A Sunday walk on the Kern River
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Expect a wet Kern River through May
Unless it’s a big water year (spoiler alert: It’s not), the Kern River through Bakersfield is usually a dry, sandy channel. So, water in the riverbed is pretty exciting in old B-town. SJV Water asked Art Chianello, Director of Bakersfield’s Water Resources Department, where today’s trickle was coming from and how long it would last….
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High tech and low show state’s snowpack is still stingy
The snowpack above the Central Valley looked slightly better after March and April brought the winter weather that was AWOL during the first two months of 2020. But the late storms weren’t enough to get valley rivers much above the 60%-of-average mark, if that. You need to login to view the rest of the content….
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Green sturgeon makes surprise appearance
A rare, wild green sturgeon was found on the San Joaquin River upriver from the confluence of the Merced this past weekend by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation crews checking salmon traps at Hills Ferry. The discovery caused some excitement as this endangered fish had not been seen that far up the San Joaquin in many…
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Legal fight reopened over Kern River
The Kern River can’t seem to stay out of California’s courtrooms — even in a pandemic. The latest legal scuffle, which erupted last week, is a continuation of a nearly decade long battle by a Kern County ag water district to hold on to a portion of its main water supply. On Friday, April 9,…
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Price of reclaimed water still too high for ag
If you’re a Central Valley farmer and haven’t yet been hit up by someone about reusing crummy water for irrigation — just wait. Companies are springing up all over with the latest gizmo they believe will take nasty, salty water, mostly from shallow aquifers on the valley’s west side or oilfield produced water, and make…
Read MoreRecent storms boost water allocation for Friant farmers
NEWS RELEASE SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Today, the Bureau of Reclamation updated the water supply allocation for Friant Division Central Valley Project contracts for the 2020 contract year. The Friant Division provides water for 15,000 family farms and several cities in the Central Valley. Initial allocations were made on February 25, 2020. Reclamation considered many factors…
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New state water regs cause angst on all sides
A new set of water regulations aimed at protecting California’s native fish came down from the state earlier this week to near universal condemnation from both agricultural and environmental water folks. The regulations are contained in a 143-page “incidental take permit” issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife that lays out when — and…
Read MoreGov. Newsom orders California taps to keep flowing
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March storms leave so-so snowpack in the north and a cliffhanger on the San Joaquin River
March wasn’t exactly miraculous this year but it did OK by California’s snowpack, bringing it from a dismal 40-ish% of average up to above 60% of average in the northern Sierras. The bump wasn’t so great in the southern Sierras where snowpack is still at 40% to 46% of average for the Kaweah, Kern and…
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Maven's Notebook is an excellent daily accounting of California water happenings statewide.
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