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NEWS

Storms bump state allocation to 30%

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
The state Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced Wednesday, Jan. 26, that it will increase water allocations from 5% to 30% thanks to the recent storms that doused California with rain and snow.  The new allocation comes out to 1.27 million acre feet for the State Water Project and 29 of its public water agencies,…
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Madera farmers push back on tighter pumping restrictions, county agrees to keep status quo

• by Rose Horowitch, SJV Water reporting intern
Facing heated pushback from growers, Madera County officials decided to maintain current groundwater pumping allotments for the next two years rather than reduce allocations over that time. At its Jan. 10 meeting, Board of Supervisors also considered increasing penalties for growers who exceed pumping allocations in the Madera, Chowchilla, and Delta-Mendota subbasins as part of…
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Retiring Delta Watermaster advises “pray for rain” but “plan for drought”

• by Rose Horowitch, SJV Water reporting intern
It may be raining now but Michael George, Watermaster for the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta, urged his colleagues at the State Water Resources Control Board to always be planning for drought. ​​“The Delta mantra: we pray for rain; we’re getting it. We plan for drought; it will be back,” George said during his final report before…
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POP QUIZ: How closely have you been reading SJV Water???

• by Lois Henry
It’s a brand new year – YAY! Lets see how much water news you retained from 2022. If you’ve been keeping up with the news on SJV Water, this should be a piece of cake. If not, well…you have a whole new year to remedy that. Remember, no cheating with the Google machine (clicking the…
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Some San Joaquin Valley farmers are rebelling against groundwater measures

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
As water managers throughout the San Joaquin Valley scramble to reign in groundwater pumping, they’re running into a serious roadblock: angry farmers.  Across the valley, farmers have decried fees and other measures meant to reduce pumping, threatening not to pay, taking agencies to court and protesting groundwater rules.  In some cases, it’s working.  In the…
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Desert groundwater agency mulls how to get water from San Joaquin Valley

• by Rose Horowitch, SJV Water reporting intern
A high-desert groundwater agency in eastern Kern County that’s in the midst of buying water from Kings County in the San Joaquin Valley, recently considered alternatives for how to actually get that water up and over the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority, which covers the Ridgecrest area, got updates on…
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Long-serving, controversial manager of Westlands Water District resigns

• by Lois Henry
Longtime Westlands Water District General Manager Tom Birmingham announced Nov. 23 that he will retire as of Dec. 31. “I am retiring with extreme pride in the things Westlands had accomplished over the last two decades,” he wrote in an email announcement. Birmingham had faced the likelihood that a newly-elected majority on the Westlands board…
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A massive effort – restoring the San Joaquin River

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
The San Joaquin River is a vital source of water for agriculture and the environment and it is also home to a unique program that hopes to restore native fish runs. It is a complex program and SJV Water was fortunate to take advantage of a tour offered through the Water Education Foundation Nov. 2-3…
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