Kern River body count at 307 as Memorial Day weekend kicks off
Traffic was steady and growing, heading up to the Kern River Valley on Highway 178 by 9 a.m. Friday as a small group gathered for a grim kick off to Memorial Day weekend. The river’s body count, announced on signs at the mouth of the Kern River Canyon, was increased by nine. That brings the…
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Kern River escape day
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Undercurrents of the Kern River’s flow are thick with intrigue, outrage
Water is flowing through the heart of Bakersfield in the Kern River and local water managers are shaking their heads in disbelief and frustration. Except, that is, for Art Chianello. Chianello is Bakersfield’s Water Resources Department director and the man behind the healthy flow currently being enjoyed by numerous residents as springtime temperatures heat up….
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A Sunday walk on the Kern River
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Expect a wet Kern River through May
Unless it’s a big water year (spoiler alert: It’s not), the Kern River through Bakersfield is usually a dry, sandy channel. So, water in the riverbed is pretty exciting in old B-town. SJV Water asked Art Chianello, Director of Bakersfield’s Water Resources Department, where today’s trickle was coming from and how long it would last….
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High tech and low show state’s snowpack is still stingy
The snowpack above the Central Valley looked slightly better after March and April brought the winter weather that was AWOL during the first two months of 2020. But the late storms weren’t enough to get valley rivers much above the 60%-of-average mark, if that. You need to login to view the rest of the content….
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Green sturgeon makes surprise appearance
A rare, wild green sturgeon was found on the San Joaquin River upriver from the confluence of the Merced this past weekend by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation crews checking salmon traps at Hills Ferry. The discovery caused some excitement as this endangered fish had not been seen that far up the San Joaquin in many…
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Legal fight reopened over Kern River
The Kern River can’t seem to stay out of California’s courtrooms — even in a pandemic. The latest legal scuffle, which erupted last week, is a continuation of a nearly decade long battle by a Kern County ag water district to hold on to a portion of its main water supply. On Friday, April 9,…
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New state water regs cause angst on all sides
A new set of water regulations aimed at protecting California’s native fish came down from the state earlier this week to near universal condemnation from both agricultural and environmental water folks. The regulations are contained in a 143-page “incidental take permit” issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife that lays out when — and…
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March storms leave so-so snowpack in the north and a cliffhanger on the San Joaquin River
March wasn’t exactly miraculous this year but it did OK by California’s snowpack, bringing it from a dismal 40-ish% of average up to above 60% of average in the northern Sierras. The bump wasn’t so great in the southern Sierras where snowpack is still at 40% to 46% of average for the Kaweah, Kern and…
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