pumping Archives - SJV Water

State rejects six San Joaquin Valley groundwater plans, which could bring enforcement action

March 2, 2023

• by Jesse Vad and Lois Henry, SJV Water

Six San Joaquin Valley groundwater agencies learned Thursday they could be subject to state enforcement action if they don’t redo plans to bring their aquifers back into balance. In its final determinations, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) said the inadequate plans either didn’t do enough to protect water quality, allowed for too much continued…

Drought • Personalities

ROOTED IN THE VALLEY: From India to Selma, farming has been a way of life for the Brar family

January 25, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

This is the first in a series of videos we’re calling “Rooted in the Valley.” We hope to highlight family farmers in the San Joaquin Valley, how they came to this area from all over the world and what the future holds as water becomes a key factor in their ability to survive. Thank…

SGMA

Madera farmers push back on tighter pumping restrictions, county agrees to keep status quo

January 11, 2023

• by Rose Horowitch, SJV Water reporting intern

Facing heated pushback from growers, Madera County officials decided to maintain current groundwater pumping allotments for the next two years rather than reduce allocations over that time. At its Jan. 10 meeting, Board of Supervisors also considered increasing penalties for growers who exceed pumping allocations in the Madera, Chowchilla, and Delta-Mendota subbasins as part of…

Drought

Storms bring river flows, frustration for San Joaquin Valley water managers

January 7, 2023

• by Jesse Vad and Lois Henry, SJV Water

The string of wet storms streaming over California since the end of 2022 have brought the San Joaquin Valley both relief and frustration, depending on location. In the Fresno area, flows out of Millerton Lake into the San Joaquin River have nearly tripled from 600 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 1,600 cfs. In the…

Friant-Kern Canal

Friant-Kern Canal fix on schedule; water quality guidelines discussed

December 14, 2022

• by Rose Horowitch, SJV Water reporting intern

The Friant-Kern Canal fix is underway and on schedule to be completed before Sept. 1, 2024, according to an update at a recent Friant Water Authority (FWA) Board of Directors meeting. “They’re on track, they’re on schedule,” Stantec Engineering’s Janet Atkinson told the board at its Dec. 9 meeting. ‘We don’t see anything right now…

SGMA

Court pauses groundwater fees in Madera County; throws regional plans into question

December 9, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Farmers in Madera County successfully blocked a key groundwater fee that could upend plans to bring that region’s aquifer into balance per a state mandate. A Madera County Superior Court judge issued a temporary injunction on the county’s fee of $246 per farm unit acre on Dec. 7. That fee was the underpinning for a…

Drinking Water • Drought

Prolonged drought creates tsunami of dry wells in San Joaquin Valley

December 6, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

A wave of dry wells has hit the San Joaquin Valley hard this year putting the valley on track to see the most dry wells since the state began tracking that information in 2013. And while wells have dried up throughout the state, the valley is the epicenter of dry wells. As of the end…

SGMA

Distrust of satellite monitoring delays Madera County’s plan to penalize growers for over pumping

September 23, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Fear and confusion over a new groundwater monitoring technology pushed back the “penalty phase” of Madera County’s attempt to get a handle on its pumping problem. The Madera County Board of Supervisors was supposed to have voted on penalties for growers who pump more than they’re allowed at its Sept. 13 meeting. But after three…

SGMA

Fresno officials “irritated” by gravity in wastewater saga, according to ag district

September 10, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The City of Fresno hadn’t bothered much recently with a mound of groundwater that accumulates beneath its southwest wastewater treatment plant every year. For decades, it traded a chunk of the water to the Fresno Irrigation District (FID) for about half the amount back in Kings River water, but had let that deal lapse the…

SGMA

Will Kings County be the first region sent to state’s groundwater “cop”?

August 8, 2022

• by Lois Henry

The prospect of being sent to California’s “groundwater cop” strikes dread in the hearts of most water managers. But for John Vidovich, having the Tulare Lake subbasin come under the glare of the State Water Resources Control Board may be the only way to end an irrigation practice by the J.G. Boswell Company that he…

NEWS

State rejects six San Joaquin Valley groundwater plans, which could bring enforcement action

ROOTED IN THE VALLEY: From India to Selma, farming has been a way of life for the Brar family

Madera farmers push back on tighter pumping restrictions, county agrees to keep status quo

Storms bring river flows, frustration for San Joaquin Valley water managers

Friant-Kern Canal fix on schedule; water quality guidelines discussed

Court pauses groundwater fees in Madera County; throws regional plans into question

Prolonged drought creates tsunami of dry wells in San Joaquin Valley

Distrust of satellite monitoring delays Madera County’s plan to penalize growers for over pumping

Fresno officials “irritated” by gravity in wastewater saga, according to ag district

Will Kings County be the first region sent to state’s groundwater “cop”?

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