March to bring attention to the Kern River legal case draws nearly 130

A march in the mostly dry Kern River bed from the Panorama bluffs eight miles west to the Bellevue Weir started with about 30 people and gained steam to end with about 130 marchers, according to organizers.

“It was successful for what we wanted to do,” said Chris Molina, an organizer with the public interest group Bring Back the Kern. “What we wanted was to get media attention as a last-minute rallying cry to hopefully put pressure on the court to lean in favor of a flowing river. And the event exceeded our expectations.”

He referred to a hearing scheduled for Thursday, March 20 before the 5th District Court of Appeals in Fresno on whether to uphold a preliminary injunction issued by Kern County Superior Court Gregory Pulskamp in October 2023 mandating the City of Bakersfield keep enough water in the river for fish to survive.

“Their decision will have an enormous impact on the river for future generations,” Bring Back the Kern said in a previous statement. “If they rule in our favor (as the state AG wants them to), the preliminary injunction will be back in place, meaning the river will start flowing again, regardless of how long the full court case takes.”

Bring Back the Kern, along with Water Audit California, and several other public interest groups, sued Bakersfield in 2022, demanding it study how its river operations impact the environment and public access

The city owns some river water rights, along with the river bed and most of the weirs from about Hart Park to Enos Lane. The city is also in charge of moving water to other rights holders, mostly agricultural water districts, based on more than 100 years of agreements, orders and decrees.

As the 2022 lawsuit was moving through the court, the epic 2023 water year brought flows and fish into the riverbed through town.

Bring Back the Kern quickly filed for an injunction to keep the water flowing. Judge Pulskamp agreed, basing his preliminary injunction on California Fish and Game Code 5937, which states the owners/operators of dams must keep enough water downstream for fish.

The agricultural water districts appealed that order and the 5th District paused it in May. Without the order, the river went dry at the end of August, leading to a massive fish die off.

The case has attracted a great deal of interest beyond Kern County’s borders. The state Attorney General’s office filed an amicus brief, urging the 5th District justices to uphold Pulskamp’s order and has even been granted time to speak during the March 20 hearing.

How the 5th District rules on Pulskamp’s preliminary injunction could have impacts throughout the state as the Attorney General’s office contends the appeal of the order is, in fact, a constitutional challenge to 5937, which has been used to protect numerous California rivers.