flood Archives - SJV Water

Kern River to get a new Watermaster, but one with a familiar name

August 24, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Art Chianello will step in as the new Kern River Watermaster at the start of the new water year, which is Oct. 1. Chianello, who retired as head of the City of Bakersfield’s Water Resources Department in Sept. 2022, is extremely famliar with the inner workings of the Kern River as a large chunk is…

Floods

High water in the Kern River brings new legal issues as local group seeks to keep water in the riverbed

August 10, 2023

• by Lois Henry

A local group that’s suing the City of Bakersfield for how it manages the Kern River, is seeking a court order that would force the city to keep water in the normally dry riverbed as this year’s massive runoff begins to recede. “The relief sought is narrowly focused,” states the motion for a preliminary injunction…

Floods • Uncategorized

Kern County makes river flood maps available to the public

May 17, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The Kern River is rising fast and, so far, the public hasn’t been given very good information on the one question on everyone’s mind: Where’s it going to flood? Wednesday, the Kern County Office of Emergency Services put out detailed, locally built maps that attempt to answer that question under various flow scenarios. The upshot…

Floods • Rivers

Too little or too much, there’s always controversy brewing over Kern River water

April 28, 2023

• by Lois Henry

It may seem like a no-brainer to enthusiastically allow the Kern Water Bank Authority to take up to 300,000 acre feet of flood water off the Kern River and store it underground as water managers scramble to find homes for this year’s epic runoff. But, alas, nothing is simple with water. The water bank’s April…

Floods

The big melt: San Joaquin Valley eyes historic snowpack with trepidation

April 11, 2023

• by Lois Henry

It’s unlikely that all the snow looming above the San Joaquin Valley will melt and barrel toward the valley floor at the same time. If history is a guide, the melt should be staggered between the San Joaquin, Kings, Tule and Kern river watersheds starting later this month through July. “That’s good,” said California Department…

dams • Uncategorized

Isabella Dam safety project done just in time for record snowpack

April 4, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Speaker after speaker on Tuesday noted the years long construction project to increase safety on Isabella Dam was completed this past October – just in time. With a snowpack at 422% of normal, the reservoir is expected to hit its full capacity of 568,000 acre feet, and then some. Water content in Kern River watershed…

Floods

Residents in small Tulare County towns take brunt of historic flooding

March 17, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Tulare County’s two main reservoirs both “filled and spilled” after the latest series of atmospheric rivers slammed into California starting March 10. The storms dumped rain on the San Joaquin Valley floor and melted at least some of the historic snowpack in upper elevations, swelling rivers and streams that flooded out residents of numerous communities. …

Uncategorized

Water lingo 101

March 14, 2023

• by Lois Henry

There’s a lot cfs talk being thrown around as rivers and creeks swell with recent storms. It occurred to me that maybe not everyone knows that CFS means. I didn’t when I first started covering water. Even if you know it means “cubic feet per second,” how does that help you understand what’s happening in…

Floods • Uncategorized

Kern River outflow from Lake Isabella is ramping up but, no, it is not a “flood release”

March 14, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Outflow from Lake Isabella into the Kern River increased on Tuesday but only because downriver users requested the water, according to Kern River Watermaster Mark Mulkay. Outflow went from about 500 cubic feet per second (cfs) Monday to 1,013 cfs by 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hourly reservoir reports…

Groundwater • Uncategorized

Regs relaxed for storing flood water

March 10, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Governor Gavin Newsom is hoping to see the deluge from the ongoing storms socked away for dry times by making it easier to recharge underground aquifers. The governor issued an executive order Friday suspending some regulatory requirements to divert flood water for groundwater recharge. The hope is to recharge as much water as possible since…

NEWS

Kern River to get a new Watermaster, but one with a familiar name

High water in the Kern River brings new legal issues as local group seeks to keep water in the riverbed

Kern County makes river flood maps available to the public

Too little or too much, there’s always controversy brewing over Kern River water

The big melt: San Joaquin Valley eyes historic snowpack with trepidation

Isabella Dam safety project done just in time for record snowpack

Residents in small Tulare County towns take brunt of historic flooding

Water lingo 101

Kern River outflow from Lake Isabella is ramping up but, no, it is not a “flood release”

Regs relaxed for storing flood water

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