army corps Archives

Isabella Dam construction project lauded by national award

June 11, 2024

• by SJV Water

The United States Army Corps of Engineers received a national award for safety, innovation and resourcefulness for its design and execution of the reconstruction of the Isabella Dam complex, according to a press release from the Army Corps. The $650-million project that succeeded in taking Isabella Dam off the Army Corps’ list as one of…

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Isabella power plant operators have a plan to make repairs without drying up Kern River

December 29, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Engineers with Isabella Partners, which operates the power plant at the base of Isabella Dam, believe they’ve found a way to make repairs to the plant without drying up the lower Kern River for weeks on end. If successful, water levels will drop from where they are now, but the river won’t go totally dry….

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Army Corps approves cuts to Isabella Dam releases as groups look for ways to protect Kern River fish flows and legal maneuvers expand

December 19, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The Army Corps of Engineers approved a request by operators of the power plant at the base of the dam to drastically cut water releases between Dec. 18 and Jan. 7 for a planned repair project to the plant. Under the approval, releases would drop from between 500 and 700 cubic feet per second down…

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Isabella Dam power plant repairs could cut Kern River flows causing a “massive fish kill”

December 4, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Anticipated repairs to the power plant at the base of Isabella Dam could cause a “massive fish kill” along the length of the Kern River as flows would have to be cut to almost nothing for weeks. Isabella Partners, which operates that power plant, submitted a request to the Army Corps of Engineers to cut…

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One Central Valley dam project gets nearly $95 million in funding; two others still in proposal phase

October 20, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Three dam expansion projects could increase water storage for use in the Central Valley by a whopping 304,000 acre feet. Each of the projects would raise existing dams, not build new ones. The project that is furthest along would raise the B.F. Sisk Dam in Merced County to expand San Luis Reservoir storage by 130,000…

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Residents below Isabella Dam again swamped by seepage after new pump runs out of gas

October 17, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Residents living below the Isabella Auxiliary Dam were thrilled earlier this month with a temporary fix that finally dried up excessive seepage from the dam that had been swamping septic systems and breeding forests of mosquito-infested weeds around their homes. The didn’t realize how temporary the fix would be, however. After only 12 days without…

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Army Corps installs pump to handle unexpected seepage from Isabella Dam

October 9, 2023

• by Lois Henry

For the first time in six months, Gerald Wenstrand doesn’t have a river flowing through the pasture at his ranch situated just below the Auxiliary Dam at Lake Isabella. The Army Corps of Engineers, which owns and operates Isabella Dam, finally installed an extra pump to move seepage coming through the base of the dam…

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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…

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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…

NEWS

Isabella Dam construction project lauded by national award

Isabella power plant operators have a plan to make repairs without drying up Kern River

Army Corps approves cuts to Isabella Dam releases as groups look for ways to protect Kern River fish flows and legal maneuvers expand

Isabella Dam power plant repairs could cut Kern River flows causing a “massive fish kill”

One Central Valley dam project gets nearly $95 million in funding; two others still in proposal phase

Residents below Isabella Dam again swamped by seepage after new pump runs out of gas

Army Corps installs pump to handle unexpected seepage from Isabella Dam

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

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

Kern River headed to intertie Saturday after brief delay

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