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About SJV Water

SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site dedicated to covering water in the San Joaquin Valley. Water is a complex, crucial topic for our valley and we strive to explain water topics in an engaging, understandable way.

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The surging San Joaquin River is proving to be another tough water management problem. The raging waters from this year’s historic rain and snowpack are seeping through levees, destroying crops and threatening the city of Firebaugh.  The small city of Firebaugh in Fresno County, sits right up against the river. Seepage is the major problem,…
The small town of Tooleville ran out of water and started receiving water hauled in by truck on June 5. It’s the first time the town has needed hauled water since October of 2022. Despite the historic snowpack and storms this year, groundwater levels in some areas are still low and wells are still going…
With all the flooding, runoff and more snowmelt still to come, everyone’s wondering: How’s the groundwater? Short answer: Better.  Long answer: It’s going to take more than one good water year to reach sustainability. After decades of over pumping and two severe, multi-year droughts within five years of each other, San Joaquin Valley aquifers had…
by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Senior water rights holders have arguably the sweetest deal in California water. They often have ironclad deals and some even get access to substantial water during the worst of drought.  But three new bills in the state legislature are taking aim at senior water rights in an attempt to level the playing field.  The bills…
Groundwater recharge – or the lack of it – was a driving force behind the sweep of new board members who took over the behemoth Westlands Water District last fall. “Urgently develop groundwater recharge,” was the top plank in the platform of four candidates who won election in November. And the district has, indeed, built…
One of the surest ways to corral flooding on the valley floor is floodplain restoration – letting rivers spread out over large swaths of undeveloped land to slow their flow and absorb the water.  But even as cities and farms throughout the southern San Joaquin Valley brace for more flooding from an epic snowmelt after…
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Maven’s Notebook is an excellent daily accounting of California water happenings statewide.