irrigation Archives

“Too damn hot.” Farmers look for irrigation sweet spot to cool crops but there’s no beating this heat

July 9, 2024

• by Lois Henry

If the heat is sapping your will to live, most San Joaquin Valley crops are right there with you. The blast furnace weather has farmers irrigating in cycles, using more frequent bursts, taking advantage of the coolest part of the day; anything to get crops through to harvest But “it’s just too damn hot,” said…

Uncategorized

Dead fish piling up in pockets along the western reach of the Kern River concern Bakersfield residents; may prompt return to court

March 22, 2024

• by Lois Henry

After taking a bike ride along the Kern River recently, Bakersfield resident Jonathan Vegas was dismayed by what he found the farther west he pedaled. “More of the river has dried up, and the smell of death goes on for miles from the dead fish carcasses throughout the riverbed,” he wrote in an email. “It’s…

Uncategorized

Fresno farmers have one more day to apply for irrigation project money

February 15, 2024

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

Farmers in the Fresno Irrigation District have through February 16 to apply for federal money to pay for irrigation projects on their land. The WaterSMART program, administered by the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Resources Conservation Service, is sending money to farmers to update water systems and make them more resilient and conservation-focused. The…

Uncategorized

Water continues to be a driving force in Kern ag land values – and not in a good way

January 24, 2024

• by Lois Henry

The latest report on agricultural land valuations in Kern County shows water security continues to be a driving force and the direction is mostly downward. Alliance Ag Services LLC, a brokerage and appraisal firm, has been tracking the value of farmland in Kern County by water source, or sources, for nearly two decades. For about…

Uncategorized

How a state-funded drought program was converted to help farmers take on flood water and permanently cut groundwater pumping

January 23, 2024

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

When farmers fallowed thousands of acres during the recent drought, most didn’t expect they would be flooding those lands months later. But that’s what happened during last year’s historic floods after the state adapted LandFlex, a drought program, to take on some of the deluge from valley rivers. “Our original intent with fallow land was…

Floods

Irrigators want to slow the flow of Kern River to bring Lake Isabella to its brim

July 12, 2023

• by Lois Henry

The question of whether Lake Isabella might “spill” has now turned to whether it will fill. The lake is achingly close to being full. It stood at 528,663 acre feet as of Wednesday afternoon – just 39,337 acre feet shy of its full capacity. But it needs to hit that max fill mark for the…

dams • Rivers

State and federal agencies want fish ladder restored on Merced River

February 1, 2023

• by Lois Henry

Two powerful state and federal agencies have stuck their toes, so to speak, into an ongoing lawsuit against Merced Irrigation District demanding the district reopen a long defunct fish ladder. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries Service both sent letters to Merced Irrigation District after Water Audit California sued the…

SGMA

Fresno officials “irritated” by gravity in wastewater saga, according to ag district

September 10, 2022

• by Jesse Vad, SJV Water

The City of Fresno hadn’t bothered much recently with a mound of groundwater that accumulates beneath its southwest wastewater treatment plant every year. For decades, it traded a chunk of the water to the Fresno Irrigation District (FID) for about half the amount back in Kings River water, but had let that deal lapse the…

SGMA

Another group of Kern County water districts forming their own groundwater agency in face of possible state action

June 29, 2022

• by Lois Henry

A group of water districts clustered on the western edge of Kern County that are currently members of the Kern Groundwater Authority (KGA) announced they will form their own groundwater sustainability agency. The Westside District Water Authority, made up of the Belridge Water Storage District and the Lost Hills and the Berrenda Mesa water districts,…

Drought • SGMA

Ag well permitting process still causing confusion in Kern County

June 22, 2022

• by Lois Henry

Kern County hasn’t issued a single agricultural well permit since early April and frustration in the ag community is at a boiling point. Ag well permitting slowed to a crawl up and down the San Joaquin Valley after Gov. Newsom issued an emergency drought order on March 28 that added an extra layer of scrutiny…

NEWS

“Too damn hot.” Farmers look for irrigation sweet spot to cool crops but there’s no beating this heat

Dead fish piling up in pockets along the western reach of the Kern River concern Bakersfield residents; may prompt return to court

Fresno farmers have one more day to apply for irrigation project money

Water continues to be a driving force in Kern ag land values – and not in a good way

How a state-funded drought program was converted to help farmers take on flood water and permanently cut groundwater pumping

Irrigators want to slow the flow of Kern River to bring Lake Isabella to its brim

State and federal agencies want fish ladder restored on Merced River

Fresno officials “irritated” by gravity in wastewater saga, according to ag district

Another group of Kern County water districts forming their own groundwater agency in face of possible state action

Ag well permitting process still causing confusion in Kern County

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