Kern River Status Update
Currently only Kern Island Main is in operation. On Friday, December 1st the Kern Island and all of its laterals will be coming back online and will run no later than December 10th. The District is currently performing heavy maintenance through all of its systems following this past historic year.
Speaking of historic, the City of Bakersfield is currently in the process of “reallocating” and “redistributing” a portion of available Kern River supply. Taking advantage of a recent court order that was meant to establish a temporary fish flow in the lower stretch of the River, the City has unilaterally given themselves what appears to be a new diversion right ahead of the established allocation of Kern River Entitlements. Over the last thirteen days the City has reallocated 4,631 acre feet of water to themselves that would have normally gone to other River Rights holders including Kern Delta. This is above and beyond the fish flow allocation that is currently being litigated. Given the current and potential future impacts to District water supply, the District is taking every available step to challenge and fight back against these actions. For more information, please see this article written by Lois Henry and this letter that was sent to the City of Bakersfield on behalf of Kern Delta Water District.
Anyone interested in learning more about this evolving situation can contact District General Manager Steven Teglia or District General Counsel Richard Iger for more information through the District Office at (661) 834-4656. |
