farming Archives - Page 16 of 20

Desert groundwater plan OK’d by state

January 13, 2022

• by Lois Henry

The Indian Wells Valley groundwater plan got a thumbs up from the state on Thursday but with a swarm of lawsuits surrounding the plan, it’s unclear what that approval will mean going forward. One of those lawsuits seeks a “comprehensive adjudication” of water rights of the Indian Wells Valley basin, which could reconfigure who has…

Groundwater • SGMA

Groundwater use capped for some Tulare County farmers

January 11, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Tulare County farmers used to pumping groundwater at will are coming to the harsh reality that those days are numbered. For some, they’re already over. Pumping caps have been, or soon will be, implemented in all three groundwater sustainability agencies in the Kaweah subbasin,. “I’d say the reaction has been positive. Positively terrible,” said Mike…

State System

State’s early zero-water-for-ag projection could have far reaching implications

December 13, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Storms hammering California this week will likely bump up the state’s Dec. 1 projection of zero water for agricultural contractors. But questions about how and why the Department of Water Resources made that projection – and what it means for the future – have left an unsettled wake among San Joaquin Valley agricultural water districts…

Rivers

Battle for Kern River water goes deep into rights, history

December 10, 2021

• 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…

SGMA

State warns more valley groundwater agencies their plans aren’t up to snuff

December 9, 2021

• 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,…

Drinking Water • Drought

VIDEO: How some valley residents cope as their homes teeter on the brink of going dry

December 6, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

SJV Water reporting trainee Jesse Vad traveled to rural Fairmeade and Toolville to talk to residents about what it’s like to live under the constant possibility of their homes going dry as groundwater tables dropped at the height of the 2021 drought….

Friant-Kern Canal

State money for canal fixes set to start flowing

November 30, 2021

• by Lois Henry

The state Department of Water Resources opened the spigot Tuesday on the first $100 million, of $200 million, budgeted over the next two fiscal years to fix several key canals that have sunk because of groundwater pumping. Subsidence has reduced carrying capacity in the canals from 15% up to 60% in the Friant-Kern Canal, which…

Drought • Federal System

The Counter: How a federal drought relief program left southern Oregon parched—and contributed to the ongoing groundwater crisis in the West

November 23, 2021

• by Jessica Fu, The Counter

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…

Drought

Where is the water going?

November 22, 2021

• by Lois Henry

SGMA

State’s groundwater “cop” weighs in on plans to stop over pumping and finds them lax

November 15, 2021

• by Lois Henry

As California’s Central Valley water managers nervously await the first official Department of Water Resources responses to plans for how they expect to fix massive groundwater over pumping, some were dismayed to “stumble” on comments from a different, and very powerful, state water agency. The State Water Resources Control Board submitted highly critical comments on…

NEWS

Desert groundwater plan OK’d by state

Groundwater use capped for some Tulare County farmers

State’s early zero-water-for-ag projection could have far reaching implications

Battle for Kern River water goes deep into rights, history

State warns more valley groundwater agencies their plans aren’t up to snuff

VIDEO: How some valley residents cope as their homes teeter on the brink of going dry

State money for canal fixes set to start flowing

The Counter: How a federal drought relief program left southern Oregon parched—and contributed to the ongoing groundwater crisis in the West

Where is the water going?

State’s groundwater “cop” weighs in on plans to stop over pumping and finds them lax

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