floods Archives - SJV Water

Merced agencies sought state approval to clear stream beds for more than five years before last winter’s floods. Now they’re suing.

November 28, 2023

• 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…

Floods • Uncategorized

Legal actions on behalf of San Joaquin Valley flood victims piling up

November 8, 2023

• 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…

Floods • Uncategorized

Fresno hospital’s request for $1.23 million in flood relief funding for “X-Ray Rooms” remains unexplained

November 2, 2023

• 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…

dams • Uncategorized

One Central Valley dam project gets nearly $95 million in funding; two others still in proposal phase

October 20, 2023

• 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…

Floods • Uncategorized

Valley agencies in a race against winter and a fast-approaching state deadline to repair flood damage

September 22, 2023

• 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…

Floods

Floodplain work could start on two San Joaquin Valley rivers as soon as this week after state funding was approved

August 28, 2023

• 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…

Floods

Poso: Kern County’s recurring problem creek in search of a solution

August 24, 2023

• by Lois Henry

It’s no mystery why the tiny community of Pond was flooded out this last spring. All you had to do was drive four miles south to see the massive pile of debris at the Highway 43 bridge to know all that water churning through the normally dry Poso Creek was going bust out and go…

Floods

VIDEO: Months after historic flooding swamped some rural Central Valley towns, residents are still struggling to rebuild their lives

August 9, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

California’s Central Valley was slammed by one epic storm after another this winter. The water flooded roads, overtopped rivers, broke levees and swamped entire towns. Without flood insurance and few other resources, residents of these mostly small, rural enclaves have had to rely on family, friends and neighors to rebuild. Months later, many are still…

Floods

Irrigators want to slow the flow of Kern River to bring Lake Isabella to its brim

July 12, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The question of whether Lake Isabella might “spill” has now turned to whether it will fill. The lake is achingly close to being full. It stood at 528,663 acre feet as of Wednesday afternoon – just 39,337 acre feet shy of its full capacity. But it needs to hit that max fill mark for the…

Floods

Floodplain projects are “foreign concept” for the south valley

May 26, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

One of the surest ways to corral flooding on the valley floor is floodplain restoration – letting rivers spread out over large swaths of undeveloped land to slow their flow and absorb the water. But even as cities and farms throughout the southern San Joaquin Valley brace for more flooding from an epic snowmelt after…

NEWS

Merced agencies sought state approval to clear stream beds for more than five years before last winter’s floods. Now they’re suing.

Legal actions on behalf of San Joaquin Valley flood victims piling up

Fresno hospital’s request for $1.23 million in flood relief funding for “X-Ray Rooms” remains unexplained

One Central Valley dam project gets nearly $95 million in funding; two others still in proposal phase

Valley agencies in a race against winter and a fast-approaching state deadline to repair flood damage

Floodplain work could start on two San Joaquin Valley rivers as soon as this week after state funding was approved

Poso: Kern County’s recurring problem creek in search of a solution

VIDEO: Months after historic flooding swamped some rural Central Valley towns, residents are still struggling to rebuild their lives

Irrigators want to slow the flow of Kern River to bring Lake Isabella to its brim

Floodplain projects are “foreign concept” for the south valley

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