge
3) Capture 1,800 AF/Mo for replenishing root zone moisture

The overall benefit of the Project is to “greatly reduce flood flow risks along the entire Kings River by providing sufficient capacity to reduce flooding in areas south towards Tulare Lake and north towards the San Joaquin.”