california Archives - Page 23 of 27

Drought driving up water prices

May 28, 2021

• by Lois Henry

If you were looking for some bargain priced water this year, you’re out of luck. “We got out of the market when we started seeing prices north of $900 an acre foot,” said Jason Gianquinto, General Manager of Semitropic Water Storage District in western Kern County. “That’s just too much for us. We had some…

Drought • Friant-Kern Canal

Dry conditions could cut Friant water to zero in a replay of 2014-2015 drought

May 28, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Farms and towns in the south San Joaquin Valley that rely on water from Millerton Lake north of Fresno are anxiously waiting to hear if they will be cut to zero again this year. That happened in 2014 and again in 2015 when that prolonged drought was so bad the Bureau of Reclamation couldn’t deliver…

Drinking Water • Drought

Valley wells already going dry as drought settles in

May 27, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

Dry wells are starting to crop up throughout California’s San Joaquin Valley as the 2021 drought digs in. And as the parched state barrels toward summer, the risk of more wells going dry is increasing. For some, that possibility is already a scary reality. Misty Vasquez was at work in December, when her husband called…

SGMA • State System • Water Markets

The sinking Central Valley town

May 25, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Editor’s note: This article was produced by SJV Water, the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ) and the New York Times. The collaboration between SJV Water and CCIJ was led by the Institute for Nonprofit News as part of a project called “Tapped Out: Power, justice and water in the West.” This story was written with funding from the…

Conservation

Bakersfield students win grand prize for grey water project

May 13, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Students at Bakersfield’s Munsey Elementary School took home the grand prize in a statewide contest to find new, innovative ways to conserve water. The contest, called the H2O Challenge, is put on by water purveyor Cal Water. Teacher Barbara Elrod encouraged the students in her combination 5th and 6th grade class to take up the…

Drinking Water • Friant-Kern Canal • Rivers

Drought reduces runoff from watersheds burned by wildfires

May 13, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

Drought isn’t all bad. In fact, it’s turning out to be a dry blessing in disguise this year as the lack of snow means less runoff in areas burned by the massive Creek and Sequoia Complex wildfires in 2020. The Creek Fire, which started on September 4, 2020, burned nearly 380,000 acres of the San…

Drinking Water

Fail: Tule Basin drinking water plan kicked back for a redo

May 11, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

When Sandra Chavez’ mother discovered she had stage four cancer last year, one of Sandra’s first thoughts was about their water. Her family’s private well is contaminated with nitrates and Chavez wondered if years of drinking the water could have caused her mother’s sickness. Chavez and her family have relied on bottled water since they…

Rivers

Bakersfield brewers send suds with a message to State Water Board

May 7, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

Bakersfield raised a brew, literally, to the State Water Resources Control Board on Friday in honor of the Kern River. An iced down package of seven locally made craft beers was delivered to board members as part of the latest outreach effort by Bring Back the Kern, a local group advocating for water to flow…

Drinking Water

Navajo-Gallup water delay spurs problem solving in arid Southwest

May 7, 2021

• by Elizabeth Miller

Editor’s note: This piece is part of a collaboration that includes the Institute for Nonprofit News, California Health Report, Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism, Circle of Blue, Columbia Insight, Ensia, High Country News, New Mexico In Depth and SJV Water. It was made possible by a grant from The Water Desk, with support from Ensia…

Drinking Water

Some rural California residents doubt they’ll ever get clean water

May 5, 2021

• by Claudia Boyd-Barrett

EDITOR’S NOTE: This piece is part of a collaboration that includes the Institute for Nonprofit News, California Health Report, Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism, Circle of Blue, Columbia Insight, Ensia, High Country News, New Mexico In Depth and SJV Water. It was made possible by a grant from The Water Desk, with support from Ensia…

NEWS

Drought driving up water prices

Dry conditions could cut Friant water to zero in a replay of 2014-2015 drought

Valley wells already going dry as drought settles in

The sinking Central Valley town

Bakersfield students win grand prize for grey water project

Drought reduces runoff from watersheds burned by wildfires

Fail: Tule Basin drinking water plan kicked back for a redo

Bakersfield brewers send suds with a message to State Water Board

Navajo-Gallup water delay spurs problem solving in arid Southwest

Some rural California residents doubt they’ll ever get clean water

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter & Get Email Notifications