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Kern subbasin’s third try at groundwater plan fails to avert state enforcement action

• by Lois Henry
Noting that Kern County residents could suffer “urgent impacts” to their drinking water from continued agricultural groundwater overpumping, staff at the state Water Resources Control Board announced Thursday they are recommending the entire Kern subbasin be put on probation. Probation is the first step toward a possible state pumping take over. A hearing before the…
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State celebrates five years and secure water for hundreds of thousands of Californians thanks to the SAFER drinking water program

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
State officials, advocates and residents gathered in Porterville on Monday to celebrate the five-year mark of a state drinking water program born of the crippling 2012-2016 drought. That’s when the entire community of east Porterville went dry – for months. There was no government program available to help and nonprofits could only do so much….
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Friant lawsuit over sinking canal altered but moving forward

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
One of multiple charges in a lawsuit that pins blame for the perpetually sinking Friant-Kern Canal on a single Tulare County groundwater agency was recently removed. The Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency (ETGSA) hailed the move as vindication. But plaintiffs, the Friant Water Authority and Arvin-Edison Water Storage District, said the change was simply meant…
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A Tulare County groundwater agency on the hot seat for helping sink the Friant-Kern Canal holds private tours for state regulators

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
As the date of reckoning for excessive groundwater pumping in Tulare County grows closer, lobbying by water managers and growers has ramped up. The Friant Water Authority, desperate to protect its newly rebuilt –  yet still sinking – Friant-Kern Canal, has beseeched the Water Resources Control Board to get involved. Specifically, it has asked board…
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MEETING NOTES: Kern water districts look at joining forces to fix domestic wells and study sinking along the Friant-Kern Canal

• by Sonia Lemus, freelance for SJV Water
* “Meeting Notes” is a new feature focused on Kern County water districts, funded through a grant from the James B. McClatchy Foundation. Please consider supporting SJV Water to continue this important coverage.   Meetings: Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District board of directors Arvin-Edison board of directors Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa board of directors Cawelo Water District…
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Second San Joaquin Valley groundwater subbasin recommended for state takeover

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
The Friant-Kern Canal was called out specifically as one of the reasons the state should take over pumping in the Tule groundwater subbasin in Tulare County. The recommendation was contained in a recently released staff report to the Water Resources Control Board. While the report stated groundwater management plans covering the subbasin didn’t adequately address…
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Sinking canal has “everyone’s attention” and could put entire Tule subbasin under state control

• by Lois Henry and Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
Fallout over the ever sinking Friant-Kern Canal could affect growers throughout the Tule subbasin regardless of whether they get water from the canal. The state Water Resources Control Board already has the subbasin in its cross hairs for neglecting to create a coordinated plan to bring aquifers into balance under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act…
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How a state-funded drought program was converted to help farmers take on flood water and permanently cut groundwater pumping

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
When farmers fallowed thousands of acres during the recent drought, most didn’t expect they would be flooding those lands months later. But that’s what happened during last year’s historic floods after the state adapted LandFlex, a drought program, to take on some of the deluge from valley rivers.  “Our original intent with fallow land was…
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