Tag Archive for: San Joaquin River

Friant Dam Water Releases Increasing. Why There’s Concern on San Joaquin River

With a major warming trend in the forecast and temperatures in Fresno reaching the 80s on Sunday, the Bureau of Reclamation is alerting the public to monitor flow conditions and to exercise caution when on the San Joaquin River due to increased releases from Friant Dam.

The bureau started releases into the river on Friday to help meet contractual obligations to deliver Central Valley Project water to the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors on the west side of the Valley

Flows to Increase; Water Districts Cry Foul

The Newsom administration has informed regional water districts that it will move forward with a plan to increase flows from San Joaquin River tributaries in an action that may create more water uncertainty for farmers.

A notice from the California Natural Resources Agency and state Environmental Protection Agency represents a departure from the state’s earlier willingness to consider voluntary agreements with water districts, which includes aspects other than just flow increases. That departure means that the regulatory regime, adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board in 2018, will now move forward.

California Drought: Key Talks Over Water Use Break Down, S.F. May Face Tighter Regulation

For nearly three years, some of California’s biggest water users, including San Francisco, have been quietly meeting with the state to figure out how much water they should be taking from the San Joaquin River and its tributaries.

The talks were launched to prevent some of California’s mightiest rivers from drying up, and keep fish populations from disappearing, while still allowing cities and farms to draw the supplies they need. The vision was nothing short of a grand compromise on divvying up California’s water.

Bay Area: Do You Know Where Your Water Comes From?

The Bay Area water system is a byzantine patchwork of agencies — more than 50 in all — that provides water to customers. Some are the ones you see on your water bill. Others are middlemen that provide water to local agencies at the wholesale level.

And some of that water makes a long journey. Southern California has the reputation for tapping far-flung sources for its water needs, but the Bay Area is in the same boat.

Opinion: Save the San Joaquin? Fresno County Should Reject Cemex Proposal for Deeper Gravel Mine

Remember Jesse Morrow Mountain from a few years ago? This time it’s the San Joaquin River north of Fresno that needs saving from a destructive gravel mine expansion.

Yes, aggregate mining on the San Joaquin has been going on for more than a century. But with production tapering off and newer operations opening on the nearby Kings River, it was generally assumed the poor San Joaquin would finally be given a break and allowed to return to something closer to its natural state.