Conservation Archives

Putting farmland out to pasture not an easy task

June 7, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

Not all farmland in the San Joaquin Valley will survive in a post-SGMA world. Estimates are that the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act will force between 500,000 to one million acres of land that’s currently farmed to be taken out of production to save groundwater. Which lands and what will become of those lands are major…

Conservation

Bakersfield students win grand prize for grey water project

May 13, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Students at Bakersfield’s Munsey Elementary School took home the grand prize in a statewide contest to find new, innovative ways to conserve water. The contest, called the H2O Challenge, is put on by water purveyor Cal Water. Teacher Barbara Elrod encouraged the students in her combination 5th and 6th grade class to take up the…

Conservation • Drought • Federal System • Rivers • State System • Water Banking

Virtual Water Summit – May 25

April 20, 2021

• by Lois Henry

The Water Association of Kern County’s annual Water Summit is virtual this year but will still pack a punch of who’s who in the water world. The day kicks off with an update on water brought to the San Joaquin Valley via the federal Central Valley Project. The speaker will be Deputy Bureau of Reclamation…

Conservation • Drinking Water • Drought • Groundwater

Students find saving water “elementary”

March 16, 2021

• by Lois Henry

When a region’s groundwater is critically depleted and its dirt as hard as a frying pan, how do you refill the aquifer? Ask a fifth grader. Actually, ask the fifth and sixth grade combination class at Bakersfield’s Munsey Elementary School taught by Barbara Elrod. Elrod’s students discovered a pretty cool way to both conserve water…

Conservation • Groundwater

New land trust focused on groundwater aims to give farmers options

December 2, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Southern Tulare County farmers inching toward a cliff of groundwater restrictions that could dry up tens of thousands of acres have joined with conservationists to potentially soften their own landing and help improve wildlife habitat at the same time. At least that’s the goal of the newly formed Tule Basin and Water Conservation Trust. “Land…

Conservation • Groundwater • Water Markets

“Madness and arrogance” blamed for one lawsuit against desert groundwater agency

October 1, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Two lawsuits accusing the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority of ramming through a plan that ignores water rights and, according to one plaintiff, is intended to “destroy agriculture” were filed this week. At issue is a controversial $2,000-per-acre-foot fee approved by the authority last month that would be charged to certain groundwater users over a…

Conservation • Groundwater • Water Markets

Evaporation adds up. How much? Google it – someday

September 17, 2020

• by Lois Henry

There are lots of new water gizmos popping up these days but there’s only one Google. Which makes the massive tech company’s involvement in a proposed water measurement tool both intriguing and slightly suspicious to some agricultural water managers. The same goes for another partner in the effort, the Environmental Defense Fund, a well-known advocacy…

Conservation • Uncategorized

Desert flight

February 21, 2020

• by Lois Henry

SJV Water was invited to tag along on an flight out of California City Saturday morning to get a glimpse of a small part of the Mojave Desert. The flight was arranged by Defenders of Wildlife, a conservationist group dedicated to preserving habitat for native critters. The expedition was led by Tom Egan, Defenders’ desert…

Conservation • Drinking Water • Federal System • Personalities

With Trump comes a lot of speculation

February 20, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Will President Donald Trump give his signatory flourish to the new controversial federal plan for operations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta when he visits Bakersfield on Wednesday? Will he announce full funding to fix the sagging Friant-Kern Canal? Or will he do a 180 and announce some entirely new policy on oil extraction or endangered…

Conservation • Drought • Personalities • State System • Water Banking

TUNE IN! KGET Channel 17 in Bakersfield Saturday night Nov. 23 6 p.m.

November 23, 2019

• by Lois Henry

Well this was a quick turnaround! I was invited by KGET Ch. 17 anchor Jim Scott to talk about water on his Kern County In-Depth program. We talked SGMA with Kern Delta Water District’s new Executive Steve Teglia (formerly Asst. City Manager for Bakersfield) and then Jim interviewed retiring Kern County Water Agency General Manager…

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