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Kern River combatants are headed back to court where a local advocacy group hopes to force the City of Bakersfield to goose up flows, which were cut to a trickle leaving piles of dead fish west of Bakersfield.

The hearing is set for May 9 at 8:30 a.m. in Division J before Kern County Superior Court Judge Gregory Pulskamp.

Frustrated with the amount of water dribbling down the western reach of the Kern River, plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit over the river filed a motion Tuesday asking the judge in the case to intervene.

The motion says the City of Bakersfield has not maintained flows required to keep fish in good condition, particularly in the areas of the river from Allen Road westward.

“More of the river has dried up, and the smell of death goes on for miles from the dead fish carcasses throughout the riverbed… It’s almost unbearable out there.” Flows reaching the McClung Weir, about 3 miles west of Allen Road, have, indeed dropped. They had been about 14 cubic feet per second in January. But through most of March, they’ve gone down to about 5 cfs.

The injunction doesn’t say how much water should be kept in the river, leaving that issue to be negotiated by the city, the plaintiffs and other parties in the suit, including agricultural water districts with rights and contracts to river water.

Until those negotiations are complete, the city announced it would keep enough water in the river so that 5 cubic feet per second reaches McClung weir. But residents like Vegas, and the plaintiffs, feel that’s just not enough water.

The judge ruled that Bakersfield has a duty to comply with certain rules, including fish and game code. He also didn’t agree with the argument that weirs aren’t dams.

A motion that challenged four claims made in a lawsuit against the City of Bakersfield over how it operates the Kern River got a half-and-half ruling from Kern County Superior Court Judge Gregory Pulskamp Monday evening.

However, the heart of the lawsuit – that Bakersfield breached its duties under the Public Trust Doctrine by dewatering the river through town – will remain intact.

Kern County Superior Court Judge Gregory Pulskamp let the battalion of attorneys in court Wednesday know he was inclined to drop at least one cause of action in the ongoing lawsuit brought by several public interest groups against the City of Bakersfield for dewatering the Kern River.

But he likely won’t dismiss one of the lawsuit’s key claims – that Bakersfield has a duty to protect the river under the Public Trust Doctrine.

Required flows down the Kern River channel were lowered by the City of Bakersfield on Monday as officials have collected more data on how much water is actually needed for the river to get west of town, according to an email from the City Water Resources Department. On Monday, the city notified Kern River interests that it was changing that flow requirement so that water passing McClung would “not exceed 20 cfs.”

The J.G. Boswell Company fears its agricultural interests – and possibly even the City of Corcoran – could be in jeopardy if water is allowed to remain in the Kern River for fish, according to its request to be admitted as a party to a lawsuit brought by local and statewide public interest groups

That’s just one of several new actions in the ongoing fight over river water.

Kern County Superior Court Judge Gregory Pulskamp made one thing clear during the latest hearing on the twists and turns of the Kern River’s flow: He did not intend to expand the City of Bakersfield’s water rights under his November ruling that mandated enough water must remain in the river channel for fish populations.

“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.