california water Archives - Page 12 of 22

Westlands GM gets contract extension despite grower objections

December 21, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

During a contentious Westlands Water District meeting on Tuesday where growers spoke out against district leadership, board members voted 8-1 to extend General Manager Tom Birmingham’s contract another three years. As has been the district’s recent practice, the contract extension came a year before Birmingham’s contract expires. Westlands growers criticized Birmingham, expressed frustration at the…

State System

State’s early zero-water-for-ag projection could have far reaching implications

December 13, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Storms hammering California this week will likely bump up the state’s Dec. 1 projection of zero water for agricultural contractors. But questions about how and why the Department of Water Resources made that projection – and what it means for the future – have left an unsettled wake among San Joaquin Valley agricultural water districts…

Rivers

Battle for Kern River water goes deep into rights, history

December 10, 2021

• by Lois Henry

The state hearing on whether there is “loose” water on the Kern River got started Thursday and was quickly snared in a thicket of procedural issues, arcane water rights and water diversion practices. After two very full days of testimony and legal wrangling, the upshot is that there is no upshot, just yet. Administrative Hearing…

SGMA

State warns more valley groundwater agencies their plans aren’t up to snuff

December 9, 2021

• by Jesse Vad and Lois Henry

Six subbasins covering nearly all of the central and southern San Joaquin Valley do not have adequate plans to address falling groundwater levels, according to letters sent Thursday by the Department of Water Resources to groundwater agencies within those subbasins. Subbasins with plans not likely to pass muster include the Delta-Mendota, Kaweah, Kern County, Kings,…

Friant-Kern Canal • Groundwater

Who should pay to fix California’s sunken canals?

December 9, 2021

• by Theo Whitcomb, High Country News

This piece is part of a collaboration that includes the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), California Health Report, Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism, Circle of Blue, Colorado Public Radio, Columbia Insight, The Counter, High Country News, New Mexico In Depth and SJV Water. The project was made possible by a grant from the Water Foundation…

Drinking Water • Drought

VIDEO: How some valley residents cope as their homes teeter on the brink of going dry

December 6, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

SJV Water reporting trainee Jesse Vad traveled to rural Fairmeade and Toolville to talk to residents about what it’s like to live under the constant possibility of their homes going dry as groundwater tables dropped at the height of the 2021 drought….

SGMA

Four valley groundwater plans fail to meet state standards – for now

November 18, 2021

• by Danielle Bergstrom, Fresnoland, Lois Henry and Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Four groundwater plans in the Central Valley — including those for Westlands Water District, Chowchilla Water District and the Merced and Eastern San Joaquin subbasins — don’t show how they will protect water quality, keep drinking water wells from going dry or stop already sinking land from sinking further, according to the Department of Water…

SGMA

A space-age tool aims to bring water use down to Earth

November 15, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

New satellite technology could be a critical piece to the future of water trading in the San Joaquin Valley, according to those working on the tech. OpenET, an online platform that uses satellite imagery to estimate how much water is used by different crops, launched publicly on October 21. The platform is already being tested…

Rivers

March for the Kern River

November 13, 2021

• by Lois Henry

About 30 hardy souls marched the length of the dry Kern River bed — nine miles — from near Manor Street in east Bakersfield all the way to Stockdale Highway Saturday morning to protest the lack of water in the river. At the start of the hike, the group filled bottles and jugs with water…

SGMA • Uncategorized

VIDEO: The uncertain future of valley farmland

November 9, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

Valley farmers have relied on groundwater for generations. That is changing under the state’s new Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, SGMA, that mandates aquifers be brought into balance by 2040. That means more water can’t be pumped out than is recharged into the aquifer. Pumping restrictions could mean significant portions of the valley’s farmland will have…

NEWS

Westlands GM gets contract extension despite grower objections

State’s early zero-water-for-ag projection could have far reaching implications

Battle for Kern River water goes deep into rights, history

State warns more valley groundwater agencies their plans aren’t up to snuff

Who should pay to fix California’s sunken canals?

VIDEO: How some valley residents cope as their homes teeter on the brink of going dry

Four valley groundwater plans fail to meet state standards – for now

A space-age tool aims to bring water use down to Earth

March for the Kern River

VIDEO: The uncertain future of valley farmland

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