NEWS

Whenever drought has struck in recent years and Californians were ordered, beseeched and shamed into conserving water, many frustrated residents pointed to Nestlé, which continued extracting tens of millions of gallons of springwater every year from the San Bernardino National Forest for its Arrowhead water operation.  But the state Water Resources Control Board put an…
On Tuesday, the state announced $187 million in funding for its final round of groundwater agency funding for the time being. The money will fund 103 groundwater projects throughout the state including four in the San Joaquin Valley.  The Oakdale Irrigation District in Stanislaus County will receive $14.3 million to expand a groundwater recharge facility…
Since 2015, the state has doled out nearly $150 million to groundwater agencies for planning and projects. The flow of money has been almost nonstop for some agencies and has made it possible to operate consistently.  But the tap is shutting off.  Groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) are meant to be self-sufficient and generate their own…
After two multi-year episodes of intense drought over the past decade, there is finally a centralized hub of resources and information for well owners and communities that suffered when their wells went dry.  Before the most recent drought lifted thanks to this year’s historic winter, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) launched its Be Well…
A new groundwater fee intended to create “financial equity” between farmers who pay for imported water and those who don’t has stirred anger and concerns about land valuation in the Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa Water Storage District. The new “groundwater service charge” was approved Wednesday by  the Wheeler Ridge board of directors. While this particular issue only…
Scientists have figured out how to more accurately understand ground fluctuations in the San Joaquin Valley. It’s hoped the research will eventually become a tool valley water managers can use to predict the effects of groundwater pumping. Up until now, researchers have used satellite technology to collect data on changing ground levels, which can tell…
With all the flooding, runoff and more snowmelt still to come, everyone’s wondering: How’s the groundwater? Short answer: Better.  Long answer: It’s going to take more than one good water year to reach sustainability. After decades of over pumping and two severe, multi-year droughts within five years of each other, San Joaquin Valley aquifers had…
The Corcoran levee is being raised – again. The fear is it won’t be high enough as runoff from record breaking snowpack above several rivers that feed into the old Tulare Lake gets underway. Before repair work got started the levee stood at 188 feet.   That’s four feet shorter than when it was last…
The Madera subbasin’s groundwater plan appears headed for state rejection after one of the region’s seven groundwater agencies refused to approve the most recent version of the plan.  Madera Irrigation District (MID) was the one dissenting agency that did not approve the plan and blamed other groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) for delays and inaction.  “Madera…
Sponsored

Receive the latest news

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter & Get Email Notifications

Enter your email address to receive INSTANT ALERTS of new articles and to be added to SJV Water’s WEEKLY NEWSLETTER