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A Tulare County groundwater agency on the hot seat for helping sink the Friant-Kern Canal holds private tours for state regulators

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
As the date of reckoning for excessive groundwater pumping in Tulare County grows closer, lobbying by water managers and growers has ramped up. The Friant Water Authority, desperate to protect its newly rebuilt –  yet still sinking – Friant-Kern Canal, has beseeched the Water Resources Control Board to get involved. Specifically, it has asked board…
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State Water Board reduces pumping fees by half but some say it’s still too high

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Members of the state Water Resources Control Board voted unanimously on Tuesday, March 19, to reduce pumping fees for groundwater users in subbasins that come under state control, known as “probationary status.” The controversial fee was lowered from $40 per-acre-foot of pumped water to $20 per acre foot.   The board will hold its first probationary…
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Grant to pay for long-term solution ideas to fix recurring water problems in rural Tulare County communities

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
Heads up to creative consultants interested in finding long-term solutions to stubborn drinking water problems in small, rural communities such as Teviston and Allensworth: Tulare County has a grant for you. Tulare County is offering a $371,000 contract for a consultant or consultants to use in finding long-term fixes to wells that routinely dry up…
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“Now rain is like a curse.” Storms rekindle the trauma of last year’s floods for many Tulare County residents

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Residents of Woodlake in Tulare County, traumatized by the devastation of last year’s floods, watched in fear last week as storms dumped water on their town, flooding streets.  When his street flooded last week, Joshua Diaz got word while he was at work teaching at Porterville High School.  He rushed home to blockade his house…
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Farmers in Tulare County to test groundwater market they hope could help keep them in business and replenish the aquifer

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
How will selling groundwater help keep more groundwater in the San Joaquin Valley’s already critically overtapped aquifers? Water managers in the Kaweah subbasin in northwestern Tulare County hope to find out by having farmers tinker with a pilot groundwater market program.  Kaweah farmers will be joining growers from subbasins up and down the San Joaquin…
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Local agencies need more than “words on paper” from the state to help fight drought and flood

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
A Tulare County official who’s faced multiple droughts and devastating floods over the past decade appreciated the California Water Commission’s latest “policy paper” on how best to respond to such calamities but she had some advice of her own for the state: Locals need resources – money, equipment, personnel – not just “words on paper.”…
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Dairies in Tulare and Kings counties still struggling with damage in wake of last year’s flooding

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
When flood water swamped dairies in Tulare and Kings counties last spring, it destroyed equipment, drowned crops and left a trail of salt-laden muck that farmers are still grappling with.  The ongoing damage is so bad, some dairies may never recover. The biggest problem is the loss of crops and cropland. Farmers lost an entire…
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MEETING NOTES: Tulare County Water Commissioners take stock of 2023, set goals for 2024

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
Meeting: Tulare County Water Commission  Date: January 8, 2024 Agenda: CLICK HERE Board packet: CLICK HERE  Main Topics: Results of 2023 Tulare County Water Commission Priorities, discussion to establish 2024 priorities.  The Tulare County Water Commission is an advisory body to the Tulare County Board of Supervisors. It examines a wide variety of water issues…
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Planning and coordination kept Porterville dry during floods but the rest of the San Joaquin Valley remains fragmented

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
How did Porterville, where a then raging Tule River cuts through the town, stay dry while so many other San Joaquin Valley communities got flooded out last spring? Planning, coordination and permits. Sounds simple, but it took officials from the city, irrigation district, Tulare County and federal offices years to establish. It paid off as…
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