Water News - Page 2 of 36 in California's San Joaquin Valley

After 100 years, local groups say it’s time for Edison to let loose of flows on the North Fork of the Kern River

June 3, 2022

• by Lois Henry

It’s been more than 100 years since a 16-mile stretch of the North Fork of the Kern River has run full and free in its natural course. Local boaters, anglers and other river enthusiasts say that’s long enough. To that end, a new campaign called “Free the Kern” opposes the relicensing application for a Southern…

Groundwater • SGMA

Stanford study: Shutting down pumps alone won’t halt San Joaquin Valley sinking

June 3, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The San Joaquin Valley is sinking and it might continue to do so for centuries if groundwater levels aren’t recovered, according to a new Stanford University study. The study, which was published on Thursday in the Water Resources Research journal, simulated 65 years of land sinking, called subsidence, at a site near Hanford in Kings…

SGMA

Going rogue? Groundwater agency says protecting all domestic wells is “unreasonable”

June 1, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

A San Joaquin Valley groundwater agency may be “going rogue” on the issue of whether it’s responsible to protect all drinking water wells. A letter approved by the board of the Kings River East Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA), which covers eastern Fresno County and a chunk of northern Tulare County, says that it is “unreasonable”…

Personalities

Services for Chuck Williams to be held June 2 in Bakersfield

June 1, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Obituary originally published in The Bakersfield Californian, June 1, 2022. CHARLES R. H. WILLIAMS 1928 – 2022 Charles Williams (Chuck) peacefully passed away on May 6, 2022, at the age of 93, at his home in SW Bakersfield. He lived a long and full life. He was born on December 23, 1928, in Istanbul (then…

Groundwater • SGMA

State funding to retire valley farmland could more than double under Gov. Newsom’s proposed budget

May 25, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

A state program aimed at retiring and repurposing farmland could get $60 million – more than doubling its current funding – under Gov. Newsom’s proposed budget. The Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program was created with $50 million from the 2021 state budget. The program helps pay for farmland to be taken out of production and repurposed…

Drought • Rivers

VIDEO: Restoring salmon on the San Joaquin during three years of drought

May 25, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

A legal settlement in 2006 created the San Joaquin River Restoration Program to reestablish the spring-run Chinook salmon population that once thrived there. The program has created a native population through careful breeding and water management. Towns Burgess, lead fish biologist with the restoration program, explains how it has been operating through three years of…

Drought • SGMA

Drought, groundwater restrictions and – oh yeah, drought – pervade talk at annual Kern water summit

May 19, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Local and state water leaders were practically upbeat two years ago at the last in-person Water Summit put on by the Water Association of Kern County. At least as upbeat as California water folks typically get. They advocated for new ideas, radical partnerships and solutions that could benefit both ag and environmental interests. That was…

Personalities • SGMA

Accusations continue to fly between two valley ag titans in water feud

May 18, 2022

• by Lois Henry

The ongoing water feud between two of Kings County’s biggest farming entities recently spilled into Kern County and up to Sacramento with allegations on both sides of misuse of water and other public resources. In a May 12 letter, the Southwest Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency complains that the J.G. Boswell Company has been pumping and…

Groundwater

Tiny Allensworth on the front lines of bad water and innovative solutions

May 16, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

When it comes to finding innovative solutions to drinking water problems, the tiny community of Allensworth in Tulare county has long been on the front lines. This spring, community began testing a new technology that would “jolt” arsenic out of its groundwater. And since 2021, Allensworth has also been home to another new technology that…

Personalities • Rivers

Chuck Williams, longest-serving Kern River Watermaster, dies at 93

May 6, 2022

• by Lois Henry, SJV Water

Chuck Williams, the longest serving “interim, acting” Kern River Watermaster, died Friday. He was 93. Attorney Scott Kuney, who worked with Williams at North Kern Water Storage District, remembered Williams as a “man of great faith, integrity and a consensus maker. “And he was fun,” Kuney said Friday. “He had a thousand stories.” Kuney recalled…

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