Kern River Archives - Page 5 of 16

Kern River legal wrangling raises questions about how – or whether – the river can serve the needs of people, fish and ag

October 13, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Kern County Superior Court Judge Gregory Pulskamp came back several times during an Oct. 13 hearing to what he saw as a “major issue” in the dispute over keeping water in the Kern River – its plumbing. The plaintiffs, a group of entities headed by Bring Back the Kern, have argued that water could flow…

Rivers • Uncategorized

Court to consider cutting water diversions out of Kern River

October 3, 2023

• by Lois Henry

A preliminary injunction that could cut water being taken out of the Kern River if those diversions are harmful to fish will be taken up Friday, October 13 in a Kern County courtroom. The request for the injunction was filed in August by a group of entities suing the City of Bakersfield for what it…

Personalities • Uncategorized

Bakersfield hires former assistant director of Water Resources Department to lead the department

September 28, 2023

• by SJV Water

BAKERSFIELD CITY PRESS RELEASE Following a nationwide recruitment effort, the City of Bakersfield is pleased to announce that Kristina Budak has been hired to lead the City’s Water Resources Department, effective Oct. 2, 2023. Budak’s hiring marks a return to the City of Bakersfield after spending nearly two years serving as the Engineering and Groundwater Services…

Rivers • Uncategorized

Kern River: “Best kept secret” demystified through technology

September 22, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

There’s a new way to explore the Kern River and it can all be done from the comfort of your own home. The nonprofit Kern River Parkway Foundation has sponsored a visual mapping of the Kern River. Volunteers set out along the river on the parkway’s bike path and down some of the river in…

Uncategorized

Army Corps was unprepared for amount of seepage from Isabella Dam that is now swamping residents

September 18, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Landowners and residents who live in front of the Auxiliary Dam at Lake Isabella are being swamped by “seepage” coming through the earthen dam that is ruining septic systems, causing sinkholes, clogging the area with weeds and breeding swarms of mosquitoes. They’ve tried working with the Army Corps of Engineers, which recently rebuilt the Auxiliary…

Rivers • Uncategorized

Ancestral lands back in the hands of Kern River Valley tribe that had lived there for thousands of years

September 7, 2023

• by Lois Henry

A Kern River Valley Native American tribe that has lived along the branches of the north and south forks of the Kern River for millennia, has ownership of a piece of its ancient homeland for the first time since it was grabbed up by settlers back in the 1800s. The Tübatulabal Tribe got the deed…

Floods

Poso: Kern County’s recurring problem creek in search of a solution

August 24, 2023

• by Lois Henry

It’s no mystery why the tiny community of Pond was flooded out this last spring. All you had to do was drive four miles south to see the massive pile of debris at the Highway 43 bridge to know all that water churning through the normally dry Poso Creek was going to bust out and…

Rivers • Uncategorized

Kern River to get a new Watermaster, but one with a familiar name

August 24, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Art Chianello will step in as the new Kern River Watermaster at the start of the new water year, which is Oct. 1. Chianello, who retired as head of the City of Bakersfield’s Water Resources Department in Sept. 2022, is extremely famliar with the inner workings of the Kern River as a large chunk is…

Floods

High water in the Kern River brings new legal issues as local group seeks to keep water in the riverbed

August 10, 2023

• by Lois Henry

A local group that’s suing the City of Bakersfield for how it manages the Kern River, is seeking a court order that would force the city to keep water in the normally dry riverbed as this year’s massive runoff begins to recede. “The relief sought is narrowly focused,” states the motion for a preliminary injunction…

Rivers • Uncategorized

Two Kern River power plants up for new licenses – and greater scrutiny

August 3, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Boaters and anglers who’ve long complained about the impacts of two power plants on Kern River flows, want federal regulators to give more water back to the river as part of separate relicensing procedures now underway. “Our main issue is continual flows,” said Jim Ahrens, president of the Kern Fly Fishers club. “To have a…

NEWS

Kern River legal wrangling raises questions about how – or whether – the river can serve the needs of people, fish and ag

Court to consider cutting water diversions out of Kern River

Bakersfield hires former assistant director of Water Resources Department to lead the department

Kern River: “Best kept secret” demystified through technology

Army Corps was unprepared for amount of seepage from Isabella Dam that is now swamping residents

Ancestral lands back in the hands of Kern River Valley tribe that had lived there for thousands of years

Poso: Kern County’s recurring problem creek in search of a solution

Kern River to get a new Watermaster, but one with a familiar name

High water in the Kern River brings new legal issues as local group seeks to keep water in the riverbed

Two Kern River power plants up for new licenses – and greater scrutiny

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