Extreme ag pumping threatens California’s main water artery
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…
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Kern’s groundwater agreement is just cover for the “pump club”
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…
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Lack of groundwater coordination could land Kern in “probation”
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…
Read MorePotpourri: SJV Water on Berkeley radio, Cali streams tapped out (?), the Creel has landed and more
In the interest of not inundating your email inboxes with a bunch of posts, I’m offering several small newsy water bits in a single take. You are WELCOME! Berkeley gets a Kings earful SJV Water CEO/Editor Lois Henry (that’s me!) was interviewed by Vic Bedoian, a freelance Central Valley radio reporter, for KFPA 94.1 FM…
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A firehose of paperwork is pointed at state water officials
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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Friant-Kern Canal is getting a lot of bipartisan love – but no money so far
Politicians of all persuasions have jumped in to fix the Friant-Kern Canal “sag,” which has severely reduced the canal’s ability to carry a full load of water in recent years. Congressman TJ Cox (D-Fresno) introduced H.R. 5316 on Friday. It would provide $200 million to fix the canal, which brings water 152 miles from Millerton…
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Locals gear up for fight to keep Kings River water
Farmers in Kern County applied to the state to take floodwater south to make up huge groundwater deficit Just as they did more than two generations ago, Kern County farmers are looking to another Central Valley river to the north to refill their groundwater shortfall. But this time around, natives in the Kings River watershed…
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Lawsuit aims to save desert ag
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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Our “valley of tribes” must work together on water issues
Water and oil do mix, or at least they should in order for the San Joaquin Valley to succeed, said Sarge Green, a project director at the Water, Education and Technology (WET) center at Fresno State. Green spoke at the annual Kern Energy Summit Wednesday morning. He was joined by Steve Bohlen, Energy and Homeland…
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No-nonsense Kern water leader dies at 67
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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Maven's Notebook is an excellent daily accounting of California water happenings statewide.
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