san jaoquin valley Archives

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…

Rivers

VIDEO: Kern River Parkway wells

January 4, 2023

• by Lois Henry

In 2000, the Kern County Water Agency got $23 million in funding from Proposition 13 for a number of water projects, including to restore a minimum flow in the Kern River through Bakersfield using six wells. The agency built the wells. But has never used them to restore the river….

SGMA • Uncategorized

Desert groundwater agency mulls how to get water from San Joaquin Valley

December 17, 2022

• by Rose Horowitch, SJV Water reporting intern

A high-desert groundwater agency in eastern Kern County that’s in the midst of buying water from Kings County in the San Joaquin Valley, recently considered alternatives for how to actually get that water up and over the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority, which covers the Ridgecrest area, got updates on…

Drought

Water deal to keep taps flowing in Bakersfield even as Lake Isabella levels continue to drop

June 29, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Bakersfield City water managers learned from California’s last “epic” drought – don’t wait to make a deal. In 2015, city water managers scrambled to keep taps flowing for more than 20,000 Bakersfield residents as the Kern River ran so low the city had zero water entitlement coming down the river. The river is the only…

Groundwater • SGMA

Stanford study: Shutting down pumps alone won’t halt San Joaquin Valley sinking

June 3, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The San Joaquin Valley is sinking and it might continue to do so for centuries if groundwater levels aren’t recovered, according to a new Stanford University study. The study, which was published on Thursday in the Water Resources Research journal, simulated 65 years of land sinking, called subsidence, at a site near Hanford in Kings…

Drought

Skimpy state snowpack points to another long, dry summer

March 1, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted its third snow survey of the season and the outlook is not good for the state’s water users. The survey recorded 35 inches of snow at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada mountains below Lake Tahoe. That’s about 68% of average for this time of year. Statewide, snowpack…

NEWS

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

VIDEO: Kern River Parkway wells

Desert groundwater agency mulls how to get water from San Joaquin Valley

Water deal to keep taps flowing in Bakersfield even as Lake Isabella levels continue to drop

Stanford study: Shutting down pumps alone won’t halt San Joaquin Valley sinking

Skimpy state snowpack points to another long, dry summer

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