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VIDEO: Exploring the south valley’s wetlands, preserves and habitat sanctuaries – a mini tour

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
In late February, the nonprofit  Central Valley Joint Venture took a group of environmental scientists, advocates and nature enthusiasts on a tour of successful wetland restoration projects in the south San Joaquin Valley. The tour focused on the efforts to reclaim agricultural land for habitat and the possibility of returning more of the valley to…
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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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Planning and coordination kept Porterville dry during floods but the rest of the San Joaquin Valley remains fragmented

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
How did Porterville, where a then raging Tule River cuts through the town, stay dry while so many other San Joaquin Valley communities got flooded out last spring? Planning, coordination and permits. Sounds simple, but it took officials from the city, irrigation district, Tulare County and federal offices years to establish. It paid off as…
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Merced agencies sought state approval to clear stream beds for more than five years before last winter’s floods. Now they’re suing.

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
A string of emails appears to show that one state agency stood in the way of stream channel maintenance for more than five years, which may have led to flooding that caused severe damage in Merced County, according to a recent lawsuit.  The emails begin in 2018 and go back and forth for years between…
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Legal actions on behalf of San Joaquin Valley flood victims piling up

• by Lisa McEwen and Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Nearly 10 months after floods devastated parts of Planada and Woodlake, residents in both small towns have banded together, hired attorneys and are pursuing legal action. More than 250 households are involved between the two towns.  Residents in the Tulare County town of Springville are also working toward legal action after flooding knocked out wells…
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Fresno hospital’s request for $1.23 million in flood relief funding for “X-Ray Rooms” remains unexplained

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
After this year’s historic storms and devastating floods, the federal government has been swamped with requests from agencies across the San Joaquin Valley seeking reimbursement for repair costs.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided SJV Water a data sheet that enumerates more than 460 such requests from six counties, including Fresno, Madera, Merced, Kern…
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One Central Valley dam project gets nearly $95 million in funding; two others still in proposal phase

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Three dam expansion projects could increase water storage for use in the Central Valley by a whopping 304,000 acre feet. Each of the projects would raise existing dams, not build new ones. The project that is furthest along would raise the B.F. Sisk Dam in Merced County to expand San Luis Reservoir storage by 130,000…
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Valley agencies in a race against winter and a fast-approaching state deadline to repair flood damage

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
All across Tulare County, the race is on to repair flood-damaged infrastructure before an anticipated El Niño winter and an even more looming expiration of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order that relaxed permitting for levee work and debris clean up. The work has lagged, though, as creeks and rivers are still flowing or the ground…
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Floodplain work could start on two San Joaquin Valley rivers as soon as this week after state funding was approved

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
The state approved funding for a range of floodplain projects in the San Joaquin Valley, clearing the way for work to potentially begin as soon as this week.  The state budget included $40 million for floodplain restoration projects in the San Joaquin Valley, which would let rivers spread out over large swaths of undeveloped land…
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