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As companies buy up more valley farmland, the wells get deeper, according to new study

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Private companies have been snatching up more and more farmland and drilling deeper wells, according to new research.  A newly published study looked at data from 2003-2017 and showed a drastic increase in limited liability companies (LLCs) buying up farmland throughout the state. It also looked at well drilling in the San Joaquin Valley specifically…
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Funding could be biggest hurdle faced by the delta tunnel as water users weigh costs versus benefits of the $16 billion project

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
The controversial Delta Conveyance Project may have bigger problems than legal action over its recently approved environmental impact report.  Who’s going to pay the estimated $16 billion price tag? The concept, a tunnel to take Sacramento River water beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to thirsty towns and farms further south, relies on the end users…
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MEETING NOTES: Bakersfield accrued the most Kern River water last year since buying its river rights in 1976

• by Sonia Lemus, freelance for SJV Water
* “Meeting Notes” is a new feature focused on Kern County water districts, funded through a grant from the James B. McClatchy Foundation. Please consider supporting SJV Water to continue this important coverage. Meeting: City of Bakersfield Water board of directors Date: February 21, 2024. Agenda and Packet: CLICK HERE Operations Report: City of Bakersfield…
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Newly rebuilt Friant-Kern Canal still sinking from overpumping, Tulare farmers not paying their share for the fix, lawsuit alleges

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
Farmers in Tulare County are being allowed to continue pumping so much groundwater that it is endangering a newly constructed portion of the Friant-Kern Canal that had to be rebuilt because overpumping had sunk a 33-mile section of the canal, according to a lawsuit filed Friday. Land around the new canal section has continued to…
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MEETING NOTES: Desert groundwater authority wins appeal on pumping fees; and South Kern water district declares official shortage

• by Sonia Lemus, freelance for SJV Water
* “Meeting Notes” is a new feature focused on Kern County water districts, funded through a grant from the James B. McClatchy Foundation. Please consider supporting SJV Water to continue this important coverage. Meeting: Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority board of directors Date: Feb. 14, 2024 Agenda and Packet: CLICK HERE Major topics: Court rules…
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Fresno farmers have one more day to apply for irrigation project money

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Farmers in the Fresno Irrigation District have through February 16 to apply for federal money to pay for irrigation projects on their land.  The WaterSMART program, administered by the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Resources Conservation Service, is sending money to farmers to update water systems and make them more resilient and conservation-focused. The…
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World Ag Expo: Water seminar lands with a thud as speaker details “devastating” amount of acreage expected to go out of production

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
The sun was shining and blue skies reigned over the 57th World Ag Expo in Tulare County Tuesday but inside seminar trailer No. 2 the mood was gloomy to dismal as panelists discussed the San Joaquin Valley’s water outlook. The upshot is that with surface supplies from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta shrinking and increased groundwater…
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Water district between two counties and two subbasins forges its own groundwater sustainability path

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
The small Kern-Tulare Water District moved forward recently in breaking away from two other groundwater agencies to form its own independent groundwater sustainability agency (GSA). As the state’s historic Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) turns 10 this year and the 2040 deadline to bring aquifers into balance edges closer, groundwater agencies have splintered and reformed…
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