English | Español

Facebook-f Twitter Linkedin-in Instagram
Login
Donate
Search

NEWS
•

New Kern River Watermaster in the wings

• by Lois Henry
It appears a new Kern River Watermaster will be chosen to replace Dana Munn, whose contract winds up at the end of this year. If he’s officially approved by all the voting members of the “river interests,” Mark Mulkay will likely become the fourth ever Kern River Watermaster. He said he’s discussed it with all…
Read More

River march

• by Lois Henry
A march to bring awareness to the Kern River will take place November 13 in the dry river bed through Bakersfield. Local nonprofit Bring Back the Kern is organizing the protest march ahead of a hearing on the Kern River by the state Water Resources Control Board. That hearing will be held online Dec. 9….
Read More

Public can get in on the upcoming Kern River hearing, sort of

• by Lois Henry
The public can weigh in on the Kern River at an upcoming hearing but the proceeding will be very narrowly focused, according to a ruling  released Wednesday. Too narrowly focused, according to one attorney representing several nonprofits hoping to bring water back to the river through town on a regular basis. “We have a ruling…
Read More

Water in the Kern River an inspiration for local artists

• by Lois Henry
Painters, poets and musicians converged on the state Water Resources Control Board Tuesday as part of an unrelenting campaign to get water in the Kern River through Bakersfield. Bring Back the Kern, a local grassroots group, has facilitated public comments from a wide variety of individuals and groups, including brewers and, now, artists, at the…
Read More

Kern River lawsuit “unleashed” public’s rights

• by Lois Henry
A new player has entered the fray over forfeited Kern River water rights, bolstering the position that the public has a right to a flowing river. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife argues in a legal brief filed recently that the state Water Resources Control Board is absolutely obligated to consider the public trust…
Read More

They came, they saw, they took out the trash

• by Lois Henry
The Kern River got a lot of love this National Clean Up Day with two groups picking up trash along different sections of the river on Saturday. In Bakersfield, about 40 volunteers with Bring Back the Kern, a nonprofit group dedicated to getting water flowing on a more regular basis through town, cleared away trash under…
Read More

Public is in the ring in fight over Kern River

• by Lois Henry
It was clear during the first hearing on the Kern River Tuesday that the public has a seat at the table as never before. Tuesday’s hearing was mostly procedural — setting out which issues would be sorted first and how. Permeating the discussion at nearly every turn, however, was the public trust doctrine, which gives…
Read More
• •

Proposed groundwater bank sparks legal challenge

• by Lois Henry
A battle of groundwater banks is underway in Kern County with accusations that one is poised to mine the local aquifer and sell water outside the area. The two main combatants are the massive Kern Water Bank, which covers 32-square miles straddling Interstate 5 west of Bakersfield, and the Buena Vista Water Storage District, which…
Read More

Local group files papers in fight over Kern River

• by Lois Henry
A new player has entered the legal fray over the Kern River — the public. Actually, it’s a consortium of Bakersfield and other nonprofit, public interest groups that hope to sway the state Water Resources Control Board to, ultimately, re-water the mostly dry Kern River through town. The Flowing Kern Coalition made its debut Tuesday…
Read More
•

Kern River water rights case gets hearing date

• by Lois Henry
Whether the Kern River truly has spare water and, if so, how much, has been left up in the air for more than a decade. Now, 11 years after the State Water Resources Control Board ruled the Kern  River was not fully appropriated, it will finally start the process of getting at those two key…
Read More
Sponsored

Receive the latest news

Don't miss a drop of water news!

Sign up to get our weekly newsletter ‘The Splash’, plus instant news alerts directly to your inbox.