SGMA Archives - Page 18 of 21

Groundwater accountability sparks clash of Central Valley ag titans

June 16, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Two giant Central Valley farming companies are slinging serious mud at one another over groundwater. And, in a rare break with tradition, they’re doing it in public. The fight has spilled out in public comments on the Tulare Lake Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan, which covers most of Kings County. The titans behind the comments are…

Groundwater

Central Valley water districts take aim at each other’s groundwater plans

June 10, 2020

• by Lois Henry

There is no tougher playground than California’s water world. Just take a look at the zingers flying back and forth between water districts on one another’s groundwater sustainability plans posted on the Department of Water Resources’ website. “It’s like a giant game of dodgeball,” said Dana Munn, General Manager of Shafter-Wasco Irrigation District. The plans…

Floods • Rivers

Westlands Water District is again eyeing San Joaquin River water

June 2, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Westlands Water District sent shockwaves through the Central Valley water world recently after it alerted several districts that it intends to apply for rights to flood flows on the San Joaquin River. A previous attempt by Westlands to get rights to San Joaquin River water 20 years ago ignited a ferocious east-west battle in the…

Groundwater

PPIC: Valley groundwater plans not measuring up

May 23, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Reviews are in and Central Valley groundwater plans are coming up short. The plans aren’t aggressive enough in stemming plummeting groundwater levels and land subsidence; they are overly reliant on the hope of new water as a fix; and they don’t work regionally. Those were the takeaways from a review by the Public Policy Institute…

Rivers • Water Banking

Undercurrents of the Kern River’s flow are thick with intrigue, outrage

May 14, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Water is flowing through the heart of Bakersfield in the Kern River and local water managers are shaking their heads in disbelief and frustration. Except, that is, for Art Chianello. Chianello is Bakersfield’s Water Resources Department director and the man behind the healthy flow currently being enjoyed by numerous residents as springtime temperatures heat up….

Drought • Groundwater

Groundwater: The charge to recharge needs to be data driven

May 14, 2020

• by Lois Henry

In the world of groundwater recharge, not all dirt is created equal. Where, when, how much and how fast water can best be recharged into the Central Valley’s severely depleted aquifers has become a critical question. A new tool aims to help answer those questions at the field-by-field level or up to an entire county….

Groundwater

Crops grown with oilfield water safe, panel finds

May 7, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Fruits and vegetables grown with recycled oilfield water in Kern County got a final stamp of approval last month, nearly five years after the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board began what it thought was going to be a three-month process investigating the water’s safety. Findings from numerous, wide-ranging studies commissioned by a Food…

Drought • Federal System • State System

Dry year, not politics, behind 15-percent water allocation

May 1, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Water may be highly political but dry is dry. And California is exceedingly dry this year, Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth told SJV Water in explaining the state’s low 15-percent allocation for farms and cities that rely on water from the State Water Project. Given the results of Thursday’s final snow survey in…

Drought • Federal System • Groundwater • State System

State’s low water allocation prompts frustration, suspicion

April 29, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Is the State Water Project’s extremely low water allocation based on California’s fickle climate? Or politics? A growing chorus of frustrated water managers are wondering. After a dry January, the Department of Water Resources announced it would only be able to deliver 15 percent of contracted water amounts to farms and cities. That number hasn’t…

Rivers

Expect a wet Kern River through May

April 24, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Unless it’s a big water year (spoiler alert: It’s not), the Kern River through Bakersfield is usually a dry, sandy channel. So, water in the riverbed is pretty exciting in old B-town. SJV Water asked Art Chianello, Director of Bakersfield’s Water Resources Department, where today’s trickle was coming from and how long it would last….

NEWS

Groundwater accountability sparks clash of Central Valley ag titans

Central Valley water districts take aim at each other’s groundwater plans

Westlands Water District is again eyeing San Joaquin River water

PPIC: Valley groundwater plans not measuring up

Undercurrents of the Kern River’s flow are thick with intrigue, outrage

Groundwater: The charge to recharge needs to be data driven

Crops grown with oilfield water safe, panel finds

Dry year, not politics, behind 15-percent water allocation

State’s low water allocation prompts frustration, suspicion

Expect a wet Kern River through May

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