Water News - Page 21 of 70 in California's San Joaquin Valley

Longtime agreement keeps J.G. Boswell Company land dry in the old Buena Vista Lake bed in Kern County

April 19, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The old Buena Vista Lake bed in Kern County will remain mostly dry and continue being farmed by the J.G. Boswell Company despite the coming, epic snow melt. But unlike in Kings County where Boswell has been taking heat for continuing to farm parts of the old Tulare Lake bed while others have been flooded…

Floods • Uncategorized

Red tape kept Bakersfield from clearing Kern River channel for years

April 19, 2023

• by Lois Henry

It isn’t just water that’s been barreling down the Kern River in this historic water year. Trees, shrubs, trash – even old appliances – have come swirling down the river bed, plucked out by heavy equipment and piled on the banks in massive heaps. City of Bakersfield crews, along with other agencies, worked round the…

Floods

Giant tubes helping manage massive Kern River flows

April 17, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Those highly noticeable big black tubes being placed in the Kern River at Coffee Road are the fulcrum in a full-court press by Buena Vista Water Storage District to keep as much water as possible in the county. The western Kern County agricultural water district anticipates putting as many as 25 siphon tubes over what’s…

Floods • Uncategorized

The Tule River watershed remains a wild card in a wild water year

April 17, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Residents and farms along the Tule River have been hammered by flood waters this year. And, unfortunately, the best those same folks can hope for as the weather heats up is, well, more flooding. “I think the best case scenario is a prolonged period of minor to moderate flooding sort of what we’re already seeing,…

Personalities • Uncategorized

ROOTED IN THE VALLEY: Will Scott came back to farming, hopes to encourage young Black farmers

April 11, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Will Scott grew up farming but left for a career in the Navy and as an electrician. “If it’s in your blood, you’ll come back to it,” he says of why he started his small farming operation in Fresno County after many years away. Farming is fundamental to life, he says and hopes to encourage…

Floods

The big melt: San Joaquin Valley eyes historic snowpack with trepidation

April 11, 2023

• by Lois Henry

It’s unlikely that all the snow looming above the San Joaquin Valley will melt and barrel toward the valley floor at the same time. If history is a guide, the melt should be staggered between the San Joaquin, Kings, Tule and Kern river watersheds starting later this month through July. “That’s good,” said California Department…

Floods • Uncategorized

In defense of tomatoes: “Wherever it isn’t going to flood, we’re going to try to farm.” – Boswell president

April 5, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Representatives of the J.G. Boswell Company defended both the agricultural giant’s handling of flood water so far and its tomato plantings at the Kings County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday. In an impromptu discussion during public comments, Phil Hansen, with Hansen Ranches, again noted that areas of Boswell land deep in the old Tulare Lake…

dams • Uncategorized

Isabella Dam safety project done just in time for record snowpack

April 4, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Speaker after speaker on Tuesday noted the years long construction project to increase safety on Isabella Dam was completed this past October – just in time. With a snowpack at 422% of normal, the reservoir is expected to hit its full capacity of 568,000 acre feet, and then some. Water content in Kern River watershed…

Floods • Uncategorized

Boswell holds flood water off some lake bed ground while planting tomatoes

April 2, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The rumors were so rampant, that Kings County sent agricultural inspectors into the old Tulare Lake bed to see if the powerful J.G. Boswell Company was holding back flood waters in order to plant tomatoes. “They could not find anything,” Kings County Supervisor Doug Verboon said in a text to SJV Water on March 24….

Floods • Uncategorized

Poso Creek water ends standoff with powerful the J.G. Boswell when it busts through berms, heads north

April 1, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The Poso Creek took control of a days-long stand off between the powerful J.G. Boswell Company and the tiny Deer Creek Storm Water District, when it busted through berms along Dairy Avenue, rushed over the road and dropped off of a bridge into Boswell’s Homeland Canal. The water is now rushing into the canal and…

NEWS

Longtime agreement keeps J.G. Boswell Company land dry in the old Buena Vista Lake bed in Kern County

Red tape kept Bakersfield from clearing Kern River channel for years

Giant tubes helping manage massive Kern River flows

The Tule River watershed remains a wild card in a wild water year

ROOTED IN THE VALLEY: Will Scott came back to farming, hopes to encourage young Black farmers

The big melt: San Joaquin Valley eyes historic snowpack with trepidation

In defense of tomatoes: “Wherever it isn’t going to flood, we’re going to try to farm.” – Boswell president

Isabella Dam safety project done just in time for record snowpack

Boswell holds flood water off some lake bed ground while planting tomatoes

Poso Creek water ends standoff with powerful the J.G. Boswell when it busts through berms, heads north

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter & Get Email Notifications