SGMA Archives - SJV Water

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Water districts bail on Kern’s largest groundwater agency; form their own group

May 5, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Fractures have appeared within Kern County’s largest groundwater agency as pressure mounts for it to show the state how it plans to address the region’s massive groundwater deficit. Four water entities recently notified the Kern Groundwater Authority they were pulling out of the 16-member group to write their own groundwater sustainability plan. That will add…

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…

SGMA

Valley could see a “mass migration” of farmworkers as land is fallowed under state groundwater law

May 2, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Advocates are sounding the alarm for what they think could be the collapse of the San Joaquin Valley’s agriculture workforce. As drought continues to hammer the state and groundwater pumping restrictions take effect, farmland will need to be retired en masse. While there have been many conversations, including legislation, on how to support farmers during…

SGMA

Ag well drilling still under a cloud of confusion from Gov. Newsom’s drought order

April 27, 2022

• by Jesse Vad and Lois Henry, SJV Water

Gov. Newsom’s emergency drought order that singled out agricultural wells for extra scrutiny is continuing to cause confusion and angst in some parts of the San Joaquin Valley, while other areas are stutter-stepping forward. Selma raisin farmer Tony Panoo was happy to finally have his well drilled on Monday after several tense weeks when his…

Drought • SGMA

How low will it go? Kern agencies worry one district setting groundwater levels too far down

April 16, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Kern County agricultural water districts are giving major side-eye to one of their own over what’s known as “minimum threshold” groundwater levels The grumbling is aimed at the sprawling Semitropic Water Storage District in northwest Kern, where minimum thresholds are set, in some cases, at levels that would allow farmers to pump down the water…

SGMA

Groundwater agencies at the epicenter of sinking beneath the Friant-Kern Canal have restricted pumping, raised fees in hopes of curbing water table free fall

March 29, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Three Tulare County groundwater agencies that cover areas with severe subsidence due to over pumping spent the last year implementing programs to stem that tide and collected more than $11 million in the process. The Lower Tule River Irrigation District, Pixley Irrigation District and Eastern Tule groundwater sustainability agencies (GSA) are among the first to…

SGMA

Madera farmers may be facing a steep bill under county efforts to stem the groundwater overdraft

March 5, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Madera County farmers who’ve never had to pay for water, could be facing an expensive new future under a new fee plan being drafted by the county’s groundwater sustainability agency. The new fees could add up to more than $23,000 per 100 acres, tacked on to the cost of doing business for some growers. The…

Groundwater • SGMA

For some Kern County farmers, overpumping groundwater could get pricey

February 15, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Farmers in the sprawling Semitropic Water Storage District in the northwest corner of Kern County got a look recently at possible water charges for going over their allotted water budgets and the top amounts were eye popping. The details are still being worked out and won’t be put in place for a while, said Semitropic…

Groundwater • SGMA

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…

Rivers • SGMA

River rights battles in the San Joaquin Valley stuck in eddy

February 1, 2022

• by Lois Henry

If you’re living in excited anticipation of the next batch of legal action on several San Joaquin Valley rivers now under scrutiny by the rights division of the State Water Resources Control Board, you may want to cool your jets. That doesn’t mean absolutely nothing has been happening on the Fresno, Kings and Kern rivers….

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