NEWS

by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
The Fresno Irrigation District is 47 acres closer to its goal of building 1,300 acres of recharge basins capable of sinking 200,000 acre feet of water during a wet years. It celebrated the completion of the 47-acre Kenneson and Sanchez basins on August 21. The addition of those basins brought its total recharge acreage to…
by Monserrat Solis, California Local News Fellow
Editor’s note: Monserrat Solis covers Kings County water issues for SJV Water through the California Local News Fellowship initiative. There’s about a 50-50 chance the tap water that 10,000 rural Kings County residents are drinking is contaminated with nitrates. That’s a type of salt that can be toxic, even lethal to newborns, causing what’s commonly…
A study examining the benefits and drawbacks of building groundwater recharge basins near rural communities is underway in Merced, Madera, Tulare and Fresno counties. The two-year study is a spinoff of an earlier feasibility study focused solely on Fresno County, and both are spearheaded by the California Water Institute at Fresno State University.  “Floodplains and…
Despite back-to-back good water years, domestic wells are still drying up all across the valley as record breaking heat waves pummel the region.  The state saw slightly above average runoff for the 2023-2024 water year with significant precipitation and major reservoirs largely above average levels. That’s on top of an epic 2022-2023 water year. The…
by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
A new water quality initiative in Kern County is gearing up to go live in the next few months to help residents whose water is contaminated with nitrates. The state’s nitrate control program launched in 2021. It offers free well testing and water deliveries for residents whose wells test over the limit for nitrates. The…
Farmers in the Fresno Irrigation District have through February 16 to apply for federal money to pay for irrigation projects on their land.  The WaterSMART program, administered by the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Resources Conservation Service, is sending money to farmers to update water systems and make them more resilient and conservation-focused. The…
As another storm barrels toward California, local officials are warning residents to stay up to date on weather conditions and be prepared in case of flooding, power outages or other emergencies.  An atmospheric river will bring widespread rain and gusty winds throughout the San Joaquin Valley starting Saturday night. The storm will last into Monday,…
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