Groundwater Archives - Page 3 of 11

Gov.’s proposed $40 million for farmland retirement is welcome but more needed

February 3, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

More money could be coming to California’s new farmland repurposing program. But it’s still just a drop in the bucket, according experts. In his budget summary for 2022-2023, Governor Newsom proposed an additional $40 million for the Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program, a program approved last year to pay farmers incentives for taking irrigated land out…

Groundwater • SGMA

State gives thumbs down to most San Joaquin Valley groundwater plans

January 28, 2022

• by Jesse Vad and Lois Henry, SJV Water

Groundwater plans for eight “critically overdrafted” subbasins in the San Joaquin Valley were deemed incomplete by the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) on Friday. Plans covering the Kern, Eastern San Joaquin, Merced, Chowchilla, Kings, Kaweah, Tulare Lake and Tule subbasins were all officially labeled as “incomplete” by DWR. On January 21, DWR also deemed…

Groundwater

Groundwater plans for Westlands Water District, three other areas, deemed “incomplete”

January 21, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Groundwater plans for two regions in the western San Joaquin Valley were deemed deficient by the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) on Friday. The Westside subbasin, overseen by Westlands Water District, and the Delta-Mendota subbasin’s plans were officially labeled as “incomplete” by DWR. The state also found groundwater plans for the Paso Robles and…

Groundwater • SGMA

Desert groundwater plan OK’d by state

January 13, 2022

• by Lois Henry

The Indian Wells Valley groundwater plan got a thumbs up from the state on Thursday but with a swarm of lawsuits surrounding the plan, it’s unclear what that approval will mean going forward. One of those lawsuits seeks a “comprehensive adjudication” of water rights of the Indian Wells Valley basin, which could reconfigure who has…

Groundwater • SGMA

Groundwater use capped for some Tulare County farmers

January 11, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Tulare County farmers used to pumping groundwater at will are coming to the harsh reality that those days are numbered. For some, they’re already over. Pumping caps have been, or soon will be, implemented in all three groundwater sustainability agencies in the Kaweah subbasin,. “I’d say the reaction has been positive. Positively terrible,” said Mike…

Groundwater

VIDEO: Groundwater pumping limits pitting “farmer against farmer” in some areas

January 10, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Madera County, which acts as a groundwater sustainability agency for farmlands outside of irrigation district boundaries, was the first agency in California to institute groundwater pumping limits. Meanwhile, area irrigation districts haven’t implemented pumping restrictions. That has created what one farmer called an unfair advantage. But there are arguments on the other side that farmers…

Groundwater • SGMA

Critics say valley groundwater managers put too much emphasis on recharge, not enough on pumping cuts

December 27, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

Groundwater recharge seems to be priority No. 1 in the San Joaquin Valley’s scramble toward sustainability. With water restrictions on the horizon, groundwater managers can’t build recharge sites fast enough. But will it be enough? “That’s something that’s always on the forefront of my mind, is this going to be enough?” said Kassy Chaughan, executive…

Groundwater • Personalities

Large water pipeline in Kings County raising questions, concerns

December 22, 2021

• by Lois Henry

A large water pipeline being built near Lemoore in Kings County is raising eyebrows as much for its possible uses as for the name associated with its construction — John Vidovich. The large, black pipe could be seen earlier this month being tucked into the ground along 21st Avenue just south of Highway 198 and…

Drinking Water • Groundwater

This Central Valley Town Has a Carcinogen in its Water. Why Are Solutions So Slow?

December 14, 2021

• by Claudia Boyd-Barrett, California Health Report

This piece is part of a collaboration that includes the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), California Health Report, Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism, Circle of Blue, Colorado Public Radio, Columbia Insight, The Counter, High Country News, New Mexico In Depth and SJV Water. The project was made possible by a grant from the Water Foundation…

Friant-Kern Canal • Groundwater

Who should pay to fix California’s sunken canals?

December 9, 2021

• by Theo Whitcomb, High Country News

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