california water Archives - Page 15 of 22

State ponies up $100 million toward $2.35 billion repair bill for major canals

July 16, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Several of the state’s key canals will get a sprinkle of state money this year and next toward fixing more than $2 billion in damage caused by sinking land from excessive groundwater pumping. On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a massive budget “trailer” bill, which authorizes actual funding for programs and services outlined in the…

Personalities

“Silver tsunami” could open doors to California’s top water jobs

July 6, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

Job alert: The Shafter-Wasco Irrigation District, which serves nearly 30,000 acres of farms in Kern County, is hiring a new general manager. But what exactly does the general manager of an irrigation district do? It’s a question that isn’t easily answered, even by water executives themselves. “I found it very hard to describe what I…

Rivers

Kern River memories, photos sought

July 6, 2021

• by Lois Henry

The grassroots group Bring Back the Kern has launched a new public awareness campaign to pluck residents’ memories of a flowing river through Bakersfield. Bring Back the Kern, formed in 2020, advocates finding ways for water to flow through the Kern River channel through town on a more frequent and consistent basis. The group has…

Personalities

Longtime Tule River Water Master Richard L. Schafer dies at 95

July 2, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Richard L. Schafer left an “indelible” imprint on water systems — and the people who run them — in the southern San Joaquin Valley over his extensive career. The longtime Tule River Water Master, who had worked with just about every agricultural water district in the area, died Thursday. He was 95. Aside from his…

Drinking Water • Drought • Groundwater

State still hasn’t fixed Porterville drinking water crisis from the last drought. Will residents go dry again?

June 30, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

The epicenter of dry wells during California’s last devastating drought was undoubtedly Porterville. The small Tulare County town saw wells go dry enmasse in its unincorporated east side. It became a national headline as the media descended. Amid the glare of tv cameras, the state pledged to help and agreed to build three new wells….

Federal System • Floods • Groundwater • State System • Water Banking

Lawsuit claims Kern County Water Agency shorted a key local canal’s volume

June 30, 2021

• by Lois Henry

The Cross Valley Canal is a key cog in the southern San Joaquin Valley’s water machinery. It moves water east and west between the California Aqueduct along Kern County’s western edge to the Kern County Water Agency’s facilities near Manor Street in Bakersfield. Along the way, it also connects with the federally owned Friant-Kern Canal,…

Floods

Dam repairs on track

June 11, 2021

• by Lois Henry

On schedule is probably the sweetest phrase a project manager can hear. For projects that are the size and scope of repairs to the Isabella and Schafer dams, being on schedule is especially important. “It’s been a long time coming and now we’re close to the finish line,” said Richard Brown, a spokesman for the…

Groundwater

Bills to fund canal repairs moving forward

June 11, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

California’s canals are sinking. Excessive groundwater pumping has collapsed the land beneath several key canals, crimping their ability to move water. Fixing them will be expensive. There are two bills moving through the state Legislature and Congress that could provide some funding. This is the second try for the state bill, Senate Bill 559 by…

Conservation • Groundwater

Putting farmland out to pasture not an easy task

June 7, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

Not all farmland in the San Joaquin Valley will survive in a post-SGMA world. Estimates are that the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act will force between 500,000 to one million acres of land that’s currently farmed to be taken out of production to save groundwater. Which lands and what will become of those lands are major…

Groundwater

SJV on VPR!

June 4, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Valley Public Radio in Fresno interviewed me about SJV Water’s story on subsidence in Corcoran that ran in the New York Times. TAKE A LISTEN!…

NEWS

State ponies up $100 million toward $2.35 billion repair bill for major canals

“Silver tsunami” could open doors to California’s top water jobs

Kern River memories, photos sought

Longtime Tule River Water Master Richard L. Schafer dies at 95

State still hasn’t fixed Porterville drinking water crisis from the last drought. Will residents go dry again?

Lawsuit claims Kern County Water Agency shorted a key local canal’s volume

Dam repairs on track

Bills to fund canal repairs moving forward

Putting farmland out to pasture not an easy task

SJV on VPR!

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