Drought Archives - SJV Water

Talkin’ water on KGET Channel 17’s “Kern County In Depth” with Jim Scott – and friends

July 5, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Thanks KGET Channel 17 anchor Jim Scott for including SJV Water CEO Lois Henry on your “Kern County In Depth” show this week to chat about water! CLICK HERE for the “In Depth” version (that means longer…) And here’s the short version:…

Drought

Water deal to keep taps flowing in Bakersfield even as Lake Isabella levels continue to drop

June 29, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Bakersfield City water managers learned from California’s last “epic” drought – don’t wait to make a deal. In 2015, city water managers scrambled to keep taps flowing for more than 20,000 Bakersfield residents as the Kern River ran so low the city had zero water entitlement coming down the river. The river is the only…

Drought

State water funding to help upgrade mountain systems

June 29, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

A sliver of state money will help upgrade drinking water systems in eastern Fresno County mountain communities that have been plagued by both drought and devastating wildfires. The money is part of an overall $300 million in Department of Water Resources funding aimed at drought impacts. In Fresno County, the Sierra Resource Conservation District was…

Drought

Kern County reverses course on ag well permitting

June 24, 2022

• by Lois Henry

In a complete turnaround from its stance earlier this week, Kern County late Thursday dropped its requirement that groundwater agencies make certain findings about proposed new agricultural wells before it would consider issuing permits for those wells. The situation had reached a boiling point in the local ag community as the Kern County Environmental Health…

Drought • SGMA

Ag well permitting process still causing confusion in Kern County

June 22, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Kern County hasn’t issued a single agricultural well permit since early April and frustration in the ag community is at a boiling point. Ag well permitting slowed to a crawl up and down the San Joaquin Valley after Gov. Newsom issued an emergency drought order on March 28 that added an extra layer of scrutiny…

Drought

Bulk of money in state’s plan to buy water rights directed at northern California watersheds

June 15, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

A California Senate proposal to spend $2 billion to buy senior water rights would focus mostly on rights in northern California watersheds with another large chunk aimed at farmland retirement throughout the state. The proposal is included in an $18.5 billion climate plan within the state budget, which likely won’t be finalized until the end…

Drought • Rivers

How does more rain in northern California equal less flows in the San Joaquin River?

June 14, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Water has been flowing down the San Joaquin River since the beginning of April. But, ironically, late spring rains could halt the flow. The water coming out of Millerton Lake just above Fresno is flowing because of a contract within California’s complicated water rights system. The water is going to the San Joaquin River Exchange…

Drought

Ruling: The feds didn’t stiff water users in last drought

June 10, 2022

• by Lois Henry

The federal government did not breach its contract when it gave water users, including the City of Fresno, a zero water allocation in the extreme drought year of 2014, according to a ruling issued June 6 in Federal Claims Court. It may not seem fair, Judge Armando Bonilla wrote in his ruling, and “To be…

Drinking Water • Drought

Clawing its way toward clean water, tiny Allensworth keeps pushing forward

June 9, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The long quest for clean drinking water in the small town of Allensworth has been beset by all manner of challenges – arsenic, a thicket of government red tape, lack of funding and even a protected lizard. Now, after 14 years of wrangling (including having a special bill passed), as residents are finally on the…

Drought • Rivers

VIDEO: Restoring salmon on the San Joaquin during three years of drought

May 25, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

A legal settlement in 2006 created the San Joaquin River Restoration Program to reestablish the spring-run Chinook salmon population that once thrived there. The program has created a native population through careful breeding and water management. Towns Burgess, lead fish biologist with the restoration program, explains how it has been operating through three years of…

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