Uncategorized Archives - Page 21 of 30

Westlands Water District lets bounty of flood water flow to the ocean instead of maximizing groundwater recharge

May 30, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Groundwater recharge – or the lack of it – was a driving force behind the sweep of new board members who took over the behemoth Westlands Water District last fall. “Urgently develop groundwater recharge,” was the top plank in the platform of four candidates who won election in November. And the district has, indeed, built…

Floods • Uncategorized

Big melt may be less dramatic – and damaging – than initially thought

May 22, 2023

• by Lois Henry

State flood responders are still planning for the worst, but newly released inundation models are predicting a less dramatic and damaging snow melt as California heads into the summer months. On the Kern River, predictions are now showing releases from Isabella Dam can be maintained at 7,750 cubic feet per second, or less, throughout the rest…

Floods • Uncategorized

Kern County makes river flood maps available to the public

May 17, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The Kern River is rising fast and, so far, the public hasn’t been given very good information on the one question on everyone’s mind: Where’s it going to flood? Wednesday, the Kern County Office of Emergency Services put out detailed, locally built maps that attempt to answer that question under various flow scenarios. The upshot…

Floods • Uncategorized

Kern River water to go into California Aqueduct to keep it out of Tulare Lake; flows to ramp up mid-June

May 12, 2023

• by Lois Henry

For the first time in 17 years, the Kern River “intertie” will be opened on Monday to release Kern River flood waters into the California Aqueduct, according to the Kern River Watermaster. The move is an attempt to keep more flood water off the already waterlogged Tulare Lake bed as officials anticipate significantly increased Kern…

Floods • Uncategorized

State to pay $17 – $20 million for repeated rebuild of Corcoran levee

May 11, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The state will front Kings County $17-$20 million to pay for raising the Corcoran levee but said it didn’t want to throw “good money after bad” and would require local groundwater agencies do more to stem subsidence, land sinking. Gov. Newsom’s administration made the announcement Thursday as a separate measure among several water-related spending proposals…

Uncategorized

Trove of historic Isabella Dam photos give insider’s view of the dam’s construction

May 11, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The best marketing team in the country could not have timed the release of Gene Verbeet’s and Larry M. Holochwost’s latest history book better. “The Building of Isabella Dam: Taming the Mighty Kern,” a pictorial history in coffee table form went on pre-sale through the Kern River Historical Society a couple of months ago. About…

Floods • Uncategorized

Kern River water may be plentiful this year but it’s never cheap

May 8, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The Kern Water Bank Authority paid $35,000 just to file an application for a temporary permit to take up to 300,000 acre feet of Kern River flood water. There’s no guarantee the permit will be approved. Nor that the conditions in the permit – that rights holders are so full they can’t take more water…

Floods • Uncategorized

Water tour showcases San Joaquin Valley flood damage; preparation for incoming snow melt

May 3, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Throughout a recent tour of key water sites in the San Joaquin Valley, flooding, historic wet conditions and preparation for runoff from record-breaking snowpack were the main topics at almost every stop. The tour is one of several offered by the nonprofit Water Education Foundation. San Luis Reservoir The first stop was San Luis Reservoir…

Floods • Uncategorized

Kern River “orphan channel” could pose problems during the big melt

April 24, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The Kern River flood channel that heads north to the old Tulare Lake bed from Highway 46 is decidedly not ready for what may become massive runoff. It’s a thicket of trees and shrubs and its banks are a weedy, trash strewn mess. But figuring out who’s in charge of clearing out that 16-mile stretch…

Uncategorized

Easter on the Kern River

April 22, 2023

• by Lois Henry

I meant to post these photos earlier, but got busy! I went up the Kern River Canyon on Easter to get a look at the water. Spoiler alert: It’s BIGGGG! …

NEWS

Westlands Water District lets bounty of flood water flow to the ocean instead of maximizing groundwater recharge

Big melt may be less dramatic – and damaging – than initially thought

Kern County makes river flood maps available to the public

Kern River water to go into California Aqueduct to keep it out of Tulare Lake; flows to ramp up mid-June

State to pay $17 – $20 million for repeated rebuild of Corcoran levee

Trove of historic Isabella Dam photos give insider’s view of the dam’s construction

Kern River water may be plentiful this year but it’s never cheap

Water tour showcases San Joaquin Valley flood damage; preparation for incoming snow melt

Kern River “orphan channel” could pose problems during the big melt

Easter on the Kern River

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