california Archives - Page 18 of 31

Clawing its way toward clean water, tiny Allensworth keeps pushing forward

June 9, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The long quest for clean drinking water in the small town of Allensworth has been beset by all manner of challenges – arsenic, a thicket of government red tape, lack of funding and even a protected lizard. Now, after 14 years of wrangling (including having a special bill passed), as residents are finally on the…

Groundwater • SGMA

Stanford study: Shutting down pumps alone won’t halt San Joaquin Valley sinking

June 3, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The San Joaquin Valley is sinking and it might continue to do so for centuries if groundwater levels aren’t recovered, according to a new Stanford University study. The study, which was published on Thursday in the Water Resources Research journal, simulated 65 years of land sinking, called subsidence, at a site near Hanford in Kings…

Drought • SGMA

Drought, groundwater restrictions and – oh yeah, drought – pervade talk at annual Kern water summit

May 19, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Local and state water leaders were practically upbeat two years ago at the last in-person Water Summit put on by the Water Association of Kern County. At least as upbeat as California water folks typically get. They advocated for new ideas, radical partnerships and solutions that could benefit both ag and environmental interests. That was…

Personalities • SGMA

Accusations continue to fly between two valley ag titans in water feud

May 18, 2022

• by Lois Henry

The ongoing water feud between two of Kings County’s biggest farming entities recently spilled into Kern County and up to Sacramento with allegations on both sides of misuse of water and other public resources. In a May 12 letter, the Southwest Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency complains that the J.G. Boswell Company has been pumping and…

Personalities • Rivers

Chuck Williams, longest-serving Kern River Watermaster, dies at 93

May 6, 2022

• by Lois Henry, SJV Water

Chuck Williams, the longest serving “interim, acting” Kern River Watermaster, died Friday. He was 93. Attorney Scott Kuney, who worked with Williams at North Kern Water Storage District, remembered Williams as a “man of great faith, integrity and a consensus maker. “And he was fun,” Kuney said Friday. “He had a thousand stories.” Kuney recalled…

Groundwater • SGMA

State funding helps pay for valley groundwater projects

May 4, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Multiple San Joaquin Valley groundwater projects got a significant shot of state funding this week to kickstart recharge, and other, projects. On Monday, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced $150 million was awarded to 20 agencies through its first round of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Grant Program. That includes almost $84 million for 11…

Drought

Kern River run off predicted to be downright miserly

May 3, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Kern River watershed watcher Scott Williams put out what will be his final Kern River Snow and Water Report May 3 and the news was grim. The predicted run off for the Kern River has dwindled from an already meager 33% of normal last month to a downright miserly 28% of normal this month. The…

Drinking Water • Drought

SJV communities get state cash to plug leaks

May 3, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

An infusion of state cash will plug several leaky drinking water systems that serve rural communities in the San Joaquin Valley in the near future. The money, $22 million, comes from the Small Community Drought Relief Program under the Department of Water Resources (DWR). That money will fund 17 projects throughout the state, with about…

Rivers

Kern River among top 10 “most endangered rivers” in the country

April 18, 2022

• by Lois Henry

The lower Kern River earned the dubious distinction of being named one of the country’s 10 “most endangered rivers,” according to American Rivers, a national environmental group that has highlighted rivers suffering pollution and other threats for the past 36 years. The group listed “excessive water withdrawls” as the main threat to the lower Kern,…

Drought • SGMA

How low will it go? Kern agencies worry one district setting groundwater levels too far down

April 16, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Kern County agricultural water districts are giving major side-eye to one of their own over what’s known as “minimum threshold” groundwater levels The grumbling is aimed at the sprawling Semitropic Water Storage District in northwest Kern, where minimum thresholds are set, in some cases, at levels that would allow farmers to pump down the water…

NEWS

Clawing its way toward clean water, tiny Allensworth keeps pushing forward

Stanford study: Shutting down pumps alone won’t halt San Joaquin Valley sinking

Drought, groundwater restrictions and – oh yeah, drought – pervade talk at annual Kern water summit

Accusations continue to fly between two valley ag titans in water feud

Chuck Williams, longest-serving Kern River Watermaster, dies at 93

State funding helps pay for valley groundwater projects

Kern River run off predicted to be downright miserly

SJV communities get state cash to plug leaks

Kern River among top 10 “most endangered rivers” in the country

How low will it go? Kern agencies worry one district setting groundwater levels too far down

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