The Kern River is the Heart of Bakersfield – But It Needs Some Love
It’s hard to believe that it could happen in the year 2024, but earlier this month the City of Bakersfield turned off the Kern River, causing a massive fish die off. The river shutoff was ostensibly to do maintenance in the river channel and save the water for future supply needs.
“People who care about their rivers would never do this,” said attorney Adam Keats, who represents Bring Back the Kern, one of the local groups working to restore the river...
Army Corps of Engineers Listens to FOR
On Monday, September 16, the State Water Resources Control Board “denied without prejudice” the water quality certification for the Sites Reservoir...
Bringing Life to the Tuolumne River
Friends of the River (“FOR”) and Tuolumne River Trust (“TRT”) worked together forty years ago to secure Wild and Scenic designation for the Tuolumne River. This July, the two non-profits collaborated again on behalf of the Tuolumne River...
Sites Reservoir in FOR’s Sights
After years in the making, the process to decide whether to issue a water rights permit for one of California’s biggest water boondoggles has begun. In August, the first hearings for the proposed Sites Reservoir were held by the State Water Resources Control Board’s Administrative Hearings Office. These proceedings, will ultimately determine whether or not the proposed reservoir is granted a water right, and, if so, under what operational conditions...
Everything Happens Twice in Endangered Species Land - And Not Always for the Better
The hijacking of the process to update Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections happened twice, the first time by President Trump, the second time by Governor Newsom. But nobody’s laughing the second time around. Instead, Friends of the River and its allies are working to prevent a replay and ensure that new, stronger ESA regulations are ultimately adopted.
End of Session Dramas or Not?
This year is the end of the 118th Congress’s two-year-long existence, and they usually save the best (or worst) for last. The Congress is likely to finish up early to go campaigning, but a lame-duck session could also be in the works. Here’s a few things we are keeping an eye on...
The Lower Kern River May Flow Again
Exciting things are happening on the Lower Kern River. After more than half a century of being dewatered in most years, there’s a serious chance of getting the lower river flowing again.
Almost two years ago, Bring Back the Kern, Water Audit California, Kern River Parkway Foundation, Kern Audubon Society, Sierra Club, and Center for Biological Diversity sued the City of Bakersfield in Kern County Superior Court...
Remembering Lloyd Carter
Friends of the River mourns the passing of Lloyd Carter, 76, who played a key role in exposing the environmental catastrophe at Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge...
PG&E Plan to Sell off Most of its Generation Assets Stumbles - A Win for FOR and Partners
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) supplies electricity to much of northern California. It also has a somewhat diminishing large fleet of hydroelectric dams in the north state.
It’s also been going broke a lot, first because of the ill-advised energy deregulation under Governor Gray Davis some two decades ago, and second because in recent years its equipment has been burning down whole national forests and small mountain communities.
So, to raise some cash, PG&E proposed to create a subsidiary…
Camping Out at the Water Board
California makes its state water right decisions in the CalEPA building in Sacramento, the home of the State Water Resources Control Board. In a water-rights proceeding, you get to speak “on the record” to the Board or it Administrative Hearing Office by “protesting” the new or modified right. In the last year, FOR has protested the water rights of two major water projects…
FOR Takes a Stand Against the Dreaded Delta Tunnel
The proposed Delta Tunnel has reached the water rights stage, and Friends of the River, alongside many partner organizations, submitted two formal “protests” of the Tunnel water rights applications…
Déjà vu on the Clean Water Act Beat
Didn’t we just win some significant victories defending the state and tribal role (and our influence) to ensure that federal projects, licenses, and permits meet state/tribal clean water standards?… Nevada Irrigation District is taking another swing at state Clean Water Act Authority…
Reasons to Fret (and Not Fret)
Threats to the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and McCloud River, illegal dam projects on state parks, and a small win for you…
Currents - April 2024
This month we’ve created a compiled edition of Currents (CA water policy news), to keep you in the loop on recent happenings that affect California Rivers. Read on for updates about this water year, the California State Legislature, PG&E’s efforts to spin off its hydropower assets, and Sites Reservoir.
Dangerous Ideas in the Legislature and State Administration
It’s silly season in the California legislature. It’s the time for spot bills (bills introduced with the intention of being amended later) to materialize — and some are pretty ugly. One of those is ACA 2, the Water Resiliency Act of 2024, introduced by Assemblyman Juan Alanis (R-Modesto). This bill would give billions of dollars per year to a water project slush fund…
Protecting the integrity of the California Wild & Scenic Rivers Act and the McCloud River
U.S. Congressmen Valadao and McCarthy’s latest effort to drown more of the McCloud River under Shasta Reservoir was enshrined in the House-passed Energy & Water Appropriations bill (H.R. 4394). Luckily, the U.S. Senate version did not do so. There was some indication that California’s Senators played a positive role. This is critical since they will need to continue to do so even though the odds favor them being in the minority party next year — and the previous President may return…
Clean Water Act Wars
I confess. It’s hard to keep up with the state of play in the nationwide and California efforts to defend Clean Water section 401, which gives states and some tribes authority to ensure that federal actions meet state and tribal water quality standards…
What the Governor Wants, He Gets?
Governors Brown and Newsom have made no secret of their strong support for the construction of another west-side off-stream reservoir to park Sacramento River water. Such a giant reservoir would exist in the seismically prone valleys of the Coast Range west of the Central Valley…
The Bay-Delta Plan Staff Report and the Real “Healthy Rivers Alternative”
The California State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board or Board) recently released its Draft Staff Report for the Phase II Update of the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan (Bay-Delta Plan or Plan). This report, and the process to update the Bay-Delta Plan, will have critical implications for the health of California rivers and ecosystems. Unfortunately, the Staff Report outlines several options that will fail to protect the Delta and its tributary rivers…
Disrespecting Republican Icons
Republican California Governor Ronald Reagan signed the legislation creating the California wild & scenic river system in 1972. In 1989, California Governor George Deukmejian (the Duke), also a Republican, signed legislation providing similar protection for the McCloud River under the state Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. Current House Republicans are working to dismantle these protections…