MEETING NOTES: Invasive mussels; “funky” questions; harvesting canal power; new salt ideas; and costs dividing Kern over recently approved plan

November meetings:
West Side Water Authority Board of Directors
Rosedale Rio Bravo Water Storage District Board of Directors 
Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa Water Storage District Board of Directors
Cawelo Water District Board of Directors 
Arvin-Edison Water Storage District 
North Kern Water Storage District

Agenda packets: 
Westside Water Authority: CLICK HERE
Rosedale Rio Bravo: CLICK HERE
Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa: CLICK HERE
Cawelo: CLICK HERE
Arvin Edison: CLICK HERE
North Kern: CLICK HERE

Golden mussels found in Kern County, already causing damage

The invasive Chinese golden mussel has been detected in Kern County, already damaging some water infrastructure.

The small, fresh-water mollusks crusted over a recently installed pump in the Cross Valley Canal, which had to be pulled in early November, Jamie Marquez, water resources manager for the Westside Water Authority, stated at the agency’s November meeting.

The mussels have also been detected in the Belridge Water Storage District’s turnout from the California Aqueduct, according to Justin Rowe, assistant general manager for the Belridge.

He said his team is on a high alert and asked other members of the Westside Authority to inform him if they found any.

Rob Yraceburu, chairman of the Westside Water Authority asked why the mussels are such a concern.

Because they cluster into small pipes and close them off interfering with water distribution, Rowe explained. 

Rowe reported that control and prevention for the mussels could be done through ultraviolet light treatment. Or, adult mussels could be controlled using high dose copper, chlorine, potassium chloride, or hot water of 145-degrees Fahrenheit.

Westside Water Authority board members said these treatment options seemed difficult to implement, and pondered if there could be other potential treatment methods.

The mussels were also a topic of concern at Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District’s November meeting. 

“The concern is the golden mussel is extremely difficult to eradicate, and they multiply much faster than the quagga mussels,” Assistant Manager Trent Taylor  told the board. 

Taylor added that putting chemicals in the water or using high temperatures simply detaches the mussels but doesn’t necessarily kill them. 

Both agencies agreed this will be a significant problem for some time. 

The mussels have been found in North America since October 2024, according to the Department of Water Resources. 

Concerns about new Kern County Water Agency manager

At the Wheeler Ridge Maricopa Water Storage District meeting, a board member asked about the recent appointment of former Kern County Water Agency Board President Eric Averett as that agency’s new general manager.

“Is there anything funky about him becoming GM (general manager) when he was on the board, and he is in Homer? ” asked one board member, indicating concerns over potential conflicts of interest. 

Homer LLC is a private water marketing company where Averett has served as Chief Executive Officer.

“There have been questions raised, I will say that,” said Sheridan Nicholas, engineer-manager for the district.

“He [Averett] is still going to be on the Homer board?” asked board president, Dennis Atkinson, to which members of the board responded “Yes.”

”We have not been told how that is going to play out,” responded Nicholas. 

Board members shared whispered comments after this response. The board awaits to see how the agency will handle these concerns. 

Arvin-Edison to start new “hydrokinetic” pilot program

Arvin-Edison Water Storage District had been exploring the possibility for a “hydrokinetic energy” pilot program with Emrgy, a hydropower company since 2018. Hydrokinetic energy is generated by the movement of water by harnessing currents to create electricity.

In the past the district had not approved proposals by Emrgy because there would have been a significant investment by the district and the district felt the proposal did not show a viable return on that investment.

Now, the project will be fully funded through a Department of Energy grant. Instead of having to put money into the project, Arvin-Edison is looking at an initial revenue source of $1,000 a month for leasing its canal to the project under a site hosting agreement. 

The pilot project will be located at the intake canal, near California State University, Bakersfield. Emrgy is also initiating discussions with CSU Bakersfield as a potential offtaker for power generated from the pilot program.

The pilot program will allow Arvin-Edison staff to evaluate canal hydraulics and district staff will have the right to remove the hydrokinetic units at no cost to the district.

If this pilot program is successful there could be an expansion to future phases as well as installation of additional units.

The board approved the site hosting agreement with Emrgy for low head hydro on the Intake Canal, which will be launching the pilot project.

Kern County of interest for salinity coalition reports pilot program

At the North Kern Water Storage District meeting, Stephanie Hearn, an engineering consultant, said the Salinity Coalition is considering a pilot program that would allow CV-Salts to apply the theoretical recommendations in several recent reports to see if they really work. 

Hearn said “insider information” revealed Kern was an area of high interest for this pilot program. 

“I personally think it’s a good thing for Kern to be part of one of those pilot programs,” she said.

The pilot programs would aim “to identify where salt sinks should go and then permit them,” she said. Salt sinks are typically shallow land areas above impenetrable clay layers where water evaporates leaving salts and other solids behind.

“It [the pilot program] would look at an area like Kern, how do you manage salt? How does that process work in the future? Hearn said.

She said studies like this could help inform any future regulatory action by the state. 

CV-Salts, or ​​Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long-Term Sustainability, is a collaborative effort to try and control and reduce the amount of salt build up in the valley’s soil.

Kern subbasin managers discuss changes to groundwater plan cost share 

Now that the Kern subbasin groundwater sustainability plan has been approved by the Water Resources Control Board, groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) are looking to make changes to their agreement for how to pay for management, update and oversight of that plan. 

Costs had been split evenly among the subbasin’s 22 GSAs. As the agencies begin implementing measures laid out in the plan, managers are considering several new cost share options. 

Dave Halopoff, assistant general manager of the Cawelo Water Storage District, said at that agency’s meeting that one option is to maintain the traditional even split. 

Another is to base cost shares on the amount of developed acreage in each GSA. A third option is a mix of the two where half the costs would be an even split and the other half based on developed acreage. 

A fourth cost share option would place GSAs in different pools based on developed acreage. 

Pool one would include GSAs with 0 and .5% of developed acreage; four GSAs are in pool one. Pool two would be .5% to 3% of developed acreage; five GSAs are in pool two. Pool three would be 3% to 5% developed acreage; four GSAs are in pool 3. Pool 4 would be more than 5% of developed acreage; nine GSAs are in pool 4. 

Some GSAs also want to choose which plan actions they would pay for. 

Halopoff pointed out that this “a la carte” approach could affect future cost shares. For example,  five-year plan updates are required by the state. He questioned whether that would be a cost share based on developed acreage or an even split.

“It is a little disheartening that we [the Kern Subbasin] have gotten this far, now we are fighting against each other even though it took us two years to get back together,” said John Gaugel, president of the Cawelo Water District board. 

Though water managers are still hammering out how to pay for the plan, actions included in the plan aimed at protecting the region’s aquifers are moving forward.