california Archives - Page 21 of 27

Drought

Thousands of water rights holders could be cut off from rivers

July 24, 2021

• by Lois Henry

California water regulators are preparing to do what they’ve been warning about for months – cut the spigot to thousands of water rights holders. The state Water Resources Control Board will consider an emergency order at its August 3 meeting that would bar farmers, cities and others from continuing to tap into rivers that feed…

Drought

Another valley town on the brink of going dry

July 23, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

The small, rural community of Tooleville is on the brink of going dry after one of its two wells went down Friday morning. It’s the second community in Tulare County to suffer water problems in the last two months as California struggles through the grip of a devastating drought. The only well in the town…

Endangered salmon program waiting, watching for possible call on Millertion water

July 21, 2021

• by Lois Henry

As the summer grinds on, farms, towns and a critical native salmon restoration program that all rely on water from Millerton Lake near Fresno continue to hope their water won’t be needed to fulfill irrigation contracts further up the San Joaquin Valley. But in this parched year, nothing is certain. If water is required out…

Rivers • SGMA

Kern River water rights case gets hearing date

July 19, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Whether the Kern River truly has spare water and, if so, how much, has been left up in the air for more than a decade. Now, 11 years after the State Water Resources Control Board ruled the Kern River was not fully appropriated, it will finally start the process of getting at those two key…

Friant-Kern Canal

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…

Drought • Rivers • SGMA

Valley rivers going dry

July 14, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Southern San Joaquin Valley Rivers are running at near historic lows — again. In fact, the Bakersfield City Council passed a resolution Wednesday officially declaring the Kern River as running at only 17% of normal, it’s second driest year since record keeping began in 1893. The driest year on record was 2015, the worst year…

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…

Drought

Hydro energy reduced as California reservoirs shrink

July 6, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

California’s reservoirs and rivers are startlingly low, forcing many of the state’s more than 270 hydropower facilities to generate less power. Lake Oroville, one of the state’s largest reservoirs, made headlines because its water levels have dropped so low the power plant may need to shut down for the first time. While most other hydropower…

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,…

NEWS

Thousands of water rights holders could be cut off from rivers

Another valley town on the brink of going dry

Endangered salmon program waiting, watching for possible call on Millertion water

Kern River water rights case gets hearing date

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

Valley rivers going dry

Kern River memories, photos sought

Hydro energy reduced as California reservoirs shrink

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

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