The Kern River came alive again recently as the Kern County Water Agency pumped water into one section of the dry riverbed from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Various water agencies have been using the river to move or store water as supplies have increased thanks to the relatively wet winter California has experienced so far in 2023.
The intermittent flows have not been from actual Kern River water, which has been a testament to how intricately plumbed the Kern system has become.
A few weeks ago, the river bloomed with water in a section between Coffee Road and Stockdale Highway brought in from the San Joaquin River via the Friant-Kern Canal.