English | Español

Facebook-f Twitter Linkedin-in Instagram
Login
Donate
Search

NEWS
•

State funding helps pay for valley groundwater projects

• 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…
Read More
•

SJV communities get state cash to plug leaks

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
An infusion of state cash will plug several leaky drinking water systems that serve rural communities in the San Joaquin Valley in the near future. The money, $22 million, comes from the Small Community Drought Relief Program under the Department of Water Resources (DWR). That money will fund 17 projects throughout the state, with about…
Read More

Valley could see a “mass migration” of farmworkers as land is fallowed under state groundwater law

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Advocates are sounding the alarm for what they think could be the collapse of the San Joaquin Valley’s agriculture workforce. As drought continues to hammer the state and groundwater pumping restrictions take effect, farmland will need to be retired en masse.  While there have been many conversations, including legislation, on how to support farmers during…
Read More
•

How low will it go? Kern agencies worry one district setting groundwater levels too far down

• by Lois Henry
Kern County agricultural water districts are giving major side-eye to one of their own over what’s known as “minimum threshold” groundwater levels The grumbling is aimed at the sprawling Semitropic Water Storage District in northwest Kern, where minimum thresholds are set, in some cases, at levels that would allow farmers to pump down the water…
Read More
•

Gov. Newsom’s drought order brings ag well activity to a standstill in some areas

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Valley groundwater agencies are mired in confusion and concern over Gov. Newsom’s March 28 executive drought order, which added new steps for permitting agricultural wells, according to agencies’ staff.  As groundwater agency managers scramble to hash out exactly how to comply with the order, well permits in some areas are stuck in limbo leaving well…
Read More

When ag water is short, it’s good to be a San Joaquin River Exchange Contractor

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Even as most agricultural water supplies are being cut to the bone with California descending into a third year of extreme drought, the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractor districts will apparently receive 100% of their “critical year” allotment – 650,000 acre feet. The move is just one of the quirks in California’s byzantine world water…
Read More

Gov. Newsom’s drought order aims to slow ag well drilling

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
New wells for agriculture will be more difficult to drill in the San Joaquin Valley under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent executive order in response to the ongoing drought. Part of the order prohibits new wells from being drilled without approval from local groundwater sustainability agencies (GSA) first. The GSAs must determine that new wells or…
Read More

Groundwater agencies at the epicenter of sinking beneath the Friant-Kern Canal have restricted pumping, raised fees in hopes of curbing water table free fall

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Three Tulare County groundwater agencies that cover areas with severe subsidence due to over pumping spent the last year implementing programs to stem that tide and collected more than $11 million in the process. The Lower Tule River Irrigation District, Pixley Irrigation District and Eastern Tule groundwater sustainability agencies (GSA) are among the first to…
Read More

From bulldozers to helicopters, Boswell-Vidovich battles continue

• by Lois Henry
An ongoing tiff over construction of a large water pipeline in Kings County has gone airborne, according to a lawsuit filed by Sandridge Partners. Sandridge, controlled by John Vidovich, is accusing the J.G. Boswell Company of purposely “buzzing” cattle on its lands using a large helicopter. The actions have been ongoing since late January through…
Read More

Deadline to apply for $50M to retire farmland coming up April 1

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
The state has $50 million to spend to retire farmland, which it intends to give out as block grants to local agencies, tribes and nonprofits in the San Joaquin Valley. But there are strings attached to the money. The groups that receive the block grants will have to work directly with farmers and community members…
Read More
Sponsored

Receive the latest news

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter & Get Email Notifications

Enter your email address to receive INSTANT ALERTS of new articles and to be added to SJV Water’s WEEKLY NEWSLETTER