Water News - Page 67 of 76 in California's San Joaquin Valley

State’s low water allocation prompts frustration, suspicion

April 29, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Is the State Water Project’s extremely low water allocation based on California’s fickle climate? Or politics? A growing chorus of frustrated water managers are wondering. After a dry January, the Department of Water Resources announced it would only be able to deliver 15 percent of contracted water amounts to farms and cities. That number hasn’t…

Rivers

A Sunday walk on the Kern River

April 26, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Water is flowing in the Kern River through Bakersfield for at least the next month. People took advantage of the water to enjoy (in a socially distant manner!) the river on Sunday….

Rivers

Expect a wet Kern River through May

April 24, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Unless it’s a big water year (spoiler alert: It’s not), the Kern River through Bakersfield is usually a dry, sandy channel. So, water in the riverbed is pretty exciting in old B-town. SJV Water asked Art Chianello, Director of Bakersfield’s Water Resources Department, where today’s trickle was coming from and how long it would last….

Drought • Floods • Groundwater • Rivers

High tech and low show state’s snowpack is still stingy

April 23, 2020

• by Lois Henry

The snowpack above the Central Valley looked slightly better after March and April brought the winter weather that was AWOL during the first two months of 2020. But the late storms weren’t enough to get valley rivers much above the 60%-of-average mark, if that. San Joaquin River The storms did provide enough snow for the…

Rivers

Green sturgeon makes surprise appearance

April 15, 2020

• by Lois Henry

A rare, wild green sturgeon was found on the San Joaquin River upriver from the confluence of the Merced this past weekend by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation crews checking salmon traps at Hills Ferry. The discovery caused some excitement as this endangered fish had not been seen that far up the San Joaquin in many…

Groundwater • Rivers

Legal fight reopened over Kern River

April 15, 2020

• by Lois Henry

The Kern River can’t seem to stay out of California’s courtrooms — even in a pandemic. The latest legal scuffle, which erupted last week, is a continuation of a nearly decade long battle by a Kern County ag water district to hold on to a portion of its main water supply. On Friday, April 9,…

Groundwater

Price of reclaimed water still too high for ag

April 10, 2020

• by Lois Henry

If you’re a Central Valley farmer and haven’t yet been hit up by someone about reusing crummy water for irrigation — just wait. Companies are springing up all over with the latest gizmo they believe will take nasty, salty water, mostly from shallow aquifers on the valley’s west side or oilfield produced water, and make…

Federal System • Rivers • State System

New state water regs cause angst on all sides

April 9, 2020

• by Lois Henry

A new set of water regulations aimed at protecting California’s native fish came down from the state earlier this week to near universal condemnation from both agricultural and environmental water folks. The regulations are contained in a 143-page “incidental take permit” issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife that lays out when — and…

Federal System

Recent storms boost water allocation for Friant farmers

April 6, 2020

• by Lois Henry

NEWS RELEASE SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Today, the Bureau of Reclamation updated the water supply allocation for Friant Division Central Valley Project contracts for the 2020 contract year. The Friant Division provides water for 15,000 family farms and several cities in the Central Valley. Initial allocations were made on February 25, 2020. Reclamation considered many factors…

Drinking Water

Gov. Newsom orders California taps to keep flowing

April 2, 2020

• by Lois Henry

In an ongoing effort to help Californians deal with the fallout of the COVID-19 crisis, Gov. Newsom today issued an executive order prohibiting water companies from shutting off customers for non payment. The order, which applies to residential and commercial customers, has no end date. Additionally, water service that was shut off for nonpayment as…

NEWS

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