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A full day of Kern groundwater plan meetings set for Oct. 3

• by Lois Henry, SJV Water
Kern County water managers will hold a full day of public meetings around the county on Thursday to explain and answer questions about the revamped Kern subbasin groundwater plan. The document lays out Kern’s groundwater situation now and how water managers plan to improve water tables and keep them stable into the future. Meetings will…
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Valley residents already struggling with dry wells faced another problem this summer: Superheated tank water

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
First their wells went dry. Then this summer’s brutal heat wave made water in emergency storage tanks so scalding hot, some valley residents had to siphon it into containers and let it cool before it could be used. “We’re very grateful to even have the tanks,” stressed Merideth Moreno, who lives near the small Tulare…
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Rural Kings County families have a 50-50 chance their well is contaminated with nitrates

• 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. There’s about a 50-50 chance the tap water that 10,000 rural Kings County residents are drinking is contaminated with nitrates. That’s a type of salt that can be toxic, even lethal to newborns, causing what’s commonly…
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MEETING NOTES: North Kern Water District discusses nitrate compliance options

• by Sonia Lemus, freelance for SJV Water
* “Meeting Notes” is a new feature focused on Kern County water districts, paid for by a grant from the James B. McClatchy Foundation. Please consider supporting SJV Water so we can continue this important coverage. Meeting: North Kern Water Storage District board of directors. Date: January 16, 2024 Agenda and board packet: CLICK HERE…
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Local agencies need more than “words on paper” from the state to help fight drought and flood

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
A Tulare County official who’s faced multiple droughts and devastating floods over the past decade appreciated the California Water Commission’s latest “policy paper” on how best to respond to such calamities but she had some advice of her own for the state: Locals need resources – money, equipment, personnel – not just “words on paper.”…
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State nitrate program expands but public participation is still lacking

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Correction: The nitrate control program is run by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. An incorrect state agency was listed in the original version of this story. After three years, more of the Central Valley is being folded into the state’s nitrate control program. But program managers and environmental justice advocates say there…
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Two new laws aimed at protecting drinking water for small town residents

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Two bills aimed at protecting small towns mired in debt, drinking water contamination and dropping groundwater levels have become law.  Senate Bill 3, authored by state Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa,) extends water shutoff protections to households in communities with less than 200 water connections. That includes a handful of towns in the San Joaquin Valley…
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Lamont’s water future secured with $25.4 million grant from state drinking water fund

• by Lois Henry
Most Lamont residents likely had no idea that a mini hoopla held in the middle of town Monday morning next to a newly constructed well was actually a celebration of their children’s and their grandchildren’s futures. “This is generational,” said Lamont Public Utilities District General Manager Scott Taylor. “It allows us to provide clean and…
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