MEETING NOTES: Rosedale-Rio Bravo reduces support for “delta tunnel;” agrees to buy more land above Lake Isabella
Meeting: Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District board of directors
Date: April 14, 2026
Agenda and Board packet: CLICK HERE
Delta tunnel
The Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District significantly reduced how much it will pay toward the planning phase of the so-called Delta Conveyance Project, which will take Sacramento River water under the ecologically sensitive Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The district will now only pay for 1% percent of its contracted water supplies, or 299 acre feet per year.
That’s down from 100% participation at the beginning of last year, then 20% participation in fall of 2025.
Rosedale-Rio Bravo is the latest in a string of agricultural water districts in Kern County that have reduced their funding commitments, or are considering doing so, for the tunnel.
The Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa Water Storage District, the single largest State Water Project contractor in Kern, cut its funding commitment by 97% in March. That takes its contribution from $4.5 million down to about $146,000, according to General Manager Sheridan Nicholas. The Semitropic Water Storage District, along with several others western Kern districts, are discussing similar measures.
Local districts have said there are too many unknowns, including how the tunnel will be operated, particularly with regard to years when there is excess water in the system.
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) is hoping to raise $300 million in its latest round of funding for planning and pre-construction work for the $20 billion tunnel.
About $33 million was expected to come from Kern County districts. A DWR spokesman told SJV Water in a previous article that if they can’t hit that target “…we will adjust the workload and prioritization accordingly.”
Rosedale-Rio Bravo Assistant Manager Trent Taylor said the Kern County Water Agency, which actually holds the state contract on behalf of 13 ag districts, had been doing better in terms of conveying district concerns about the tunnel to the state.
“We have definitely seen a change, as it pertains to the (Kern County Water Agency’s) involvement in state programs and projects,” Taylor said. ”The agency is speaking again, and they’re being heard, and we need to continue to support that push.”
Lower river contract
The Rosedale-Rio Bravo board also approved an updated 10-year contract to buy high flow Kern River water from the Kern County Water Agency, when available.
The agency owns a high-flow right that kicks in when the river is flowing at more than 125% of average. Under the contract, Kern County Water Agency member ag districts may buy that high flow water at $5 per acre foot.
Onyx land buy
The Rosedale-Rio Bravo board also approved buying another 540 acres near its existing Onyx Ranch property on the South Fork of the Kern River above Lake Isabella.
Attorney Dan Raytis said the district intends to pursue similar uses with this new property.
Rosedale-Rio Bravo bought the 3,300-acre Onyx Ranch in 2013 with hopes of bringing South Fork water to its growers.
It has been working with other Kern River rights holders, who also own storage in Lake Isabella, to move the water through the lake and into the Kern River canyon.
