Kern River may flow through Bakersfield all summer despite wacky weather

The Kern River watershed suffered a rapid snow melt during the record-breaking heat wave in March just like the rest of the state.

But its upper elevation snow managed to hang on, according to a report by Miguel Chavez, the hydrographic manager for the Bakersfield Water Department.

“We’re in good shape,” Chavez said during the City Council’s Water Board committee meeting on Wednesday, April 15.

So good, in fact, that he said the city would run its water in the river bed through town possibly as early as next month for a minimum of six weeks, up to five months, depending on how the watershed’s hydrology continues to shake out.

“It will be a good opportunity to display what the city can do with its supplies,” he said. 

That’s a much more optimistic outlook than would seem possible based on a line chart Chavez presented that showed the watershed’s snowpack just edging above average in February before dropping like a rock in mid-March.

He said this March had the 14th highest runoff in 131 years of record keeping on the Kern River. Runoff recorded in the previous, higher 13 years came during very heavy snowpack years.

“So, this was very rare,” he said.

All that melt water was captured in Lake Isabella, which stands at 357,000 acre feet currently, according to the Army Corps of Engineers website. Its full capacity is 568,000 acre feet. 

Chavez said the City of Bakersfield’s share of river water in Isabella right now is 77,000 acre feet.

The Department of Water Resource April-July runoff forecast for the Kern River went from 70% of normal in January down to 61.2% of normal currently.

But it’s holding there, Chavez said, adding that another storm forecast for next week could add to those numbers.

“In short, it’s a good year. It just doesn’t look like it.”