Fresno County Approves 2,500-Home Project Amid Water Concerns

Fresno County supervisors advanced Friant Ranch, a planned 2,500-home, age-restricted community near Friant Dam that would also include commercial space and preserve nearly half its land as habitat. The decision followed years of litigation over air-quality impacts; the county approved new findings that those impacts would be less than significant. Water availability remained contested: the developer said it had secured enough water for drought years, while critics and Supervisor Brian Pacheco warned that supplies and other infrastructure questions were unresolved, with reporting raising concerns that backup storage might cover only a year. The board certified the environmental review and approved the project, with Pacheco opposing a subsequent motion on project changes.