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…
Read MoreICYMI: SJV Water on TV
SJV Water CEO/Editor Lois Henry had a chance to talk water water water with KGET Ch. 17 Anchor Jim Scott on his show: Kern County In Depth. Also in attendance, Kern Delta Water Agency COO Steve Teglia and soon-to-retire Kern County Water Agency General Manager Curtis Creel. What was on everyone’s minds??? Click below to…
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RAIN in Bakersfield
Those of us who’ve lived in the San Joaquin Valley all our lives are ridiculously excited by weather. And we had some today in Bakersfield. Other parts of the valley, not so much. Rain touched the San Joaquin Valley floor in Bakersfield on Wednesday, for the first time since Sept. 5, 2019 when a smattering…
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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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State water contractors should “drill into” California’s response to new delta biological opinions
A top federal water official warned members of a Central Valley water group that the state’s response to new guidelines for federally endangered fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta would likely include alternatives “inconsistent with your interests.” Ernest Conant, director of the California Great Basin Region of the Bureau of Reclamation (until recently known as…
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Water is key factor in farmland values
Mike Ming, owner of Ag Alliance Services, Inc., puts out a quarterly report looking at farmland valuations in Kern County. Following the passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), water access has become a key factor in land prices – and not in a good way. Key takeaways in Ming’s 3rd quarter report include:…
Read MoreIt’s all about water markets
Almonds take too much water. Wait, alfalfa is the bad guy. What about those water hogging geeks in Silicon Valley? No, no, no — that “evil” fracking is to blame. If it’s a day that ends in “y,” Californians are finding new water guzzling bogeymen to vilify. Meanwhile, economists are quietly shaking their heads. All…
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