NEWS

Meeting: Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority board of directors Date: May 15, 2024 Agenda and Packet: CLICK HERE First topic: Reassessment of importing water from Little Lake, an area north of the Indian Wells Valley in Inyo County. Background: The Indian Wells Valley is a critically overdrafted basin in eastern Kern County. Its residents and…
The $171 million Kern Fan Groundwater Storage project – with a unique “eco-twist” – received another chunk of public funding just as the first section of the 1,300-acre project had a formal christening on Wednesday. Officials with Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District, Irvine Ranch Water District and the Bureau of Reclamation gathered at the project…
Meeting: Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority board of directors Date: March 29, 2024 Agenda and Packet: CLICK HERE Background: The basin depends on 7,650 acre feet of natural inflow each year but users pump out nearly 28,000 acre feet annually, creating a severe overdraft. As the Authority has worked to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater…
The Friant-Kern Canal was called out specifically as one of the reasons the state should take over pumping in the Tule groundwater subbasin in Tulare County. The recommendation was contained in a recently released staff report to the Water Resources Control Board. While the report stated groundwater management plans covering the subbasin didn’t adequately address…
by Lisa McEwen and Jesse Vad, SJV Water
Nearly 10 months after floods devastated parts of Planada and Woodlake, residents in both small towns have banded together, hired attorneys and are pursuing legal action. More than 250 households are involved between the two towns.  Residents in the Tulare County town of Springville are also working toward legal action after flooding knocked out wells…
by Lois Henry
A battle of groundwater banks is underway in Kern County with accusations that one is poised to mine the local aquifer and sell water outside the area. The two main combatants are the massive Kern Water Bank, which covers 32-square miles straddling Interstate 5 west of Bakersfield, and the Buena Vista Water Storage District, which…
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