Water News - Page 40 of 70 in California's San Joaquin Valley

Drought

Skimpy state snowpack points to another long, dry summer

March 1, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted its third snow survey of the season and the outlook is not good for the state’s water users. The survey recorded 35 inches of snow at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada mountains below Lake Tahoe. That’s about 68% of average for this time of year. Statewide, snowpack…

Drought

Snow pack for Kern River watershed at 39% of normal

March 1, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Local water watcher Scott Williams put out his monthly Kern River watershed report Tuesday and the outlook is skimpy without more storms before May. Williams compiles stats from a number of publicly available sources, including state electronic snow sensors, called “pillows,” stashed in the upper reaches of the watershed and compares them to historic trends….

Groundwater • Personalities

Latest allegation in Boswell-Vidovich ditch bank battle: Environmental laws were willfully ignored

February 27, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Last we left off, Kings County’s two biggest farming companies were at impasse over a pipeline with heavy equipment and work crews standing guard atop the Tulare Lake Canal to keep a trench from being cut through its banks. Attorneys for the Tulare Lake Canal Company, controlled by the giant J.G. Boswell Company, and Sandridge…

Drinking Water • Groundwater

“Massive dollars” needed to clean tainted groundwater from Kern County’s banking projects

February 24, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Southern California’s reliance on Kern County’s prolific groundwater banks for drought insurance could be jeopardized by a chemical known as 1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP). The cancer-causing agent has been found in several large groundwater banking operations in Kern and a first look at how much it may cost to clean up is a doozy. Up to $465…

Drought • Groundwater

Contamination a looming possibility for groundwater bank to be built using public funds

February 24, 2022

• by Lois Henry

A proposed Kern County groundwater bank that would be partially funded with $87 million in Proposition 1 money for new water storage, may have to deal with contamination before it spreads its first drop. The Kern Fan Groundwater Storage Project has not found contamination yet, but is sandwiched between areas that have confirmed 1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP),…

Personalities

Water policy and politics, always an interesting mix

February 23, 2022

• by Jesse Vad and Lois Henry, SJV Water

Just before announcing she was switching her quest for reelection from one state Senate district to another, Melissa Hurtado appears to have thrown up a flag announcing her conservative bona fides in what could become a contest of the most right-leaning Democrat. On Feb. 17, Hurtado, who currently represents Sanger, introduced Senate Bill 1219 to…

Federal System • Friant-Kern Canal

Federal water allocation of 0% to 15% too skimpy, contractors say

February 23, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The Bureau of Reclamation announced its 2022 water allocations for the Central Valley Project (CVP) on Wednesday. The CVP is a more than 400-mile network of federal canals and dams that transport water to farms and towns throughout the valley. CVP contractors south of the Delta will receive no water, except for a couple specific…

Federal System

Proposed dam project sparks opposition from fellow water users

February 16, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

A new California dam project you probably haven’t heard of has already passed the initial environmental stages and recently won approval to apply for possible public funding. Predictably, the project has stoked opposition but not all the naysayers are who you might expect. The Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir project, which would sit in the hilly,…

Groundwater • Water Banking

Native American sites to be protected under plan for the long-suffering McAllister Ranch groundwater project

February 15, 2022

• by Lois Henry

In the often hard-fought world of archeological preservation, Colin Rambo is counting the McAllister Ranch groundwater project plan as a “win, win, win.” Rambo, an archeologist with the Tejon Tribe, has been working closely with the City of Bakersfield and the two Kern County water districts behind the project to make sure the “significant” Native…

Groundwater • SGMA

For some Kern County farmers, overpumping groundwater could get pricey

February 15, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Farmers in the sprawling Semitropic Water Storage District in the northwest corner of Kern County got a look recently at possible water charges for going over their allotted water budgets and the top amounts were eye popping. The details are still being worked out and won’t be put in place for a while, said Semitropic…

NEWS

Skimpy state snowpack points to another long, dry summer

Snow pack for Kern River watershed at 39% of normal

Latest allegation in Boswell-Vidovich ditch bank battle: Environmental laws were willfully ignored

“Massive dollars” needed to clean tainted groundwater from Kern County’s banking projects

Contamination a looming possibility for groundwater bank to be built using public funds

Water policy and politics, always an interesting mix

Federal water allocation of 0% to 15% too skimpy, contractors say

Proposed dam project sparks opposition from fellow water users

Native American sites to be protected under plan for the long-suffering McAllister Ranch groundwater project

For some Kern County farmers, overpumping groundwater could get pricey

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