Water News - Page 3 of 48 in California's San Joaquin Valley

Kern River watershed “Lookin’ good!”

March 1, 2023

• by SJV Water

Water watcher Scott Williams, who issues a Kern River Snow and Water Report every month, was practically giddy in his March 1 email stating: “Lookin’ good!” for this month’s report. The report compiles water and snow statistics from a variety of public sources. The upshot is the Kern River is forecast at 190% of average….

Drinking Water • Drought

Farm town residents block water rate hike but are still stuck with a massive water debt

March 1, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Residents of the small town of El Porvenir in western Fresno County successfully blocked a water rate hike Tuesday at the Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting. The western Fresno County community, where nearly half the residents live in poverty, is already carrying a water debt of $400,000. That debt has been incurred over the…

Groundwater • Uncategorized

State will pay some valley farmers not to farm in attempt to save groundwater

February 28, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

More state money is flowing to the valley to take land out of production in an attempt to ease demand on groundwater. The state Department of Water Resources (DWR) is starting a new program called LandFlex which will pay up to $25 million in incentives to farmers to fallow crops. On February 23, DWR announced…

Drought

More wet weather boosts water supplies for San Joaquin Valley farms and cities

February 22, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Farms and cities that rely on water out of California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta got more good news this week as state and federal water agencies took measures to move more water south. The moves come between a significant series of stories earlier this winter and as the state faces a rare wet, cold front that…

Development

KVPR interviews SJV Water and Fresnoland about story on the perils of building on shaky water

February 21, 2023

• by SJV Water

LISTEN HERE Reporters Jesse Vad and Gregory Weaver talk to Kerry Klein with KVPR about their story on how taxpayers are bailing out homeowners who bought luxury houses in a development that should never have been built on groundwater. Fresno County Supervisors approved the Mira Bella development back in the 1990s despite multiple red flags…

Personalities • Uncategorized

ROOTED IN THE VALLEY: Liset Garcia was set on leaving the valley, but came back to her roots

February 21, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Thank you to SJV Water donors and the James B. McClatchy Foundation for supporting our work. Liset Garcia grew up helping her folks sell freshly grown produce from the San Joaquin Valley in Los Angeles neighborhoods and dreamed of becoming a doctor. Somehow, along the way, the medical student found herself running…

Rivers

Bakersfield to take a deep dive on the Kern River – supplies, demands and rights

February 21, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The Bakersfield City Council at its meeting Wednesday will likely approve a $288,350 contract to conduct a detailed study of the city’s water supplies and demands with a strong focus on Kern River operations. Though the proposed study, on the consent agenda, isn’t in direct response to a lawsuit filed last year against the city…

Rivers • Uncategorized

VIDEO: More water in the Kern River – where from this time?

February 21, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The Kern River came alive again recently as the Kern County Water Agency pumped water into one section of the dry riverbed from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Various water agencies have been using the river to move or store water as supplies have increased thanks to the relatively wet winter California has experienced so…

Drinking Water

Lamont’s water future secured with $25.4 million grant from state drinking water fund

February 13, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Most Lamont residents likely had no idea that a mini hoopla held in the middle of town Monday morning next to a newly constructed well was actually a celebration of their children’s and their grandchildren’s futures. “This is generational,” said Lamont Public Utilities District General Manager Scott Taylor. “It allows us to provide clean and…

Floods • Uncategorized

Funding to protect valley towns from flooding yanked out of budget even as climate change increases threat

February 9, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The same day that water gushed over the banks of Miles Creek swamping the small town of Planada in Merced County last month, the Newsom’s administration pulled $40 million out of its proposed budget that was intended for flood protection projects in the San Joaquin Valley. Advocates had worked for years to get that money…

NEWS

Kern River watershed “Lookin’ good!”

Farm town residents block water rate hike but are still stuck with a massive water debt

State will pay some valley farmers not to farm in attempt to save groundwater

More wet weather boosts water supplies for San Joaquin Valley farms and cities

KVPR interviews SJV Water and Fresnoland about story on the perils of building on shaky water

ROOTED IN THE VALLEY: Liset Garcia was set on leaving the valley, but came back to her roots

Bakersfield to take a deep dive on the Kern River – supplies, demands and rights

VIDEO: More water in the Kern River – where from this time?

Lamont’s water future secured with $25.4 million grant from state drinking water fund

Funding to protect valley towns from flooding yanked out of budget even as climate change increases threat

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