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Groundwater plans are out for comment

• by Lois Henry
The Department of Water Resources has already put a number of groundwater sustainability plans up on its website for public comment. The public has until April 15 to comment on the first batch. Included in this initial group are some plans that have already generated controversy, such as the joint plan for the Tulare Lake…
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Kern’s final groundwater plan approved

• 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…
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Kern groundwater tally not adding up

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

• 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…
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Irrigation water prices under SGMA causing sticker shock

• 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…
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Kern groundwater shortfall numbers closer to reality

• 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…
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No-nonsense Kern water leader dies at 67

• 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…
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Lawsuit aims to save desert ag

• by Lois Henry
Water managers trying to bring groundwater into balance in the severely overdrafted Indian Wells Valley basin near Ridgecrest laid out a draft plan last month that would essentially mean the end of large-scale agriculture in that desert region.Mojave Pistachios Complaint “We are giving options to (ag) pumpers so they understand they have a limited future…
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A firehose of paperwork is pointed at state water officials

• by Lois Henry
The onslaught of paperwork will be astounding. When the calendar strikes Jan. 31, 2020, water agencies around the state will have sent hundreds of thousands of pages of technical data, plans and comments meant to shore up groundwater levels in our most overdrafted areas. Officials at the state Department of Water Resources  are expecting about…
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