Drought Archives - Page 4 of 11

Late summer rains brought little – but not much – drought relief to San Joaquin Valley watersheds

August 24, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting trainee

Monsoonal rains in early August offered a brief moment of relief to some San Joaquin Valley watersheds. But the dousing of rain did not make a dent in the ongoing drought, according to water managers. “It helped a couple of the Kern River interests with flow that they weren’t anticipating,” said Mark Mulkay, Kern River…

Drought • Rivers

VIDEO: How California’s worst drought brought part of a Central Valley river back to life – briefly

August 17, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The San Joaquin River was dried up decades ago when the federal Bureau of Reclamation built Friant Dam north of Fresno to bring water to farms and towns along the east side of the San Joaquin Valley via the Friant-Kern Canal. A federally mandated salmon restoration program reconnected the river for a short time, but…

Drought • Rivers

Kern River advocates accuse utility of “lawless” water diversions on behalf of a long closed fish hatchery

July 20, 2022

• by Lois Henry

As water in the North Fork of the Kern River dwindles, controversy over its diminished flows is ramping up. At least some river watchers are accusing Southern California Edison of misusing a portion of the flows by continuing to divert water, ostensibly, for a state-owned fish hatchery that has been closed since 2020. The state…

Drought

Going, going….water at some of Bakersfield’s most popular parks is almost gone

July 19, 2022

• by Lois Henry

The lake at the Park at River Walk is fast disappearing, as are the Truxtun Lakes and some other city-owned water features. Blame the drought. The City of Bakersfield Water Resources Department has cut off flows to city-owned recreation and water recharge facilities to hold on to what little surface water it’s receiving from the…

Drinking Water • Drought

Even emergency water suppliers are close to tapped out as more valley towns go dry

July 19, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Groundwater levels are dropping and domestic wells throughout the San Joaquin Valley are going dry as California’s third year of drought grinds on. That includes entire towns, such as East Orosi and Tooleville in Tulare County, which both went dry last week. It’s bad. But it may get worse. Area water suppliers are “locking down”…

Drinking Water • Drought

Second Tulare County town goes dry as water tables plummet in drought

July 18, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The town of Tooleville in Tulare County is once again without water. The town, which has struggled for years with dropping groundwater levels and contamination issues, saw its wells dry up over the weekend. On July 15, residents called nonprofit Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability reporting very low water pressure and some with no…

Drought

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…

NEWS

Late summer rains brought little – but not much – drought relief to San Joaquin Valley watersheds

VIDEO: How California’s worst drought brought part of a Central Valley river back to life – briefly

Kern River advocates accuse utility of “lawless” water diversions on behalf of a long closed fish hatchery

Going, going….water at some of Bakersfield’s most popular parks is almost gone

Even emergency water suppliers are close to tapped out as more valley towns go dry

Second Tulare County town goes dry as water tables plummet in drought

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

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

State water funding to help upgrade mountain systems

Kern County reverses course on ag well permitting

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter & Get Email Notifications