pumping Archives - Page 3 of 4

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…

SGMA

Will $10 million “make a dent” in Tulare County groundwater use?

July 7, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Three San Joaquin Valley water agencies are gearing up to spend $10 million each in grant funding they received from the state Department of Conservation to retire or repurpose farmland. Valley agencies that received grants so far include the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District, Pixley Irrigation District Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) and Madera County. SJV…

Drought • SGMA

Ag well permitting process still causing confusion in Kern County

June 22, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Kern County hasn’t issued a single agricultural well permit since early April and frustration in the ag community is at a boiling point. Ag well permitting slowed to a crawl up and down the San Joaquin Valley after Gov. Newsom issued an emergency drought order on March 28 that added an extra layer of scrutiny…

SGMA

Water districts bail on Kern’s largest groundwater agency; form their own group

May 5, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Fractures have appeared within Kern County’s largest groundwater agency as pressure mounts for it to show the state how it plans to address the region’s massive groundwater deficit. Four water entities recently notified the Kern Groundwater Authority they were pulling out of the 16-member group to write their own groundwater sustainability plan. That will add…

Groundwater • SGMA

State funding helps pay for valley groundwater projects

May 4, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Multiple San Joaquin Valley groundwater projects got a significant shot of state funding this week to kickstart recharge, and other, projects. On Monday, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced $150 million was awarded to 20 agencies through its first round of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Grant Program. That includes almost $84 million for 11…

NEWS

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”?

Will $10 million “make a dent” in Tulare County groundwater use?

Ag well permitting process still causing confusion in Kern County

Water districts bail on Kern’s largest groundwater agency; form their own group

State funding helps pay for valley groundwater projects

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