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Battle for Kern River water goes deep into rights, history

• by Lois Henry
The state hearing on whether there is “loose” water on the Kern River got started Thursday and was quickly snared in a thicket of procedural issues, arcane water rights and water diversion practices. After two very full days of testimony and legal wrangling, the upshot is that there is no upshot, just yet. Administrative Hearing…
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State warns more valley groundwater agencies their plans aren’t up to snuff

• by Jesse Vad and Lois Henry
Six subbasins covering nearly all of  the central and southern San Joaquin Valley do not have adequate plans to address falling groundwater levels, according to letters sent Thursday by the Department of Water Resources to groundwater agencies within those subbasins. Subbasins with plans not likely to pass muster include the Delta-Mendota, Kaweah, Kern County, Kings,…
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New Kern River coalition; Grassroots or astroturf?

• by Lois Henry
The main water district involved in several legal battles for Kern River water has launched a new coalition/messaging campaign it is calling Sustainable Kern River. Its website says the organization is a coalition and lists several members, but its creation and funding comes from North Kern Water Storage District, according to North Kern’s General Manager…
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Where is the water going?

• by Lois Henry
This piece is part of a collaboration that includes the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), California Health Report, Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism, Circle of Blue, Colorado Public Radio, Columbia Insight, The Counter, High Country News, New Mexico In Depth and SJV Water. The project was made possible by a grant from the Water Foundation…
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A space-age tool aims to bring water use down to Earth

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern
New satellite technology could be a critical piece to the future of water trading in the San Joaquin Valley, according to those working on the tech. OpenET, an online platform that uses satellite imagery to estimate how much water is used by different crops, launched publicly on October 21. The platform is already being tested…
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March for the Kern River

• by Lois Henry
About 30 hardy souls marched the length of the dry Kern River bed — nine miles — from near Manor Street in east Bakersfield all the way to Stockdale Highway Saturday morning to protest the lack of water in the river. At the start of the hike, the group filled bottles and jugs with water…
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How ag’s footprint has changed since the last drought

• by Lois Henry
In the world of farming, not all crops are equal. That is starkly apparent when looking at how crops changed in the central and southern San Joaquin Valley since the beginning of the last drought, according to county crop reports. While most counties saw reductions in overall harvested acres between 2012 and 2020, they also…
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VIDEO: The uncertain future of valley farmland

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern
Valley farmers have relied on groundwater for generations. That is changing under the state’s new Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, SGMA, that mandates aquifers be brought into balance by 2040. That means more water can’t be pumped out than is recharged into the aquifer. Pumping restrictions could mean significant portions of the valley’s farmland will have…
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