Uncategorized Archives

Threats of arrest force hard decisions on Poso Creek, which could swamp two towns

March 20, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Jack Mitchell’s phone is ringing off the hook these days, but he almost always picks up. The head of the Deer Creek Storm Water District is busy coordinating crews and heavy equipment at multiple sites as he attempts to shepherd flood water from the Poso and Deer Creeks and White River along the edges of…

Floods • Uncategorized

Hoping to “take the pressure off” flooded areas, a levee is cut in the old Tulare Lake

March 19, 2023

• by Lois Henry

After days of debate and delay the Kings County Board of Supervisors ordered a levee in the old Tulare Lake bottom cut so flood water raging into the valley could spread out onto farmland instead of into homes and businesses. The levee was cut at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and water gushed in to the old…

Floods • Uncategorized

Ugly deeds, politics and high drama swirl amid the waters of a re-emerging Tulare Lake

March 18, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The drama was high on the Tulare Lake bed Saturday as flood waters pushed some landowners to resort to heavy handed and, in one instance, illegal tactics, to try and keep their farm ground dry — even at the expense of other farmers and some small communities. Someone illegally cut the banks of Deer Creek…

Floods • Uncategorized

Big rivers kept in check as residents grappled with havoc from streams, springs and snowmelt in Madera and Fresno counties

March 18, 2023

• by Gregory Weaver, Fresnoland

Editor’s note: This story was done in collaboration with SJV Water and Fresnoland. By GREGORY WEAVER Fresnoland In Fresno and Madera counties, it was smaller streams and snowmelt that caused most of the flooding and other issues brought on by the latest spate of atmospheric rivers pummeling the state. That was especially true in…

dams • Floods • Uncategorized

Lake Isabella may be the next to “fill and spill” as it is continues filling rapidly

March 16, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Lake Isabella could be the next Central Valley reservoir to “fill and spill” as it is rising rapidly, with an estimated two million acre feet of water hunkered down in a record high snowpack and more storms coming. The Kaweah and Success reservoirs in Tulare County have already reached that point, Success releasing water from…

Floods • Uncategorized

Tiny town of Earlimart has been dry so far, how long will its luck hold out?

March 16, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The flood-prone town of Earlimart has been mostly dry — so far — during this series of massive storms slamming California. Highway 99, which spears through the center of the tiny farmworker village in southern Tulare County, was flooded out by the White River and had to be closed twice after one, followed by another,…

Uncategorized

VIDEO: Capturing the before and after on two Kern County waterways

March 14, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The images of flooding in Central California are frightening and awesome all at the same time. SJV Water tried to capture and make sense of just some of the damage wreaked by two rivers in Kern County alone….

Uncategorized

Water lingo 101

March 14, 2023

• by Lois Henry

There’s a lot cfs talk being thrown around as rivers and creeks swell with recent storms. It occurred to me that maybe not everyone knows that CFS means. I didn’t when I first started covering water. Even if you know it means “cubic feet per second,” how does that help you understand what’s happening in…

Floods • Uncategorized

Kern River outflow from Lake Isabella is ramping up but, no, it is not a “flood release”

March 14, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Outflow from Lake Isabella into the Kern River increased on Tuesday but only because downriver users requested the water, according to Kern River Watermaster Mark Mulkay. Outflow went from about 500 cubic feet per second (cfs) Monday to 1,013 cfs by 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hourly reservoir reports…

Floods • Friant-Kern Canal • Uncategorized

Damage from “severe breach” of Friant-Kern Canal construction at Deer Creek difficult to assess

March 13, 2023

• by Lois Henry

An unfinished section of the new Friant-Kern Canal suffered a “severe breach” at Deer Creek in Tulare County Friday night as the normally dry creek swelled with rain and snowmelt and overran its banks into the construction zone. “This was worse than the one before,” said Johnny Amaral, Chief Operating Officer of the Friant Water…

NEWS

Threats of arrest force hard decisions on Poso Creek, which could swamp two towns

Hoping to “take the pressure off” flooded areas, a levee is cut in the old Tulare Lake

Ugly deeds, politics and high drama swirl amid the waters of a re-emerging Tulare Lake

Big rivers kept in check as residents grappled with havoc from streams, springs and snowmelt in Madera and Fresno counties

Lake Isabella may be the next to “fill and spill” as it is continues filling rapidly

Tiny town of Earlimart has been dry so far, how long will its luck hold out?

VIDEO: Capturing the before and after on two Kern County waterways

Water lingo 101

Kern River outflow from Lake Isabella is ramping up but, no, it is not a “flood release”

Damage from “severe breach” of Friant-Kern Canal construction at Deer Creek difficult to assess

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