Water News - Page 39 of 76 in California's San Joaquin Valley

Fallout from Kings County water war continues as state mulls groundwater plan

August 29, 2022

• by Lois Henry

There’s no word, yet, of state intervention in the ongoing water war between two of Kings County’s largest growers – John Vidovich and the J.G. Boswell Company – but there has been fallout. Kimberly Brown, a board member of the Southwest Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency, resigned August 10 in protest of last-minute language added to…

Rivers • The Law of the River

VIDEO: First Point is a foundational structure under the Law of the River on the Kern

August 26, 2022

• by Lois Henry

The Kern River is a very highly structured river with multiple weirs, canals and points of measurement. In this video, we’ll look at what’s known as the First Point of measurement on the river, where it is, and why it’s so important to understanding how the Law of the River govern’s Kern River operations. Coming…

Drinking Water • Drought

State funding brings small San Joaquin Valley town closer to long-term drinking water solution

August 26, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The two-street town of Tooleville finally saw significant progress in a decades-long quest for clean drinking water this week when the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced $7.2 million in funding for an interim connection project. Tooleville will be hooked up to the nearby city of Exeter’s water system, something advocates and Tooleville residents…

Drought • Rivers

Late summer rains brought little – but not much – drought relief to San Joaquin Valley watersheds

August 24, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting trainee

Monsoonal rains in early August offered a brief moment of relief to some San Joaquin Valley watersheds. But the dousing of rain did not make a dent in the ongoing drought, according to water managers. “It helped a couple of the Kern River interests with flow that they weren’t anticipating,” said Mark Mulkay, Kern River…

Personalities • Policy

Not so new “newcomer” vies for seat on powerful Kern water board

August 19, 2022

• by Lois Henry

The usually sleepy race for the Kern County Water Agency board of directors perked up this month after a challenger filed papers to run for the Division 4 seat. Division 4 Incumbent Director Philip Cerro will face challenger Eric Averett in the November 8 election. Cerro, a longtime area farmer, has served on the board…

Drought • Rivers

VIDEO: How California’s worst drought brought part of a Central Valley river back to life – briefly

August 17, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The San Joaquin River was dried up decades ago when the federal Bureau of Reclamation built Friant Dam north of Fresno to bring water to farms and towns along the east side of the San Joaquin Valley via the Friant-Kern Canal. A federally mandated salmon restoration program reconnected the river for a short time, but…

The Law of the River

VIDEO: Where does the water go? How the Kern River is divvied up

August 11, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Where does the water go? The Kern River’s abrupt stop, practically mid-channel, can be jarring. The full river suddenly goes dry just outside Bakersfield leaving a dusty channel snaking through the heart of town. Why? Where does all that water go? Who owns it? How does it all work? Our video project, “Law of the…

SGMA

Will Kings County be the first region sent to state’s groundwater “cop”?

August 8, 2022

• by Lois Henry

The prospect of being sent to California’s “groundwater cop” strikes dread in the hearts of most water managers. But for John Vidovich, having the Tulare Lake subbasin come under the glare of the State Water Resources Control Board may be the only way to end an irrigation practice by the J.G. Boswell Company that he…

Rivers

Effort to bring South Fork Kern River water to valley farmland buffeted by lawsuits, called a “joke”

August 3, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Drought cut short a pilot program to bring South Fork Kern River water through Lake Isabella and down 60 miles to farmland northwest of Bakersfield. Now, a raft of lawsuits could upend the environmental impact report in support of the project, which has been a goal of the Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District since it…

Drinking Water

SJV water managers know the pain of slow state response to failing water systems

August 3, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Water managers in the San Joaquin Valley who regularly work with residents of poor, rural communities facing water insecurity are applauding last month’s sharply critical audit of the state Water Resources Control Board. The California State Auditor’s report found a serious lack of urgency on the part of the water board, which is tasked with…

NEWS

Fallout from Kings County water war continues as state mulls groundwater plan

VIDEO: First Point is a foundational structure under the Law of the River on the Kern

State funding brings small San Joaquin Valley town closer to long-term drinking water solution

Late summer rains brought little – but not much – drought relief to San Joaquin Valley watersheds

Not so new “newcomer” vies for seat on powerful Kern water board

VIDEO: How California’s worst drought brought part of a Central Valley river back to life – briefly

VIDEO: Where does the water go? How the Kern River is divvied up

Will Kings County be the first region sent to state’s groundwater “cop”?

Effort to bring South Fork Kern River water to valley farmland buffeted by lawsuits, called a “joke”

SJV water managers know the pain of slow state response to failing water systems

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