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State Water Board staff gives two groundwater agencies a pass, keeps Tule subbasin on hook for probation

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
A final report released by state Water Resources Control Board staff Friday maintains its recommendation that the Tule subbasin be put on probation but gives a pass to two specific groundwater agencies within the subbasin. The report recommends that farmers in the Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District and Kern-Tulare Water District groundwater sustainability agencies be exempted from…
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Fresno district marches toward groundwater recharge goals

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
The Fresno Irrigation District is 47 acres closer to its goal of building 1,300 acres of recharge basins capable of sinking 200,000 acre feet of water during a wet years. It celebrated the completion of the 47-acre Kenneson and Sanchez basins on August 21. The addition of those basins brought its total recharge acreage to…
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Fresno State study examines how water recharge could help or harm disadvantaged communities on a regional scale

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
A study examining the benefits and drawbacks of building groundwater recharge basins near rural communities is underway in Merced, Madera, Tulare and Fresno counties. The two-year study is a spinoff of an earlier feasibility study focused solely on Fresno County, and both are spearheaded by the California Water Institute at Fresno State University.  “Floodplains and…
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Kings County judge extends restraining order giving growers more time as they fight state pumping restrictions

• by Monserrat Solis, California Local News Fellow
Editor’s note: Monserrat Solis covers Kings County water issues for SJV Water through the California Local News Fellowship initiative. Kings County farmers will have more time to fight requirements from the State Water Resources Control Board to meter their wells and pay extraction fees. A temporary restraining order blocking those measures was extended to Sept. 13 by…
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Westlands uses $1 million in state money to take out orchards, increase recharge

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Westlands Water District has removed 452 acres of almond orchards thanks to a $1 million grant from the state Department of Water Resources (DWR.) It’s one project in an ongoing list aimed at bringing the district’s groundwater into sustainability.  “The district has been acquiring land since 2022 with the goal of reducing groundwater pumping in…
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Two sides attempt mediation to settle lawsuit over sinking Friant-Kern Canal

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
Attorneys for the Friant Water Authority and Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency agreed to mediation on Friday in an attempt to resolve a dispute over how quickly payment for repairs to the sinking Friant-Kern Canal should be handed over. During a status conference in Visalia, both parties told Tulare County Superior Court Judge Bret Hillman…
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New “seismic” listening technique could help researchers map water movement and moisture levels in the soil

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
The constant, rumbling, teeth-gritting traffic on Highway 99 might actually be good for something.  Researchers at Caltech have figured out a way to use vibrations from passing cars to see how much water sits directly beneath the ground’s surface.  In a new paper, researchers used seismic waves from traffic noise coupled with unused fiber optic…
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