california water Archives - Page 10 of 22

Deadline to apply for $50M to retire farmland coming up April 1

March 15, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The state has $50 million to spend to retire farmland, which it intends to give out as block grants to local agencies, tribes and nonprofits in the San Joaquin Valley. But there are strings attached to the money. The groups that receive the block grants will have to work directly with farmers and community members…

Groundwater

Westlands growers fear groundwater power grab by district general manager

March 15, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Divisions are deepening within the giant Westlands Water District as some growers fear the district’s longtime, controversial general manager is amassing too much power. In mid-February, district staff proposed new groundwater rules that would give General Manager Tom Birmingham almost total control over how groundwater is accounted for and to which grower accounts it would…

Personalities

Kings County judge orders both sides to neutral corners in Boswell-Vidovich ditch bank battle

March 5, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Heavy equipment blockading a pipeline project from cutting through a canal was ordered removed on Friday and the pipeline project was halted temporarily by a Kings County Superior Court judge. The fight between the Tulare Lake Canal Company, controlled by the J.G. Boswell Company, and Sandridge Partners, controlled by John Vidovich, will be back in…

Rivers

POSTPONED!!!! Panel: Is there a way for all sides to “win” in the Kern River fight?

March 2, 2022

• by Lois Henry

!!!POSTPONED!!! Scheduling conflicts have waylaid this panel for some time. Please check back here or on the Bring Back the Kern site. The local grassroots group, Bring Back the Kern, will host a series of roundtable discussions to look at ways to restore the Kern River through Bakersfield and still satisfy…

Drought

Skimpy state snowpack points to another long, dry summer

March 1, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted its third snow survey of the season and the outlook is not good for the state’s water users. The survey recorded 35 inches of snow at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada mountains below Lake Tahoe. That’s about 68% of average for this time of year. Statewide, snowpack…

Drought

Snow pack for Kern River watershed at 39% of normal

March 1, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Local water watcher Scott Williams put out his monthly Kern River watershed report Tuesday and the outlook is skimpy without more storms before May. Williams compiles stats from a number of publicly available sources, including state electronic snow sensors, called “pillows,” stashed in the upper reaches of the watershed and compares them to historic trends….

Groundwater • Personalities

Latest allegation in Boswell-Vidovich ditch bank battle: Environmental laws were willfully ignored

February 27, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Last we left off, Kings County’s two biggest farming companies were at impasse over a pipeline with heavy equipment and work crews standing guard atop the Tulare Lake Canal to keep a trench from being cut through its banks. Attorneys for the Tulare Lake Canal Company, controlled by the giant J.G. Boswell Company, and Sandridge…

Drought • Groundwater

Contamination a looming possibility for groundwater bank to be built using public funds

February 24, 2022

• by Lois Henry

A proposed Kern County groundwater bank that would be partially funded with $87 million in Proposition 1 money for new water storage, may have to deal with contamination before it spreads its first drop. The Kern Fan Groundwater Storage Project has not found contamination yet, but is sandwiched between areas that have confirmed 1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP),…

Personalities

Water policy and politics, always an interesting mix

February 23, 2022

• by Jesse Vad and Lois Henry, SJV Water

Just before announcing she was switching her quest for reelection from one state Senate district to another, Melissa Hurtado appears to have thrown up a flag announcing her conservative bona fides in what could become a contest of the most right-leaning Democrat. On Feb. 17, Hurtado, who currently represents Sanger, introduced Senate Bill 1219 to…

Federal System

Proposed dam project sparks opposition from fellow water users

February 16, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

A new California dam project you probably haven’t heard of has already passed the initial environmental stages and recently won approval to apply for possible public funding. Predictably, the project has stoked opposition but not all the naysayers are who you might expect. The Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir project, which would sit in the hilly,…

NEWS

Deadline to apply for $50M to retire farmland coming up April 1

Westlands growers fear groundwater power grab by district general manager

Kings County judge orders both sides to neutral corners in Boswell-Vidovich ditch bank battle

POSTPONED!!!! Panel: Is there a way for all sides to “win” in the Kern River fight?

Skimpy state snowpack points to another long, dry summer

Snow pack for Kern River watershed at 39% of normal

Latest allegation in Boswell-Vidovich ditch bank battle: Environmental laws were willfully ignored

Contamination a looming possibility for groundwater bank to be built using public funds

Water policy and politics, always an interesting mix

Proposed dam project sparks opposition from fellow water users

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