Groundwater Archives - Page 10 of 12

Lack of groundwater coordination could land Kern in “probation”

February 6, 2020

• by Lois Henry

In what appears to be a game of water chicken, at least one Kern County groundwater sustainability agency is refusing to sign a crucial document required to keep the entire subbasin out of state control. Buena Vista GSA General Manager Tim Ashlock said Monday that his agency won’t sign a five-year “coordination agreement” with Kern’s…

Groundwater

Kern’s groundwater agreement is just cover for the “pump club”

February 6, 2020

• by Lois Henry

A coordination agreement approved Wednesday by the Kern Groundwater Authority is just cover for continued overpumping, according to the Buena Vista Groundwater Sustainability Agency, which has refused to sign on to the document for a five-year term. It’s unclear if that refusal may put the entire Kern subbasin into probationary status under the state’s new…

Extreme ag pumping threatens California’s main water artery

February 6, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Heavy groundwater pumping to sustain a massive increase in orchards and vineyards in the San Joaquin Valley has brought the state’s main water artery to the brink of permanent damage, according to report released by the Department of Water Resources Dec. 31. If groundwater pumping near the California Aqueduct continues at current levels through the…

Groundwater • State System • Uncategorized

Nuts getting a bad rap for sinking the California Aqueduct

February 6, 2020

• by Lois Henry

State water officials are blaming almond and pistachio orchards for sinking the California Aqueduct before all the evidence is in, according to one western Kern County water district manager. “They need to do more homework,” said Jason Gianquinto, General Manager of the Semitropic Water Storage District. “It’s easy to say, ‘Hey, this area is subsiding…

Groundwater • Uncategorized

Kern’s final groundwater plan approved

February 6, 2020

• by Lois Henry

After months of fireworks over low-ball pumping numbers and concerns that some groundwater agencies wouldn’t get on board, Kern’s last Groundwater Sustainability Plan was approved Wednesday with barely a murmur. The Kern Groundwater Authority board of directors voted unanimously to adopt its final GSP with just two weeks to spare before the massive document is…

Groundwater • Rivers

Kern groundwater tally not adding up

February 6, 2020

• by Lois Henry

San Joaquin Valley farms and towns have pumped the basin’s groundwater so furiously and for so long that parts of the valley are sinking, endangering roads and bridges and even breaking one of the main canals that brings in water to support local agriculture. Yet, here in Kern County, state-mandated water budgets presented by several…

Federal System • Groundwater • Uncategorized

Salty water spat erupts over “no man’s land” of Mendota Pool

February 6, 2020

• by Lois Henry

The federal government has OKed a 20-year extension of a water exchange program for one Central Valley water district that another district says will illegally foul its water. The Bureau of Reclamation billed the exchange program as a way to “optimize water supplies and reduce pumping impacts” by allowing a group of Westlands Water District…

Drought • Groundwater • State System • Uncategorized

Irrigation water prices under SGMA causing sticker shock

February 6, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Reaction was hushed when Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District General Manager Eric Averett asked the small group of farmers Tuesday morning if any were interested in buying irrigation water at the previously unheard of price of $770 an acre foot. No papers rustled. Keyboards went silent. And none of the growers raised a hand. Such…

Groundwater

Kern groundwater shortfall numbers closer to reality

February 6, 2020

• by Lois Henry

New numbers coming in from water districts to the Kern Groundwater Authority show a groundwater overdraft of 249,644 acre feet a year – and that’s a good thing. “At the last meeting, I admonished water managers to get serious about this, and I’m pleased to report that they have,” said Dennis Mullins, chair of the…

Groundwater • Personalities • State System

No-nonsense Kern water leader dies at 67

February 6, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Dennis Mullins led the first attempt to measure Kern groundwater under new state law. For long-time local attorney Dennis Mullins, life was a banquet of knowledge and one of his greatest joys was filling himself up so he could help others. He was well-known for his ability to pare down and communicate complex issues, often…

NEWS

Lack of groundwater coordination could land Kern in “probation”

Kern’s groundwater agreement is just cover for the “pump club”

Extreme ag pumping threatens California’s main water artery

Nuts getting a bad rap for sinking the California Aqueduct

Kern’s final groundwater plan approved

Kern groundwater tally not adding up

Salty water spat erupts over “no man’s land” of Mendota Pool

Irrigation water prices under SGMA causing sticker shock

Kern groundwater shortfall numbers closer to reality

No-nonsense Kern water leader dies at 67

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