army corps Archives

Army Corps was unprepared for amount of seepage from Isabella Dam that is now swamping residents

September 18, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Landowners and residents who live in front of the Auxiliary Dam at Lake Isabella are being swamped by “seepage” coming through the earthen dam that is ruining septic systems, causing sinkholes, clogging the area with weeds and breeding swarms of mosquitoes. They’ve tried working with the Army Corps of Engineers, which recently rebuilt the Auxiliary…

Uncategorized

Kern River flows to drop again after noise detected in Isabella Dam outlet tunnel

June 26, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Outflows from Lake Isabella into the Kern River will be cut to zero starting at 1 a.m. Tuesday so dam operators can check the source of “funny noises” coming from the outlet tunnel, according to Kern River Watermaster Mark Mulkay and an Army Corps of Engineers press release. “They’ve been hearing funny noises in the…

Floods

Kern River headed to intertie Saturday after brief delay

May 18, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Kern River water is expected to go into the intertie, which connects the river to the California Aqueduct, starting Saturday morning. The goal is to keep more flood water from reaching the already flooded Tulare Lake bed in Kings County. The plan had been to begin dumping Kern River water at 500 cubic feet per…

Floods • Uncategorized

Kern County makes river flood maps available to the public

May 17, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The Kern River is rising fast and, so far, the public hasn’t been given very good information on the one question on everyone’s mind: Where’s it going to flood? Wednesday, the Kern County Office of Emergency Services put out detailed, locally built maps that attempt to answer that question under various flow scenarios. The upshot…

Floods • Uncategorized

Kern River water to go into California Aqueduct to keep it out of Tulare Lake; flows to ramp up mid-June

May 12, 2023

• by Lois Henry

For the first time in 17 years, the Kern River “intertie” will be opened on Monday to release Kern River flood waters into the California Aqueduct, according to the Kern River Watermaster. The move is an attempt to keep more flood water off the already waterlogged Tulare Lake bed as officials anticipate significantly increased Kern…

Floods

Recreation sites above Lake Kaweah closed due to dangerous conditions

May 2, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The Army Corps of Engineers closed two recreation areas at Lake Kaweah on Tuesday because of dangerous riverbank instability. The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office made the request for closure and the Corps closed down the Cobble Knoll and Slick Rock recreation areas. They will remain closed until conditions are safe again, according to the Corps….

Floods • Uncategorized

Red tape kept Bakersfield from clearing Kern River channel for years

April 19, 2023

• by Lois Henry

It isn’t just water that’s been barreling down the Kern River in this historic water year. Trees, shrubs, trash – even old appliances – have come swirling down the river bed, plucked out by heavy equipment and piled on the banks in massive heaps. City of Bakersfield crews, along with other agencies, worked round the…

dams • Uncategorized

Isabella Dam safety project done just in time for record snowpack

April 4, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Speaker after speaker on Tuesday noted the years long construction project to increase safety on Isabella Dam was completed this past October – just in time. With a snowpack at 422% of normal, the reservoir is expected to hit its full capacity of 568,000 acre feet, and then some. Water content in Kern River watershed…

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Massive snowpack looming above the Kern River higher than any in recorded history – and more coming

March 31, 2023

• by Lois Henry

A prolonged warm spell this spring is weighing on Kern River Watermaster Mark Mulkay’s mind these days. “If that happens, we could lose infrastructure. Definitely,” he said. A new Department of Water Resources estimate of accumulated snow hanging above the state’s river systems shows the Kern River’s watershed at 422% of normal. The amount could…