A partnership between Kern County petroleum producers and local farmers proposes to expand the amount of oil field wastewater used to irrigate crops.

The Kern Tulare Water District has applied for a $7.5 million federal grant to help pay for an $18 million reservoir and pipeline system that would store and convey 6,000 acre feet per year of "produced water," the salty solution that comes up from the ground with crude oil.

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