Kings River floodwater dispute goes to the state
A bid by Kern County farmers to take Kings River floodwater officially got underway Tuesday as state regulators hashed out procedures and next steps with the various parties. An initial hearing had been set for April 15, but may now be pushed back to July, depending on how Administrative Hearing Officer Nicole Kuenzi rules. Kuenzi…
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Westlands Water District is again eyeing San Joaquin River water
Westlands Water District sent shockwaves through the Central Valley water world recently after it alerted several districts that it intends to apply for rights to flood flows on the San Joaquin River. A previous attempt by Westlands to get rights to San Joaquin River water 20 years ago ignited a ferocious east-west battle in the…
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High tech and low show state’s snowpack is still stingy
The snowpack above the Central Valley looked slightly better after March and April brought the winter weather that was AWOL during the first two months of 2020. But the late storms weren’t enough to get valley rivers much above the 60%-of-average mark, if that. You need to login to view the rest of the content….
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Locals gear up for fight to keep Kings River water
Farmers in Kern County applied to the state to take floodwater south to make up huge groundwater deficit Just as they did more than two generations ago, Kern County farmers are looking to another Central Valley river to the north to refill their groundwater shortfall. But this time around, natives in the Kings River watershed…
Read MoreSurvey says! We got a boatload of water coming soon
The numbers are in and they are good. Amazing, actually. The April 1 manual snowpack survey for the Kern River basin shows we are at an overall 215 percent of average, according to the Department of Water Resources. (See side box for particulars.) The basin was at 49 percent of average last year and that…
Read MoreWater districts stuffing Kern River water in every nook and cranny they can
The good news is that not a drop of Kern River water is going into the California Aqueduct to fill Southern California taps. Yet. But water managers are keeping an eagle eye on the snowpack and the weather hoping there are no sudden moves from either in the near future. A warm rain or rapid…
Read MoreLittle Poso Creek causing big problems for farmers in northern Kern
Poso Creek wreaked havoc on a number of northern Kern County farms in recent weeks, flooding thousands of acres. Farmers were busy patching levees and pumping remnants of the flood water off their lands Thursday. But even as berms were rebuilt and their fields dried, farmers eyed the giant Sierra snowpack and warned, “It’s not…
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