MEETING NOTES: “Super” El Niño dominates Kern water district meetings
Agenda packets:
Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District, Sept. 8: CLICK HERE
Arvin-Edison Water Storage District, Sept. 8 : CLICK HERE
Cawelo Water District, Sept. 10 : CLICK HERE
Water districts in Kern County are preparing for the possible onslaught of a wet El Niño-driven winter.
El Niño is an infrequent weather pattern where Pacific Ocean temperatures heat up and moisture evaporates, filling the atmosphere. That moisture could form into storms that the jet stream could bring barreling into California as happened most recently in 2023.
Scientists are now saying there is a greater than 90% chance of a very strong El Niño in the Northern Hemisphere for fall and winter of 2026-27.
Though other factors could block that pattern from bringing precipitation into California – as happened during the so-called “Godzilla” El Niño of 2015 – locals aren’t taking any chances.
”We’re ready, so our basins are ready and our structures are in good shape, with the exception of the Rosedale One Channel, everything is ready to go,” Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District Operations Manager Zach Smith told the board during its Sept. 8 meeting.
Arvin-Edison Water Storage District staff said they had prepared as best they could by rebuilding existing levees and clearing channels.
At the Cawelo Water District board meeting, staff was asked if they were “comfortable” they could handle a lot of water coming down.
General Manager David Ansolabehere said the district was ready for water, but debris is the big concern.
In 2011 and 2017, he said, water flow was clear for about 15 to 18 hours before debris came in. In 2023, however, after a multi-year drought, it took two to three minutes for debris rushing down a swollen Poso Creek to back up against bridges and district structures.
Board members asked if there was equipment the district could have on standby to handle the debris.
The district has excavators on site and ready to go, he said, adding that slow, steady rainfall is the best scenario to hope for.
