Water News - Page 49 of 70 in California's San Joaquin Valley

Endangered salmon program waiting, watching for possible call on Millertion water

July 21, 2021

• by Lois Henry

As the summer grinds on, farms, towns and a critical native salmon restoration program that all rely on water from Millerton Lake near Fresno continue to hope their water won’t be needed to fulfill irrigation contracts further up the San Joaquin Valley. But in this parched year, nothing is certain. If water is required out…

Drought

Drought has desperate ranchers asking: “Can I feed tomorrow?”

July 20, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

California may only be one year into the drought, but its toll feels much bigger to San Joaquin Valley livestock operators. “It’s as bad as we’ve seen it in probably 15 years,” said Andrée Soares, president of Star Creek Land Stewards, Inc. “Animals have to be fed 24 hours a day, seven days a week….

Rivers • SGMA

Kern River water rights case gets hearing date

July 19, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Whether the Kern River truly has spare water and, if so, how much, has been left up in the air for more than a decade. Now, 11 years after the State Water Resources Control Board ruled the Kern River was not fully appropriated, it will finally start the process of getting at those two key…

Friant-Kern Canal

State ponies up $100 million toward $2.35 billion repair bill for major canals

July 16, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Several of the state’s key canals will get a sprinkle of state money this year and next toward fixing more than $2 billion in damage caused by sinking land from excessive groundwater pumping. On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a massive budget “trailer” bill, which authorizes actual funding for programs and services outlined in the…

Drought • Rivers • SGMA

Valley rivers going dry

July 14, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Southern San Joaquin Valley Rivers are running at near historic lows — again. In fact, the Bakersfield City Council passed a resolution Wednesday officially declaring the Kern River as running at only 17% of normal, it’s second driest year since record keeping began in 1893. The driest year on record was 2015, the worst year…

Personalities

“Silver tsunami” could open doors to California’s top water jobs

July 6, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

Job alert: The Shafter-Wasco Irrigation District, which serves nearly 30,000 acres of farms in Kern County, is hiring a new general manager. But what exactly does the general manager of an irrigation district do? It’s a question that isn’t easily answered, even by water executives themselves. “I found it very hard to describe what I…

Rivers

Kern River memories, photos sought

July 6, 2021

• by Lois Henry

The grassroots group Bring Back the Kern has launched a new public awareness campaign to pluck residents’ memories of a flowing river through Bakersfield. Bring Back the Kern, formed in 2020, advocates finding ways for water to flow through the Kern River channel through town on a more frequent and consistent basis. The group has…

Drought

Hydro energy reduced as California reservoirs shrink

July 6, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

California’s reservoirs and rivers are startlingly low, forcing many of the state’s more than 270 hydropower facilities to generate less power. Lake Oroville, one of the state’s largest reservoirs, made headlines because its water levels have dropped so low the power plant may need to shut down for the first time. While most other hydropower…

Personalities

Longtime Tule River Water Master Richard L. Schafer dies at 95

July 2, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Richard L. Schafer left an “indelible” imprint on water systems — and the people who run them — in the southern San Joaquin Valley over his extensive career. The longtime Tule River Water Master, who had worked with just about every agricultural water district in the area, died Thursday. He was 95. Aside from his…

Drinking Water • Drought • Groundwater

State still hasn’t fixed Porterville drinking water crisis from the last drought. Will residents go dry again?

June 30, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

The epicenter of dry wells during California’s last devastating drought was undoubtedly Porterville. The small Tulare County town saw wells go dry enmasse in its unincorporated east side. It became a national headline as the media descended. Amid the glare of tv cameras, the state pledged to help and agreed to build three new wells….

NEWS

Endangered salmon program waiting, watching for possible call on Millertion water

Drought has desperate ranchers asking: “Can I feed tomorrow?”

Kern River water rights case gets hearing date

State ponies up $100 million toward $2.35 billion repair bill for major canals

Valley rivers going dry

“Silver tsunami” could open doors to California’s top water jobs

Kern River memories, photos sought

Hydro energy reduced as California reservoirs shrink

Longtime Tule River Water Master Richard L. Schafer dies at 95

State still hasn’t fixed Porterville drinking water crisis from the last drought. Will residents go dry again?

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