Group looks to AI for water in the Kern River

The public interest group, Bring Back the Kern, is launching a competition for residents to use artificial intelligence to generate images of a flowing Kern River through Bakersfield, where it is mostly dry, according to a press release from the group.

The contest has been dubbed “A.I.pril Fools for the Kern River” and runs Wednesday, April 1 through April 15.

The idea is to draw attention to the fact that the river runs dry through Bakersfield in most years as agricultural diversions take most of the water.

“We have a river. It just doesn’t have any water in it,” Bring Back the Kern Project Coordinator Chris Molina is quoted in a press release by the group. “We want people to use AI to show Bakersfield what it’s missing — and what it could have.”

Bring Back the Kern, along with Water Audit California, is suing the City of Bakersfield over how it operates the river.

The lawsuit seeks to have the city study those operations under the Public Trust Doctrine, which states that California’s natural resources must be used for the highest, most beneficial use. In the past, that meant ag, municipal and industrial uses. In recent years, however, beneficial uses have expanded to include the environment and recreation.

The public interest groups succeeded in getting a preliminary injunction instructing the city to leave water in the river in 2023, after epic flows brought water and fish back to the riverbed through town. That order was overturned by the 5th District Court of Appeal in 2024. Then the state Supreme Court agreed to review that reversal in 2025.

The trial, locally, has been moved back to Feb. 8, 2027 to give the Supreme Court time to rule on the injunction reversal.

Bring Back the Kern has held public events in the river and about the river for years to draw attention to the Kern, which was deemed one of the 10 most “endangered” rivers in the United States by American Rivers back in 2022.

Residents interested in entering the A.I.pril Fools contest are challenged to create images of the river in three categories: Satirical (darkly humorous or ironic), Visionary (what could be) and Historical (what it may have looked like before water was diverted mostly for agriculture).

The first 100 eligible entries will receive a free drink courtesy of ShareTea (Bakersfield and Delano locations).

One winner per category will receive a grand prize:

•       Glamping getaway at Camp Okihi by the Kern River (valued at $150)
•       Weekend golf for 2 with cart at Kern River Golf Course (valued at $120) — two prizes available
•       $100 gift card to Kern River Brewing Company

There will also be a “people’s choice award” for the finalist image with the most Instagram likes by April 22.

Participants may use any AI image generation tool — such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, DALL-E, or Adobe Firefly — to create images of the Kern River as it passes through Bakersfield, according to the release. Images must depict the actual Kern River through the city, not an upstream section in the Kern River canyon.

Entries may be submitted by posting publicly on Instagram or Facebook, tagging @Bringback_thekern and @ShareteaCentralCA and using the hashtag #AIprilFools. There are no forms or fees.

Winning and finalist images may be featured in future Bring Back the Kern advocacy materials, on the organization’s website, and in a planned A.I.pril Fools gallery exhibition at the conclusion of the project, according to the press release.