NEWS

Water managers in the San Joaquin Valley who regularly work with residents of poor, rural communities facing water insecurity are applauding last month’s sharply critical audit of the state Water Resources Control Board.  The California State Auditor’s report found a serious lack of urgency on the part of the water board, which is tasked with…
by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
It’s no simple feat to raise a dam.  In fact, it’s taken the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 34 years to get from the first feasibility study to expand the dam at Lake Success in Tulare County to finally getting construction underway. The improvements to Lake Success’ Schafer Dam, named after longtime Tule River watermaster…
The latest blow in an ongoing water war between two Kings County agricultural titans may put control of the entire region’s groundwater into state hands. The J.G. Boswell Farming Company and Sandridge Partners, controlled by John Vidovich, have been scuffling over water in court, on ditch banks and even in the air with accusations on…
Two agencies in the San Joaquin Valley are closer to funding water conservation projects thanks to an $800,000 grant from the Bureau of Reclamation.  The money comes from the Bureau’s Agricultural Water and Conservation Efficiency grants.  About $362,000 will go to the Corcoran Irrigation District in Kings County and $430,000 will go to the Lost…
Three San Joaquin Valley water agencies are gearing up to spend $10 million each in grant funding from the state Department of Conservation to retire or repurpose farmland. Valley agencies that have received grants so far include the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District, Pixley Irrigation District Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) and Madera County. SJV Water…
As water in the North Fork of the Kern River dwindles, controversy over its diminished flows is ramping up. At least some river watchers are accusing Southern California Edison of misusing a portion of the flows by continuing to divert water, ostensibly, for a state-owned fish hatchery that has been closed since 2020. The state…
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