NEWS

Water updates large and small

July 16, 2019

• by Lois Henry

What’s new in water? Oh, I thought you’d never ask. I’ve got some important tidbits for you. Oh don’t whine, this is the last water column by me you’ll have to slog through so COWGRRRL UP! The biggest, immediate water question right now is: Will they? Or won’t they? I’m talking about the California WaterFix and…

Groundwater

Dry wells in Rosedale get help but make me wonder

April 1, 2019

• by Lois Henry

I checked in with Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District recently to see how its “dry well” program was going. It’s steady. Meaning the agricultural water district is still getting a steady influx of claims from owners of wells that have gone dry. Not because of the drought, per se. But because of how groundwater has…

Groundwater

New groundwater world a scary, confusing place

April 1, 2019

• by Lois Henry

The county continued its pattern on Tuesday of declaring itself a Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) over the exact boundaries previously declared a GSA by water agencies. To date, the Kern Board of Supervisors has “filed over” five nascent GSAs, creating a lot of grumbling and ill will along the way. (I’ll get back to that.)…

Groundwater

Longtime water foes join forces

April 1, 2019

• by Lois Henry

There’s nothing like a common enemy to bring warring parties together. That was never more true than with the City of Bakersfield and Kern Delta Water District, which agreed this week to form a joint Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA). As part of the alliance, they both agreed to drop long-running lawsuits against each other. And…

Groundwater

Farm land in Kern is down, but don’t fret

April 1, 2019

• by Lois Henry

Agricultural land values in the Central Valley, and Kern County, have slipped a bit but most analysts aren’t worried about a major drop. Though water will become a larger question mark in coming years. For now, analysts are looking at the recent dip in values as more of a “breather” from the meteoric rates at…

Groundwater

Declining agricultural land values tied to water

April 1, 2019

• by Lois Henry

It’s all about the water. As far as agricultural land values, that is. A new report on the outlook for Kern County ag land values shows water emerging as a major deciding factor in what land is worth, according to Michael Ming, a broker for Alliance Ag Services LLC. His report shows that, depending on…

Groundwater

Groundwater repayment coming due early for some valley farmers

April 1, 2019

• by Lois Henry

Fixing our groundwater deficit will be painful. No way around it. And growers in the massive Semitropic Water Storage District are learning that sooner than most. Though the state has set a series of short- and long-term deadlines to restore the depleted water table, Semitropic is so far in the hole it got special legislation…