Kern River Archives

Energy storage project above Isabella Lake is back on the table, along with two other similar proposals

July 12, 2024

• by Lois Henry

A roundly castigated proposal to build a holding reservoir above Isabella Lake in order to pump water up from the lake and run it back down through turbines for power – known as pumped energy storage – is back. And it brought friends. There are now three pumped energy storage proposals in Kern County, including…

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Authors advocate generational thinking to manage water in the southern San Joaquin Valley

July 11, 2024

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water

Two college buddies who spent a day fly fishing on the Sacramento River came home with more than fish tales. For retired city planners Greg Collins and James Holloway, it prompted a new book, “Seven Generations: The Past, Present and Future of the Tulare Lake Basin,” published in May. This might beg the question, what…

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Appeal of order to keep water in the Kern River moves forward

July 3, 2024

• by Lois Henry

Agricultural water districts with rights to the Kern River filed an opening brief recently on their appeal of a local judge’s order last fall to keep enough water in the river for fish. The water districts insist that when Kern County Superior Court Judge Gregory Pulskamp issued a preliminary injunction to keep water in the river,…

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Petition asks California’s highest court to wade into Kern River legal fracas

June 12, 2024

• by Lois Henry

Plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit over the Kern River filed a petition asking the California Supreme Court to review an order that tossed out an injunction many had anticipated would guarantee a flowing river through Bakersfield. Specifically, the petition asks the Supreme Court to direct the 5th District Court of Appeal to explain why it stayed…

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Isabella Dam construction project lauded by national award

June 11, 2024

• by SJV Water

The United States Army Corps of Engineers received a national award for safety, innovation and resourcefulness for its design and execution of the reconstruction of the Isabella Dam complex, according to a press release from the Army Corps. The $650-million project that succeeded in taking Isabella Dam off the Army Corps’ list as one of…

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Rehearing on Kern River rejected by appellate court. Next step could be the California Supreme Court

May 24, 2024

• by Lois Henry

The 5th District Court of Appeal denied a petition Friday to rehear the court’s earlier decision to put a hold on a Kern County court’s order that had required the City of Bakersfield keep enough water in the Kern River for fish to survive. Both plaintiffs in the action have said they will likely petition…

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Kern River combatants sent to their respective corners – for now

May 9, 2024

• by Lois Henry

Further legal action on the Kern River was put on pause Thursday morning following an order by the 5th District Court of Appeal that stayed a local injunction mandating enough water be kept in the river for fish. Kern County Superior Court Judge Gregory Pulskamp said the 5th District’s order that stayed his earlier injunction…

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Date is set for hearing prompted by dead fish in the long meandering Kern River case

April 30, 2024

• by Lois Henry

Kern River combatants are headed back to court where a local advocacy group hopes to force the City of Bakersfield to goose up flows, which were cut to a trickle leaving piles of dead fish west of Bakersfield. The hearing is set for May 9 at 8:30 a.m. in Division J before Kern County Superior…

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From failed housing development to long-awaited groundwater bank, McAllister Ranch saga continues

April 19, 2024

• by Lois Henry

More than 13 years after buying half of the 2,100-acre McAllister Ranch – a poster child of the 2007 housing crash – out of foreclosure for use as a groundwater bank, Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District agreed earlier this month to sell its remaining share to Buena Vista Water Storage District. Buena Vista will buy…

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Kern River bike path northern extension – 12 years in the making – finally gets under way

April 5, 2024

• by Lois Henry

After 12 years of planning, gathering funding then completing and re-doing – and re-doing again – environmental studies, the City of Bakersfield has finally gone out to bid for the northern extension of the Kern River Parkway Trail. “I’m very excited, it’s been a long time coming,” Councilman Bob Smith said of the 6-mile long…

NEWS

Energy storage project above Isabella Lake is back on the table, along with two other similar proposals

Authors advocate generational thinking to manage water in the southern San Joaquin Valley

Appeal of order to keep water in the Kern River moves forward

Petition asks California’s highest court to wade into Kern River legal fracas

Isabella Dam construction project lauded by national award

Rehearing on Kern River rejected by appellate court. Next step could be the California Supreme Court

Kern River combatants sent to their respective corners – for now

Date is set for hearing prompted by dead fish in the long meandering Kern River case

From failed housing development to long-awaited groundwater bank, McAllister Ranch saga continues

Kern River bike path northern extension – 12 years in the making – finally gets under way

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