Farmland Cleanup Could Cost Billions
Taxpayers could pay up to $3.8 billion to rid farms in Merced, Fresno and Kings counties of poisonous irrigation runoff water, according to federal documents.
Draining the selenium-laden runoff from the San Joaquin Valley’s west side and completing the San Luis Drain could involve retiring 200,000 acres of farmland, treating water and dumping it in the delta or ocean, or sending the water to evaporation ponds.
Retiring the land is the least expensive option, estimated at $805 million.
The most expensive would be to dump the brine in landfills and put the water in evaporation ponds. This would cost taxpayers more than $3.8 billion, according to federal estimates.
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