Hydro energy reduced as California reservoirs shrink
California’s reservoirs and rivers are startlingly low, forcing many of the state’s more than 270 hydropower facilities to generate less power. Lake Oroville, one of the state’s largest reservoirs, made headlines because its water levels have dropped so low the power plant may need to shut down for the first time. While most other hydropower…
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Longtime Tule River Water Master Richard L. Schafer dies at 95
Richard L. Schafer left an “indelible” imprint on water systems — and the people who run them — in the southern San Joaquin Valley over his extensive career. The longtime Tule River Water Master, who had worked with just about every agricultural water district in the area, died Thursday. He was 95. Aside from his…
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State still hasn’t fixed Porterville drinking water crisis from the last drought. Will residents go dry again?
The epicenter of dry wells during California’s last devastating drought was undoubtedly Porterville. The small Tulare County town saw wells go dry enmasse in its unincorporated east side. It became a national headline as the media descended. Amid the glare of tv cameras, the state pledged to help and agreed to build three new wells….
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Lawsuit claims Kern County Water Agency shorted a key local canal’s volume
The Cross Valley Canal is a key cog in the southern San Joaquin Valley’s water machinery. It moves water east and west between the California Aqueduct along Kern County’s western edge to the Kern County Water Agency’s facilities near Manor Street in Bakersfield. Along the way, it also connects with the federally owned Friant-Kern Canal,…
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Drought brings torrent of media attention to the Central Valley
The drought in California is making headlines every day across the country, and for good reason: Almost the entire state is in severe drought. And the whole San Joaquin Valley is experiencing extreme or exceptional drought, the two worst categories. As journalists set their sights on California, many news stories highlight impacts on farmers, particularly…
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Madera ranchers circle the wagons over county groundwater plan
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Online public meetings still OK but some water agencies are pulling the plug
While most public water agencies are still mulling whether to keep an online option for their meetings, some have already clicked off Zoom and marched straight back to early 2020. The Westlands Water District, which covers a huge swath of western Fresno County, will no longer have a public online option for the public to…
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Dam repairs on track
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Bills to fund canal repairs moving forward
California’s canals are sinking. Excessive groundwater pumping has collapsed the land beneath several key canals, crimping their ability to move water. Fixing them will be expensive. There are two bills moving through the state Legislature and Congress that could provide some funding. You need to login to view the rest of the content. Please Login….
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Putting farmland out to pasture not an easy task
Not all farmland in the San Joaquin Valley will survive in a post-SGMA world. Estimates are that the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act will force between 500,000 to one million acres of land that’s currently farmed to be taken out of production to save groundwater. Which lands and what will become of those lands are major…
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