SGMA Archives - Page 19 of 29

Westlands growers fear groundwater power grab by district general manager

March 15, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Divisions are deepening within the giant Westlands Water District as some growers fear the district’s longtime, controversial general manager is amassing too much power. In mid-February, district staff proposed new groundwater rules that would give General Manager Tom Birmingham almost total control over how groundwater is accounted for and to which grower accounts it would…

SGMA

Madera farmers may be facing a steep bill under county efforts to stem the groundwater overdraft

March 5, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Madera County farmers who’ve never had to pay for water, could be facing an expensive new future under a new fee plan being drafted by the county’s groundwater sustainability agency. The new fees could add up to more than $23,000 per 100 acres, tacked on to the cost of doing business for some growers. The…

Drought • Groundwater

Contamination a looming possibility for groundwater bank to be built using public funds

February 24, 2022

• by Lois Henry

A proposed Kern County groundwater bank that would be partially funded with $87 million in Proposition 1 money for new water storage, may have to deal with contamination before it spreads its first drop. The Kern Fan Groundwater Storage Project has not found contamination yet, but is sandwiched between areas that have confirmed 1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP),…

Groundwater • SGMA

For some Kern County farmers, overpumping groundwater could get pricey

February 15, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Farmers in the sprawling Semitropic Water Storage District in the northwest corner of Kern County got a look recently at possible water charges for going over their allotted water budgets and the top amounts were eye popping. The details are still being worked out and won’t be put in place for a while, said Semitropic…

Uncategorized

VIDEO: Water is a hot topic at the World Ag Expo in Tulare County

February 9, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Tractors, irrigation technology, harvesting machines and more tractors lined the dirt roads of the World Ag Expo in Tulare this week. The world’s largest agriculture exposition took place from February 8-10th and included more than 1,200 exhibitors. Spread across a 2.6-million-square-foot lot, the expo not only hosted tents of exhibitors showing off their products…

Groundwater • SGMA

Gov.’s proposed $40 million for farmland retirement is welcome but more needed

February 3, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

More money could be coming to California’s new farmland repurposing program. But it’s still just a drop in the bucket, according experts. In his budget summary for 2022-2023, Governor Newsom proposed an additional $40 million for the Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program, a program approved last year to pay farmers incentives for taking irrigated land out…

Rivers • SGMA

River rights battles in the San Joaquin Valley stuck in eddy

February 1, 2022

• by Lois Henry

If you’re living in excited anticipation of the next batch of legal action on several San Joaquin Valley rivers now under scrutiny by the rights division of the State Water Resources Control Board, you may want to cool your jets. That doesn’t mean absolutely nothing has been happening on the Fresno, Kings and Kern rivers….

Groundwater • SGMA

State gives thumbs down to most San Joaquin Valley groundwater plans

January 28, 2022

• by Jesse Vad and Lois Henry, SJV Water

Groundwater plans for eight “critically overdrafted” subbasins in the San Joaquin Valley were deemed incomplete by the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) on Friday. Plans covering the Kern, Eastern San Joaquin, Merced, Chowchilla, Kings, Kaweah, Tulare Lake and Tule subbasins were all officially labeled as “incomplete” by DWR. On January 21, DWR also deemed…

Friant-Kern Canal

VIDEO: Fix for one section of the sinking Friant-Kern Canal gets underway

January 26, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on the banks of the Friant-Kern Canal on Tuesday, to celebrate the start of construction to repair a portion of the sinking canal. Leadership from the Bureau of Reclamation, California’s Department of Water Resources and the Friant Water Authority spoke at the event. For decades, farmers in California’s San…

Groundwater

Groundwater plans for Westlands Water District, three other areas, deemed “incomplete”

January 21, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Groundwater plans for two regions in the western San Joaquin Valley were deemed deficient by the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) on Friday. The Westside subbasin, overseen by Westlands Water District, and the Delta-Mendota subbasin’s plans were officially labeled as “incomplete” by DWR. The state also found groundwater plans for the Paso Robles and…

NEWS

Westlands growers fear groundwater power grab by district general manager

Madera farmers may be facing a steep bill under county efforts to stem the groundwater overdraft

Contamination a looming possibility for groundwater bank to be built using public funds

For some Kern County farmers, overpumping groundwater could get pricey

VIDEO: Water is a hot topic at the World Ag Expo in Tulare County

Gov.’s proposed $40 million for farmland retirement is welcome but more needed

River rights battles in the San Joaquin Valley stuck in eddy

State gives thumbs down to most San Joaquin Valley groundwater plans

VIDEO: Fix for one section of the sinking Friant-Kern Canal gets underway

Groundwater plans for Westlands Water District, three other areas, deemed “incomplete”

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