Groundwater Archives - Page 2 of 12

Change is coming to the Westlands Water District board. What will it mean for the future of the sprawling district and its controversial general manager?

October 27, 2022

• by Lois Henry

The makeup of the Westlands Water District board will change this election – shifting power to a coalition of growers with a list of new actions, at the top of which appears to be ousting longtime General Manager Tom Birmingham. “There needs to be a change of leadership, that’s a foundational issue,” said Sarah Woolf,…

Groundwater • Personalities

Fallout from Kings County water war continues as state mulls groundwater plan

August 29, 2022

• by Lois Henry

There’s no word, yet, of state intervention in the ongoing water war between two of Kings County’s largest growers – John Vidovich and the J.G. Boswell Company – but there has been fallout. Kimberly Brown, a board member of the Southwest Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency, resigned August 10 in protest of last-minute language added to…

Groundwater • SGMA

Stanford study: Shutting down pumps alone won’t halt San Joaquin Valley sinking

June 3, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The San Joaquin Valley is sinking and it might continue to do so for centuries if groundwater levels aren’t recovered, according to a new Stanford University study. The study, which was published on Thursday in the Water Resources Research journal, simulated 65 years of land sinking, called subsidence, at a site near Hanford in Kings…

Groundwater • SGMA

State funding to retire valley farmland could more than double under Gov. Newsom’s proposed budget

May 25, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

A state program aimed at retiring and repurposing farmland could get $60 million – more than doubling its current funding – under Gov. Newsom’s proposed budget. The Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program was created with $50 million from the 2021 state budget. The program helps pay for farmland to be taken out of production and repurposed…

Groundwater

Tiny Allensworth on the front lines of bad water and innovative solutions

May 16, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

When it comes to finding innovative solutions to drinking water problems, the tiny community of Allensworth in Tulare county has long been on the front lines. This spring, community began testing a new technology that would “jolt” arsenic out of its groundwater. And since 2021, Allensworth has also been home to another new technology that…

Groundwater • SGMA

State funding helps pay for valley groundwater projects

May 4, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Multiple San Joaquin Valley groundwater projects got a significant shot of state funding this week to kickstart recharge, and other, projects. On Monday, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced $150 million was awarded to 20 agencies through its first round of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Grant Program. That includes almost $84 million for 11…

Drought • Groundwater

Gov. Newsom’s drought order brings ag well activity to a standstill in some areas

April 14, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Valley groundwater agencies are mired in confusion and concern over Gov. Newsom’s March 28 executive drought order, which added new steps for permitting agricultural wells, according to agencies’ staff. As groundwater agency managers scramble to hash out exactly how to comply with the order, well permits in some areas are stuck in limbo leaving well…

Groundwater • Personalities

Judge’s order stops a Kings County pipeline, the focus of just one battle in the ongoing Boswell-Vidovich water war

April 4, 2022

• by Lois Henry

A Kings County judge issued a preliminary injunction Monday stopping a 48-inch water pipeline from cutting through the Tulare Lake Canal. The decision comes several months after J.G. Boswell, which controls the Tulare Lake Canal Company, blockaded the canal with bulldozers and excavators to keep the pipeline, owned by Sandridge Partners, which is controlled by…

Groundwater • Personalities

Judge in Boswell-Vidovich battle says she can’t “stretch” laws to keep groundwater from leaving Kings County

April 2, 2022

• by Lois Henry

A pair of lawsuits focused on trespass and environmental issues surrounding construction of a 48-inch water pipeline in Kings County are, in many ways, just a token of a much larger issue: Groundwater leaving the county, a judge noted on Friday. “The fact that groundwater is an issue in this county isn’t disputed,” Judge Valerie…

Groundwater

Deadline to apply for $50M to retire farmland coming up April 1

March 15, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The state has $50 million to spend to retire farmland, which it intends to give out as block grants to local agencies, tribes and nonprofits in the San Joaquin Valley. But there are strings attached to the money. The groups that receive the block grants will have to work directly with farmers and community members…

NEWS

Change is coming to the Westlands Water District board. What will it mean for the future of the sprawling district and its controversial general manager?

Fallout from Kings County water war continues as state mulls groundwater plan

Stanford study: Shutting down pumps alone won’t halt San Joaquin Valley sinking

State funding to retire valley farmland could more than double under Gov. Newsom’s proposed budget

Tiny Allensworth on the front lines of bad water and innovative solutions

State funding helps pay for valley groundwater projects

Gov. Newsom’s drought order brings ag well activity to a standstill in some areas

Judge’s order stops a Kings County pipeline, the focus of just one battle in the ongoing Boswell-Vidovich water war

Judge in Boswell-Vidovich battle says she can’t “stretch” laws to keep groundwater from leaving Kings County

Deadline to apply for $50M to retire farmland coming up April 1

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