The arvin-edison water storage district, located in kern county, california, will design the digiorgio unit pipeline to improve conjunctive use water management

The Bureau of Reclamation awarded Arvin-Edison Water Storage District $625,047 under the WaterSMART (Sustain and Manage America's Resources for Tomorrow) program (CFDA 15.507) on September 11, 2025, to design the DiGiorgio Unit Pipeline. This Project Grant, with a completion date of March 31, 2027, will deliver engineering design services for a surface water pipeline infrastructure project intended to improve conjunctive use water management in Kern County, California. The pipeline design will enable direct on-farm surface water recharge and irrigation supply to approximately 2,720 acres of irrigated agricultural land currently dependent on groundwater resources.

The project addresses critical groundwater sustainability challenges resulting from repeated drought periods since 2012 that have caused severe groundwater overdraft and economic impacts to regional agriculture. The pipeline design will be developed collaboratively with Kern County and local landowners to support the South of Kern River Groundwater Sustainability Plan's objectives of enhancing groundwater recharge while providing reliable irrigation supply. This planning and design effort represents the initial phase of infrastructure development aimed at mitigating drought impacts and achieving long-term water supply sustainability in the region.

The districts service area has experienced several periods of exceptional drought since 2012, contributing to critical groundwater overdraft and economic impacts to the agriculture industry. The pipeline will be designed to provide surface water for direct on-farm recharge, or irrigation supply to approximately 2,720 acres of irrigated land currently reliant on groundwater. The project will be developed in coordination with kern county and local landowners to fulfill the south of kern river groundwater sustainability plans goal of enhancing groundwater recharge while providing a sustainable irrigation supply.