Proposed $171 million Central Valley groundwater bank faces TCP contamination
A Kern County groundwater bank proposal just at the starting blocks has been hit with 1,2,3-TCP contamination. Irvine Ranch Water District and Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District had just begun the environmental review process for their joint banking project this past April when TCP reared its head. “It doesn’t appear TCP is an existential threat…
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Tainted valley groundwater could stymie banking deals
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California to Friant-Kern Canal: “No $ for you!”
Any hope that California might kick in money to fix the sagging Friant-Kern Canal was killed Thursday when a bill that would have provided $400 million toward the effort was stripped of all funding. The bill, SB 559 by State Sen. Melissa Hurtado, D-Sanger, had been stuck in the suspense file (a kind of legislative…
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Western Kern River bike path extension to start this month
Residents will soon be able to scoot, cycle, jog or hike on the bike path all the way from the middle of Bakersfield to Buena Vista Lake. Construction on a 7-mile-long extension of the Kern River bike path from its current terminus at Enos Lane to Buena Vista Lake south of Highway 119 will begin…
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Undercurrents of the Kern River’s flow are thick with intrigue, outrage
Water is flowing through the heart of Bakersfield in the Kern River and local water managers are shaking their heads in disbelief and frustration. Except, that is, for Art Chianello. Chianello is Bakersfield’s Water Resources Department director and the man behind the healthy flow currently being enjoyed by numerous residents as springtime temperatures heat up….
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Groundwater plans are out for comment
The Department of Water Resources has already put a number of groundwater sustainability plans up on its website for public comment. The public has until April 15 to comment on the first batch. Included in this initial group are some plans that have already generated controversy, such as the joint plan for the Tulare Lake…
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TUNE IN! KGET Channel 17 in Bakersfield Saturday night Nov. 23 6 p.m.
Well this was a quick turnaround! I was invited by KGET Ch. 17 anchor Jim Scott to talk about water on his Kern County In-Depth program. We talked SGMA with Kern Delta Water District’s new Executive Steve Teglia (formerly Asst. City Manager for Bakersfield) and then Jim interviewed retiring Kern County Water Agency General Manager…
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Cowboy tactics not helping turn failed McAllister Ranch subdivision into Kern’s newest water bank
Well, that didn’t take long. It’s been less than a month since Buena Vista Water Storage District bought the remaining 600 acres of the failed McAllister Ranch subdivision and it’s already butting heads with Bakersfield city officials. Like, major league butting. The city cited the water district last week for excavating several ditches on the…
Read MoreTwisted saga of failed McAllister Ranch development takes another turn
The saga of a local icon of the 2007 real estate crash continues with yet another twist. McAllister Ranch, once touted to become a 6,000-home, elite Bakersfield suburb with its own Greg Norman-designed golf course, has a new owner. Well, part of it. And the owner is only sort of new. Buena Vista Water Storage…
Read MoreWater districts’ split leaves groundwater bank even more up in the air
If all had gone as planned six years ago, the failed McAllister Ranch housing development would be brimming with water right now. Instead, the two agricultural water districts that had hoped to turn the foreclosed subdivision into a groundwater bank are now in court over the 2,000-acre property. The whirlwind courtship that brought Rosedale-Rio Bravo…
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