Drought Archives - Page 9 of 11

Drought

Thousands of water rights holders could be cut off from rivers

July 24, 2021

• by Lois Henry

California water regulators are preparing to do what they’ve been warning about for months – cut the spigot to thousands of water rights holders. The state Water Resources Control Board will consider an emergency order at its August 3 meeting that would bar farmers, cities and others from continuing to tap into rivers that feed…

Drought

Another valley town on the brink of going dry

July 23, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

The small, rural community of Tooleville is on the brink of going dry after one of its two wells went down Friday morning. It’s the second community in Tulare County to suffer water problems in the last two months as California struggles through the grip of a devastating drought. The only well in the town…

Endangered salmon program waiting, watching for possible call on Millertion water

July 21, 2021

• by Lois Henry

As the summer grinds on, farms, towns and a critical native salmon restoration program that all rely on water from Millerton Lake near Fresno continue to hope their water won’t be needed to fulfill irrigation contracts further up the San Joaquin Valley. But in this parched year, nothing is certain. If water is required out…

Drought

Drought has desperate ranchers asking: “Can I feed tomorrow?”

July 20, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

California may only be one year into the drought, but its toll feels much bigger to San Joaquin Valley livestock operators. “It’s as bad as we’ve seen it in probably 15 years,” said Andrée Soares, president of Star Creek Land Stewards, Inc. “Animals have to be fed 24 hours a day, seven days a week….

Drought • Rivers • SGMA

Valley rivers going dry

July 14, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Southern San Joaquin Valley Rivers are running at near historic lows — again. In fact, the Bakersfield City Council passed a resolution Wednesday officially declaring the Kern River as running at only 17% of normal, it’s second driest year since record keeping began in 1893. The driest year on record was 2015, the worst year…

Drought

Hydro energy reduced as California reservoirs shrink

July 6, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

California’s reservoirs and rivers are startlingly low, forcing many of the state’s more than 270 hydropower facilities to generate less power. Lake Oroville, one of the state’s largest reservoirs, made headlines because its water levels have dropped so low the power plant may need to shut down for the first time. While most other hydropower…

Drinking Water • Drought • Groundwater

State still hasn’t fixed Porterville drinking water crisis from the last drought. Will residents go dry again?

June 30, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

The epicenter of dry wells during California’s last devastating drought was undoubtedly Porterville. The small Tulare County town saw wells go dry enmasse in its unincorporated east side. It became a national headline as the media descended. Amid the glare of tv cameras, the state pledged to help and agreed to build three new wells….

Drought

Drought brings torrent of media attention to the Central Valley

June 17, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

The drought in California is making headlines every day across the country, and for good reason: Almost the entire state is in severe drought. And the whole San Joaquin Valley is experiencing extreme or exceptional drought, the two worst categories. As journalists set their sights on California, many news stories highlight impacts on farmers, particularly…

Drought • Federal System • Friant-Kern Canal

No cut to Friant water users – so far

June 3, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Though questions remain about whether San Joaquin Valley towns and farms that rely on water from Millerton Lake could be cut to zero, as they were in the last drought, water managers are moving ahead as if that won’t happen. In 2014 and 2015, the federal Bureau of Reclamation wasn’t able to get enough water…

Drought

San Joaquin River flows halted to protect salmon

June 3, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Flows into the San Joaquin River under a program to bring back native salmon will be stopped now through early September to try and protect fish already upstream. The flow reduction being instituted by the San Joaquin Restoration Program is in reaction to rapidly dwindling runoff coming out of the Sierra Nevada mountains this year….

NEWS

Thousands of water rights holders could be cut off from rivers

Another valley town on the brink of going dry

Endangered salmon program waiting, watching for possible call on Millertion water

Drought has desperate ranchers asking: “Can I feed tomorrow?”

Valley rivers going dry

Hydro energy reduced as California reservoirs shrink

State still hasn’t fixed Porterville drinking water crisis from the last drought. Will residents go dry again?

Drought brings torrent of media attention to the Central Valley

No cut to Friant water users – so far

San Joaquin River flows halted to protect salmon

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