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NEWS

March for the Kern River

• by Lois Henry
About 30 hardy souls marched the length of the dry Kern River bed — nine miles — from near Manor Street in east Bakersfield all the way to Stockdale Highway Saturday morning to protest the lack of water in the river. At the start of the hike, the group filled bottles and jugs with water…
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UPDATE: Popular I-5 oasis has a line on water but will have to pay

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern
Kettleman City needs $375,000 to keep from going dry, possibly as early as the end of next month. The popular pitstop along Interstate 5 in Kings County between Los Angeles and San Francisco needs 214 acre feet to supply residents and keep its raft of gas stations and fast food joints open. But in this…
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How ag’s footprint has changed since the last drought

• by Lois Henry
In the world of farming, not all crops are equal. That is starkly apparent when looking at how crops changed in the central and southern San Joaquin Valley since the beginning of the last drought, according to county crop reports. While most counties saw reductions in overall harvested acres between 2012 and 2020, they also…
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VIDEO: The uncertain future of valley farmland

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern
Valley farmers have relied on groundwater for generations. That is changing under the state’s new Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, SGMA, that mandates aquifers be brought into balance by 2040. That means more water can’t be pumped out than is recharged into the aquifer. Pumping restrictions could mean significant portions of the valley’s farmland will have…
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New Kern River Watermaster in the wings

• by Lois Henry
It appears a new Kern River Watermaster will be chosen to replace Dana Munn, whose contract winds up at the end of this year. If he’s officially approved by all the voting members of the “river interests,” Mark Mulkay will likely become the fourth ever Kern River Watermaster. He said he’s discussed it with all…
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River march

• by Lois Henry
A march to bring awareness to the Kern River will take place November 13 in the dry river bed through Bakersfield. Local nonprofit Bring Back the Kern is organizing the protest march ahead of a hearing on the Kern River by the state Water Resources Control Board. That hearing will be held online Dec. 9….
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Public can get in on the upcoming Kern River hearing, sort of

• by Lois Henry
The public can weigh in on the Kern River at an upcoming hearing but the proceeding will be very narrowly focused, according to a ruling  released Wednesday. Too narrowly focused, according to one attorney representing several nonprofits hoping to bring water back to the river through town on a regular basis. “We have a ruling…
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Sierra Nevada snow flights are booking fast

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern
Demand for snow runoff forecasting is surging in the San Joaquin Valley, particularly after the past bone-dry year. Snow monitoring flights are already being tentatively scheduled by valley water districts ahead of winter. “Everybody’s anxious for the water year,” said Michael Anderson, state climatologist for California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR). “What is it going…
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Bomb cylone? Thanks….what else ya got?

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water reporting intern
The west coast was slammed Oct. 24-25 by a bomb cyclone, a historic storm that dumped record breaking levels of precipitation on much of California. The rain came from long streams of moisture called atmospheric rivers. San Francisco recorded more than four inches of rain on October 24, the most for a single October day…
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