rivers Archives - Page 3 of 9

Storm could “push the limits” of San Joaquin Valley’s flood response systems

March 8, 2023

• by Lois Henry

If the coming storm hits as predicted starting late Thursday, San Joaquin Valley flooding hot spots – and some new ones thanks to subsidence – could be swamped. It’s not because reservoirs above the valley floor are full. The culprits are likely to be the much smaller and typically dry “uncontrolled streams” threaded throughout the…

Drought

More wet weather boosts water supplies for San Joaquin Valley farms and cities

February 22, 2023

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Farms and cities that rely on water out of California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta got more good news this week as state and federal water agencies took measures to move more water south. The moves come between a significant series of stories earlier this winter and as the state faces a rare wet, cold front that…

Rivers

Bakersfield to take a deep dive on the Kern River – supplies, demands and rights

February 21, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The Bakersfield City Council at its meeting Wednesday will likely approve a $288,350 contract to conduct a detailed study of the city’s water supplies and demands with a strong focus on Kern River operations. Though the proposed study, on the consent agenda, isn’t in direct response to a lawsuit filed last year against the city…

Rivers • Uncategorized

VIDEO: More water in the Kern River – where from this time?

February 21, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The Kern River came alive again recently as the Kern County Water Agency pumped water into one section of the dry riverbed from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Various water agencies have been using the river to move or store water as supplies have increased thanks to the relatively wet winter California has experienced so…

Floods • Uncategorized

Funding to protect valley towns from flooding yanked out of budget even as climate change increases threat

February 9, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The same day that water gushed over the banks of Miles Creek swamping the small town of Planada in Merced County last month, the Newsom’s administration pulled $40 million out of its proposed budget that was intended for flood protection projects in the San Joaquin Valley. Advocates had worked for years to get that money…

Drought • Rivers

River water from 150 miles away flows through parts of the Kern River

February 6, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The lower Kern River has flowing through its dry bed after years of drought. But it’s not actually Kern River water….

dams • Rivers

State and federal agencies want fish ladder restored on Merced River

February 1, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Two powerful state and federal agencies have stuck their toes, so to speak, into an ongoing lawsuit against Merced Irrigation District demanding the district reopen a long defunct fish ladder. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries Service both sent letters to Merced Irrigation District after Water Audit California sued the…

Drought • Rivers

A river appears in the Kern River bed

January 14, 2023

• by Lois Henry

There was water snaking through the Kern River bed through Bakersfield on Friday. The City of Bakersfield was moving water it was obligated to release down the river for power plants through the riverbed and into Truxtun Lakes, the lake at the Park at Riverwalk and Aera Park, according to Daniel Maldonado, a city water…

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…

Rivers

Conditions “significantly improved” for Kern River watershed

January 3, 2023

• by SJV Water

Water watcher Scott Williams put out his Kern River Snow and Water Report on Monday and, based on national, statewide and local data, things have gone from “eh…” to fairly promising. Precipitation in the upper Kern basin, which feeds the North Fork of the Kern river was 134% of average for the water year to date….

NEWS

Storm could “push the limits” of San Joaquin Valley’s flood response systems

More wet weather boosts water supplies for San Joaquin Valley farms and cities

Bakersfield to take a deep dive on the Kern River – supplies, demands and rights

VIDEO: More water in the Kern River – where from this time?

Funding to protect valley towns from flooding yanked out of budget even as climate change increases threat

River water from 150 miles away flows through parts of the Kern River

State and federal agencies want fish ladder restored on Merced River

A river appears in the Kern River bed

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

Conditions “significantly improved” for Kern River watershed

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