drought Archives - Page 15 of 16

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…

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…

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…

Conservation • Drought • Federal System • Rivers • State System • Water Banking

Virtual Water Summit – May 25

April 20, 2021

• by Lois Henry

The Water Association of Kern County’s annual Water Summit is virtual this year but will still pack a punch of who’s who in the water world. The day kicks off with an update on water brought to the San Joaquin Valley via the federal Central Valley Project. The speaker will be Deputy Bureau of Reclamation…

Conservation • Drinking Water • Drought • Groundwater

Students find saving water “elementary”

March 16, 2021

• by Lois Henry

When a region’s groundwater is critically depleted and its dirt as hard as a frying pan, how do you refill the aquifer? Ask a fifth grader. Actually, ask the fifth and sixth grade combination class at Bakersfield’s Munsey Elementary School taught by Barbara Elrod. Elrod’s students discovered a pretty cool way to both conserve water…

Personalities • State System

New director appointed to Kern County Water Agency

March 15, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Longtime family farmer Laura Cattani was appointed to the board of the powerful Kern County Water Agency during a special meeting on Monday. She is the second woman to serve on the board of directors in the 60-year history of the agency. Cattani will bring much needed diversity to the board, several directors said during…

Conservation • Groundwater • Water Markets

Evaporation adds up. How much? Google it – someday

September 17, 2020

• 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…

Drought • Federal System • State System

Dry year, not politics, behind 15-percent water allocation

May 1, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Water may be highly political but dry is dry. And California is exceedingly dry this year, Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth told SJV Water in explaining the state’s low 15-percent allocation for farms and cities that rely on water from the State Water Project. Given the results of Thursday’s final snow survey in…

Drought • Federal System • State System

The atmospheric river is flowing

March 11, 2020

• by Lois Henry

The storm finally arrived in Bakersfield early Tuesday evening. The storm was expected to bring significant rainfall to areas in the San Joaquin Valley after a dry January and even drier February, according to the National Weather Service’s Hanford office: A system will approach the coast of California through Wednesday. Significant rainfall is likely in…

Drought • Groundwater • Uncategorized • Water Markets

Price of water going up as the snowpack shrinks

March 4, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Another block of water has been offered for sale in Kern County at $950 per acre foot. With a dry January and extremely dry February, California’s water outlook has worsened. And that has bumped the price of water for those who have it to sell. Buena Vista Water Storage District on the western edge of…

NEWS

Valley wells already going dry as drought settles in

The sinking Central Valley town

Drought reduces runoff from watersheds burned by wildfires

Virtual Water Summit – May 25

Students find saving water “elementary”

New director appointed to Kern County Water Agency

Evaporation adds up. How much? Google it – someday

Dry year, not politics, behind 15-percent water allocation

The atmospheric river is flowing

Price of water going up as the snowpack shrinks

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