farming Archives - SJV Water

Republican lawmaker seeks to undo Central Valley Project environmental protections

November 17, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

More than 30 years ago, a piece of federal legislation dropped like a bomb on California’s Central Valley farmers. Reverberations from that legislation continue through today. Just last month, a San Joaquin Valley congressman added language to an appropriations bill that would unwind a key portion of the 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA)….

Uncategorized

MEETING NOTES: Public-private groundwater recharge program at North Kern Water Storage District gets underway

November 10, 2023

• by Sonia Lemus, freelance for SJV Water

* “Meeting Notes” is a new feature focused on Kern County water districts, funded through a grant from the James B. McClatchy Foundation. Please consider supporting SJV Water to continue this important coverage. Meeting: North Kern Water Storage District board of directors Date: Oct. 17, 2023 Agenda: CLICK HERE Board packet: CLICK HERE Major topic:…

SGMA • Uncategorized

Public mostly mum on prospect of state take-over of Kings County groundwater pumping

November 6, 2023

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water

With the state poised to possibly mandate how much water Kings County farmers are allowed to pump, it was surprising how quiet the first public workshop on this contentious issue was. While more than 225 people attended the online workshop Nov. 3, hardly anyone spoke or asked questions of the Water Resources Control Board staff….

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Kern River interests allowed to squeeze a little extra water into Lake Isabella this winter

October 18, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Kern River irrigators will be able to store more water than usual in Lake Isabella this winter, but not as much as they’d like. Typically, the “carry over” amount is 170,000 acre feet to allow enough room in the lake to handle a heavy winter. Isabella can hold 568,000 acre feet at full capacity. Agricultural…

SGMA • Uncategorized

Farmers fighting farmers over pumping allocations as Kaweah subbasin prepares for state scrutiny

October 6, 2023

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water

Groundwater relations in the Kaweah subbasin in Tulare County have gone from bad to worse. Fingers have been pointed, ultimatums laid down and patience has run out. At its Sept. 26 meeting, the Greater Kaweah GSA board accepted a recommendation to allocate 1.87 acre feet of groundwater per acre to its farmers for the 2023-24…

Groundwater

San Joaquin Valley groundwater will need more than one epic water year to rebound in the long term

June 7, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

With all the flooding, runoff and more snowmelt still to come, everyone’s wondering: How’s the groundwater? Short answer: Better. Long answer: It’s going to take more than one good water year to reach sustainability. After decades of over pumping and two severe, multi-year droughts within five years of each other, San Joaquin Valley aquifers had…

Personalities • Uncategorized

ROOTED IN THE VALLEY: Will Scott came back to farming, hopes to encourage young Black farmers

April 11, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Will Scott grew up farming but left for a career in the Navy and as an electrician. “If it’s in your blood, you’ll come back to it,” he says of why he started his small farming operation in Fresno County after many years away. Farming is fundamental to life, he says and hopes to encourage…

Floods • Uncategorized

In defense of tomatoes: “Wherever it isn’t going to flood, we’re going to try to farm.” – Boswell president

April 5, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Representatives of the J.G. Boswell Company defended both the agricultural giant’s handling of flood water so far and its tomato plantings at the Kings County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday. In an impromptu discussion during public comments, Phil Hansen, with Hansen Ranches, again noted that areas of Boswell land deep in the old Tulare Lake…

Floods • Uncategorized

Boswell holds flood water off some lake bed ground while planting tomatoes

April 2, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The rumors were so rampant, that Kings County sent agricultural inspectors into the old Tulare Lake bed to see if the powerful J.G. Boswell Company was holding back flood waters in order to plant tomatoes. “They could not find anything,” Kings County Supervisor Doug Verboon said in a text to SJV Water on March 24….

Floods

Allensworth residents no longer under evacuation order but are still struggling with White River flood water, other issues

March 30, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The evacuation order in Allensworth was downgraded to a warning on Monday as flooding and breaches don’t pose an immediate threat to the community for the time being, said Carrie Monteiro, public information officer for the Tulare County Emergency Operations Center. But the warning in place means there is still a potential threat and residents…

NEWS

Republican lawmaker seeks to undo Central Valley Project environmental protections

MEETING NOTES: Public-private groundwater recharge program at North Kern Water Storage District gets underway

Public mostly mum on prospect of state take-over of Kings County groundwater pumping

Kern River interests allowed to squeeze a little extra water into Lake Isabella this winter

Farmers fighting farmers over pumping allocations as Kaweah subbasin prepares for state scrutiny

San Joaquin Valley groundwater will need more than one epic water year to rebound in the long term

ROOTED IN THE VALLEY: Will Scott came back to farming, hopes to encourage young Black farmers

In defense of tomatoes: “Wherever it isn’t going to flood, we’re going to try to farm.” – Boswell president

Boswell holds flood water off some lake bed ground while planting tomatoes

Allensworth residents no longer under evacuation order but are still struggling with White River flood water, other issues

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