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“Madness and arrogance” blamed for one lawsuit against desert groundwater agency

• by Lois Henry
Two lawsuits accusing the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority of ramming through a plan that ignores water rights and, according to one plaintiff, is intended to “destroy agriculture” were filed this week. At issue is a controversial $2,000-per-acre-foot fee approved by the authority last month that would be charged to certain groundwater users over a…
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Happy 50th “Kern Riversary!” 1970 vote brought river into public hands

• by Lois Henry
Fifty years ago this week, the Bakersfield City Council committed an audaciously historic act. On Monday evening Sept. 28, 1970, council members decided to sue Tenneco West for a slice of the Kern River. “The shock was great to many, but from that day forward we had their attention and cooperation,” states the “Kern River…
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Last minute loan keeps drinking water projects afloat

• by Lois Henry
Small, failing drinking water systems got a funding life preserver among a flurry of budget bills at the chaotic end of the California legislative session. Drinking water advocates had fretted the Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) program, intended to help struggling water systems in mostly poor, rural areas, would fall victim…
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20-mile replacement canal is preferred fix for the sagging Friant-Kern Canal

• by Lois Henry
A rapid-fire review of potential fixes to the Friant-Kern Canal favors building a replacement canal for 20 miles alongside the existing canal where land subsidence has caused it to sag, severely restricting water flow, according to final environmental documents released Friday. The environmental documents, which looked at the project under both state and federal environmental…
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Evaporation adds up. How much? Google it – someday

• by Lois Henry
There are lots of new water gizmos popping up these days but there’s only one Google. Which makes the massive tech company’s involvement in a proposed water measurement tool both intriguing and slightly suspicious to some agricultural water managers. The same goes for another partner in the effort, the Environmental Defense Fund, a well-known advocacy…
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Tainted valley groundwater could stymie banking deals

• by Lois Henry
The big kahuna of California water — Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — has stopped taking supplies from one Kern County groundwater bank because the water is heavily tainted with a cancer-causing agent that is pervasive in Central Valley’s aquifers. While only one banking program has been affected so far, the emergence of this…
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Desert water basin hopes to dive into California water market

• by Lois Henry
If you’ve got water for sale, the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority has $50 million to spend. Or, it will once it starts collecting a controversial, five-year, $2,000-per-acre-foot pumping fee that was approved by the authority last week. Specifically, the desert groundwater basin about 100 miles northeast of Bakersfield in the Mojave Desert, is looking…
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Fresno Irrigation District video celebrating its centennial (and then some)

• by Lois Henry
The Fresno Irrigation District has been quietly celebrating its 100 year anniversary during the global pandemic. Though several events had to be canceled for safety concerns, the district put together an informative video to help folks understand just how momentous bringing controlled irrigation and drinking water to the valley was. CLICK HERE to view the…
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