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Rural Kings County families have a 50-50 chance their well is contaminated with nitrates

• by Monserrat Solis, California Local News Fellow
Editor’s note: Monserrat Solis covers Kings County water issues for SJV Water through the California Local News Fellowship initiative. There’s about a 50-50 chance the tap water that 10,000 rural Kings County residents are drinking is contaminated with nitrates. That’s a type of salt that can be toxic, even lethal to newborns, causing what’s commonly…
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Fresno State study examines how water recharge could help or harm disadvantaged communities on a regional scale

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
A study examining the benefits and drawbacks of building groundwater recharge basins near rural communities is underway in Merced, Madera, Tulare and Fresno counties. The two-year study is a spinoff of an earlier feasibility study focused solely on Fresno County, and both are spearheaded by the California Water Institute at Fresno State University.  “Floodplains and…
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New “seismic” listening technique could help researchers map water movement and moisture levels in the soil

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
The constant, rumbling, teeth-gritting traffic on Highway 99 might actually be good for something.  Researchers at Caltech have figured out a way to use vibrations from passing cars to see how much water sits directly beneath the ground’s surface.  In a new paper, researchers used seismic waves from traffic noise coupled with unused fiber optic…
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Kern County farmland values continue downward slide

• by Lois Henry
Farmland valuations continued their downward trajectory in Kern County, in some cases dropping  a whopping 47.6% over the first six months of 2024, according to the second quarter Kern County Ag Land Values report put out by brokerage firm Alliance Ag Services LLC. Some farmland has dropped back to, or even below, 2005 prices. “I…
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Money available for wetland owners, applications closing soon

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
There’s a new opportunity for private wetland owners to make money from their land. The BirdReturns program pays wetland owners to flood their land and provide habitat for birds in the Central Valley. The program offers seasonal participation and is currently accepting applications for fall participation. Applications close on June 9.  The program is funded…
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Kings County growers nix local groundwater fees as they face state actions aimed at curbing excessive pumping

• by Lisa McEwen, SJV Water
Hundreds of landowners in the Tulare Lake groundwater subbasin overwhelmingly rejected proposed pumping fees this week that would have added thousands of dollars on top of fees they’re expected to start paying the state in coming months. The fee showdown at the Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency meeting April 23 came just a week after…
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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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Climate change is pushing more San Joaquin Valley farmers to buy crop insurance as losses mount

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water
After historic flooding in California’s Tulare Lake subbasin last year, farmers in Kings County alone submitted claims of $86 million in losses for crop insurance.  That’s 3.3% of the total gross value of agricultural products listed in the 2022 Kings County crop report. And it’s far above the $8 million in losses reported for 2022,…
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