san joaquin valley Archives - Page 10 of 27

State laws hamper flood flow storage but one San Joaquin Valley water district cut through the red tape. Can others follow?

January 14, 2023

• by Lois Henry

It seems like such a no brainer: Grab the floodwater inundating California right now and shove it into our dried up aquifers for later use. But water plus California never equals simple. Yes, farmers and water districts can, legally, grab water from the state’s overflowing rivers, park it on their land and it will recharge…

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…

State System

Retiring Delta Watermaster advises “pray for rain” but “plan for drought”

January 6, 2023

• by Rose Horowitch, SJV Water reporting intern

It may be raining now but Michael George, Watermaster for the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta, urged his colleagues at the State Water Resources Control Board to always be planning for drought. “The Delta mantra: we pray for rain; we’re getting it. We plan for drought; it will be back,” George said during his final report before…

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….

Uncategorized

POP QUIZ: How closely have you been reading SJV Water???

January 3, 2023

• by Lois Henry

It’s a brand new year – YAY! Lets see how much water news you retained from 2022. If you’ve been keeping up with the news on SJV Water, this should be a piece of cake. If not, well…you have a whole new year to remedy that. Remember, no cheating with the Google machine (clicking the…

Rivers

Kern River “restoration” wells pumping but not to restore the river

December 28, 2022

• by Lois Henry

An observant reader emailed SJV Water recently asking about a well he noticed near Calloway Drive that was pumping water into the brimful Cross Valley Canal just north of the dry Kern River “all summer long and beyond.” He wondered if that was a well owned by the City of Bakersfield and, if so, where…

Uncategorized

2022: So. Much. Water. News!

December 27, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Here we are nearing the end of another year. And the SJV Water team has been taking stock, reflecting and pondering the accumulation of news and events that made up 2022. (Really, we’re taking some much needed time off and I’m, personally, “checkin’ the snow pack” – code for skiing – and needed to stockpile…

Groundwater

Some San Joaquin Valley farmers are rebelling against groundwater measures

December 21, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

As water managers throughout the San Joaquin Valley scramble to reign in groundwater pumping, they’re running into a serious roadblock: angry farmers. Across the valley, farmers have decried fees and other measures meant to reduce pumping, threatening not to pay, taking agencies to court and protesting groundwater rules. In some cases, it’s working. In the…

Personalities

Westlands names chief operating officer to serve as interim general manager

December 20, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Westlands Water District named its chief operating officer, Jose Gutierrez to oversee the sprawling district in western Fresno County until it hires a new general manager. Gutierrez will serve as interim general manager until May. The added duties will come with an additional $50,000 to Gutierrez’ $240,000 annual salary, the board announced at its Dec….

NEWS

State laws hamper flood flow storage but one San Joaquin Valley water district cut through the red tape. Can others follow?

A river appears in the Kern River bed

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

Retiring Delta Watermaster advises “pray for rain” but “plan for drought”

Conditions “significantly improved” for Kern River watershed

POP QUIZ: How closely have you been reading SJV Water???

Kern River “restoration” wells pumping but not to restore the river

2022: So. Much. Water. News!

Some San Joaquin Valley farmers are rebelling against groundwater measures

Westlands names chief operating officer to serve as interim general manager

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