Advocates for the Public Trust
“Repairs to a damaged tunnel inside the power plant at the base of Isabella Dam were completed Saturday, just seven days after the project began, according to an attorney for Water Audit California, a public interest group suing to keep water in the Kern River. Releases from the dam had been reduced to about 100 …
Continue reading “Repairs to Isabella Dam power plant completed; Kern River flows to ramp back up”
“Engineers with Isabella Partners, which operates the power plant at the base of Isabella Dam, believe they’ve found a way to make repairs to the plant without drying up the lower Kern River for weeks on end. If successful, water levels will drop from where they are now, but the river won’t go totally dry. …
“The Army Corps of Engineers approved a request by operators of the power plant at the base of the dam to drastically cut water releases between Dec. 18 and Jan. 7 for a planned repair project to the plant. Under the approval, releases would drop from between 500 and 700 cubic feet per second down to …
“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has approved a request from Isabella Partners to reduce Isabella Dam water releases following a review and analysis by the USACE Sacramento District. Isabella Partners made the request so that they can safely perform maintenance within their power plant property at the base of the dam. USACE’s approval provides …
Continue reading “USACE approves request to temporarily reduce Isabella Dam flows”
“The Lake Isabella Dam is operated by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers. However, the power plant that is directly south of it, which is powered by the water released by the dam, is owned by a separate entity, Isabella Partners. Recently, Isabella Partners put in a request to the Army Corps of Engineers to …
Continue reading “Significantly Reduced Flows Could Impact Kern River Soon”
“Anticipated repairs to the power plant at the base of Isabella Dam could cause a “massive fish kill” along the length of the Kern River as flows would have to be cut to almost nothing for weeks. Isabella Partners, which operates that power plant, submitted a request to the Army Corps of Engineers to cut …
Agricultural water districts are striking back at what they say is an historic water heist by the City of Bakersfield.
“The judge has now signed an order that would require the city to keep at least 40% of the river flowing.”
A Kern County Superior Court Judge signed an order that requires 40% of the Kern River’s flow to remain in the river to keep fish populations healthy.
A Kern County judge has approved a preliminary injunction, to limit the amount of water from the Kern River the city of Bakersfield can use. The injunction will prevent the now-flowing Kern River from returning to the dry state it was in last year.
Monday’s ruling prohibits the city from implementing diversions that reduce river flows below the volume necessary to maintain good condition for fish.
A selection of quotes from the Kern County Superior Court’s ruling granting a preliminary injunction in Bring Back The Kern v Bakersfield.
Full text of the Kern County Superior Court’s ruling granting a preliminary injunction that prevents the City of Bakersfield from making diversions in a manner that habitually dries the Kern River.
Today, the Kern County Superior Court granted Water Audit California’s and other
joint plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction that prevents the City of Bakersfield from
making diversions in a manner that habitually dries the Kern River.
In what one attorney called a “moment of truth” for the City of Bakersfield, a judge ordered the city to keep enough water in the normally dry Kern River to protect fish populations.
The American Bar Association’s Natural Resources & Environment vol 36 no 1 contained “Rewatering Napa’s Rivers” by Karrigan Bork and Amber Manfree. The article describes the history of California’s legislative efforts to protect fisheries, the structural failures which led to non-enforcement, and the role of private entities like Water Audit in effecting the will of …