Could “angel investors” buy a piece of the Friant-Kern Canal?
An investor funding proposal that could substantially increase the Friant-Kern Canal’s historic flow capacity is gaining interest among the Friant Water Authority’s member districts. In theory, that investor money could bump the amount of water that has historically flowed down the canal on the Central Valley’s eastern flank by up to 800 cubic feet per…
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Temperance Flat Dam on indefinite hold after report shows it doesn’t pencil out for water users
An investment analysis that looked at how much it would cost water users to build and operate the proposed Temperance Flat Dam northeast of Fresno without government funding was finished earlier this year and quietly passed among water districts, which just as quietly asked the federal government to shelve work on the project. A small…
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Plans to fix the Friant-Kern Canal moving fast. Funding — not so fast.
Planning to fix the Friant-Kern Canal is moving at a lightning clip even as funding to put those plans into action lags. The massive project went from its initial notice on Dec. 3, 2019, to release of the draft environmental impact statement on May 8, 2020 — just five months. Comments on the draft environmental…
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Spring storms increase Central Valley Project water deliveries
Reclamation press release: SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Following spring storms, the Bureau of Reclamation today issued updated allocations for Central Valley Project contractors for the 2020 contract year. “Thanks to April precipitation showing a sizeable water supply improvement for the American River watershed, Reclamation is pleased to announce this increased allocation for CVP water contractors south-of-the Delta,”…
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BREAKING: Court issues partial injunction against federal BiOps
The U.S. District Court of Eastern California on Monday issued a preliminary injunction against a portion of the new federal biological opinions governing operations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. From now through May 31, 2020, the court order states, the Bureau of Reclamation must adhere to the 2009 biological opinions as they relate to the…
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Dry year, not politics, behind 15-percent water allocation
Water may be highly political but dry is dry. And California is exceedingly dry this year, Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth told SJV Water in explaining the state’s low 15-percent allocation for farms and cities that rely on water from the State Water Project. Given the results of Thursday’s final snow survey in…
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State’s low water allocation prompts frustration, suspicion
Is the State Water Project’s extremely low water allocation based on California’s fickle climate? Or politics? A growing chorus of frustrated water managers are wondering. After a dry January, the Department of Water Resources announced it would only be able to deliver 15 percent of contracted water amounts to farms and cities. That number hasn’t…
Read MoreRecent storms boost water allocation for Friant farmers
NEWS RELEASE SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Today, the Bureau of Reclamation updated the water supply allocation for Friant Division Central Valley Project contracts for the 2020 contract year. The Friant Division provides water for 15,000 family farms and several cities in the Central Valley. Initial allocations were made on February 25, 2020. Reclamation considered many factors…
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New state water regs cause angst on all sides
A new set of water regulations aimed at protecting California’s native fish came down from the state earlier this week to near universal condemnation from both agricultural and environmental water folks. The regulations are contained in a 143-page “incidental take permit” issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife that lays out when — and…
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March storms leave so-so snowpack in the north and a cliffhanger on the San Joaquin River
March wasn’t exactly miraculous this year but it did OK by California’s snowpack, bringing it from a dismal 40-ish% of average up to above 60% of average in the northern Sierras. The bump wasn’t so great in the southern Sierras where snowpack is still at 40% to 46% of average for the Kaweah, Kern and…
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