fresno Archives - Page 2 of 2

KVPR interviews SJV Water and Fresnoland about story on the perils of building on shaky water

February 21, 2023

• by SJV Water

LISTEN HERE Reporters Jesse Vad and Gregory Weaver talk to Kerry Klein with KVPR about their story on how taxpayers are bailing out homeowners who bought luxury houses in a development that should never have been built on groundwater. Fresno County Supervisors approved the Mira Bella development back in the 1990s despite multiple red flags…

Development • Policy

Debacle in the hills: How Fresno County officials ignored water warnings and why taxpayers are paying the price

February 6, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water and Gregory Weaver, Fresnoland

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was a collaboration between SJV Water and Fresnoland, a nonprofit news site that covers public policy in Fresno. Thirty years ago, residents told local officials that a boutique subdivision near Friant…

Personalities

Westlands names chief operating officer to serve as interim general manager

December 20, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Westlands Water District named its chief operating officer, Jose Gutierrez to oversee the sprawling district in western Fresno County until it hires a new general manager. Gutierrez will serve as interim general manager until May. The added duties will come with an additional $50,000 to Gutierrez’ $240,000 annual salary, the board announced at its Dec….

Friant-Kern Canal

Friant-Kern Canal fix on schedule; water quality guidelines discussed

December 14, 2022

• by Rose Horowitch, SJV Water reporting intern

The Friant-Kern Canal fix is underway and on schedule to be completed before Sept. 1, 2024, according to an update at a recent Friant Water Authority (FWA) Board of Directors meeting. “They’re on track, they’re on schedule,” Stantec Engineering’s Janet Atkinson told the board at its Dec. 9 meeting. ‘We don’t see anything right now…

Personalities

Long-serving, controversial manager of Westlands Water District resigns

November 23, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Longtime Westlands Water District General Manager Tom Birmingham announced Nov. 23 that he will retire as of Dec. 31. “I am retiring with extreme pride in the things Westlands had accomplished over the last two decades,” he wrote in an email announcement. Birmingham had faced the likelihood that a newly-elected majority on the Westlands board…

Drinking Water • Drought

Water debt doubles for residents of tiny, impoverished west Fresno County towns

October 20, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Water debt has ballooned to nearly double what it was last year in Cantua Creek and El Porvenir, two small towns in western Fresno County where nearly half the residents live in poverty. The towns were supposed to be getting water from two new wells by now but the project hasn’t been completed so they’ve…

SGMA

Fresno officials “irritated” by gravity in wastewater saga, according to ag district

September 10, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The City of Fresno hadn’t bothered much recently with a mound of groundwater that accumulates beneath its southwest wastewater treatment plant every year. For decades, it traded a chunk of the water to the Fresno Irrigation District (FID) for about half the amount back in Kings River water, but had let that deal lapse the…

Personalities

Westlands GM gets contract extension despite grower objections

December 21, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

During a contentious Westlands Water District meeting on Tuesday where growers spoke out against district leadership, board members voted 8-1 to extend General Manager Tom Birmingham’s contract another three years. As has been the district’s recent practice, the contract extension came a year before Birmingham’s contract expires. Westlands growers criticized Birmingham, expressed frustration at the…

Drinking Water

State looks to consolidate small drinking water systems in Fresno

September 27, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

State drinking water officials have quietly targeted a dozen small, disadvantaged water systems in Fresno for possible state aid. But it could still take up to three years to get through the paperwork and start putting pipes in the ground. “It takes a long time, years, to go from concept to actual construction starting,” acknowledged…

Drinking Water • Drought

Fresno County towns with no drinking water drown in debt while residents wait for new well

September 12, 2021

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern

This story was produced with funding and support from Fresnoland, for the Fresno Bee. Republishing is encouraged 48 hours after initial posting. The longer it takes for two new wells to be dug in Cantua Creek and El Porvenir in western Fresno County, the deeper in debt the towns are mired. Now, with the drought, those well projects are…

NEWS

KVPR interviews SJV Water and Fresnoland about story on the perils of building on shaky water

Debacle in the hills: How Fresno County officials ignored water warnings and why taxpayers are paying the price

Westlands names chief operating officer to serve as interim general manager

Friant-Kern Canal fix on schedule; water quality guidelines discussed

Long-serving, controversial manager of Westlands Water District resigns

Water debt doubles for residents of tiny, impoverished west Fresno County towns

Fresno officials “irritated” by gravity in wastewater saga, according to ag district

Westlands GM gets contract extension despite grower objections

State looks to consolidate small drinking water systems in Fresno

Fresno County towns with no drinking water drown in debt while residents wait for new well

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