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NEWS

N-i-i-i-i-ce kitty!

• by Lois Henry
Retired Shafter farmer David Bell snapped a photo of what appears to be a young mountain lion as Bell was biking on the Kern River Parkway early Tuesday morning. Bell was about a mile east of Enos Lane when he saw what he thought might be a dog. As he got closer, he said, he…
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Clean water advocates hoping to safeguard SAFER funding

• by Lois Henry
Just when it looked like small drinking water systems in California were finally getting the long-term help they so desperately need, along came COVID-19. The state is peppered with failing small systems, many serving low-income communities without the resources to repair them. At least one-third of those failing systems are in the San Joaquin Valley,…
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Unpaid bills spiking at some water utilities

• by Lois Henry
Several state legislators have asked the Governor to extend his order prohibiting water shutoffs for nonpayment to even the smallest water utilities. Right now, the Governor’s April 2 order applies to water utilities serving 200 or more connections. If Gov. Newsom expands his order, it could have a huge impact in the San Joaquin Valley,…
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Could “angel investors” buy a piece of the Friant-Kern Canal?

• by Lois Henry
An investor funding proposal that could substantially increase the Friant-Kern Canal’s historic flow capacity is gaining interest among the Friant Water Authority’s member districts. In theory, that investor money could bump the amount of water that has historically flowed down the canal on the Central Valley’s eastern flank by up to 800 cubic feet per…
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“Unqualifiedly” in favor of Pine Flat Dam in 1918

• by Lois Henry
Jon Earnest, editor of the Reedley Exponent, found this gem of a story as he was searching the archives recently for stories on our last pandemic in 1918. Pine Flat Dam had not yet been built. Locals had to first form an irrigation district before moving forward with the Pine Flat Dam project on the…
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Temperance Flat Dam on indefinite hold after report shows it doesn’t pencil out for water users

• by Lois Henry
An investment analysis that looked at how much it would cost water users to build and operate the proposed Temperance Flat Dam northeast of Fresno without government funding was finished earlier this year and quietly passed among water districts, which just as quietly asked the federal government to shelve work on the project. A small…
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WANTED: Water maven to lead Kern nonprofit

• by Lois Henry
A Kern County nonprofit is looking for a new executive director to help educate the public about its most precious resource — water. Beth Brookhart Pandol is retiring after leading the Water Association of Kern County for the past 10 years. She said the executive director doesn’t have to know a ton about water, but…
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Groundwater plans could cause up to 12,000 drinking water wells to run dry

• by Lois Henry
If all goes according to plan — actually 26 groundwater sustainability plans —  between 46,000 and nearly 130,000 Central Valley residents could be out of water by 2040, according to a new report released by the Water Foundation. Those sustainability plans are supposed to bring the valley’s depleted aquifers into balance, per the state’s Sustainable…
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