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Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater

Local Agencies Shirk Groundwater Accountability

February 28, 2021 By Eric Caine 7 Comments

Stanislaus River

Local experts on water and water use like Vance Kennedy were apoplectic when farmers planted almonds and walnuts in the foothills of eastern Stanislaus County, where one of the last viable aquifers in the San Joaquin Valley provided enough groundwater for tens of thousands of acres of trees. “That aquifer should be saved for use in an emergency,” said Kennedy, a retired hydrologist formerly with U.S. Geological Survey. Today, obeying […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: Almond Orchards eastern Stanislaus County, Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, San Joaquin Valley groundwater, Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

Lawsuit Forces Reckoning on Groundwater Authorities

March 22, 2020 By Eric Caine 1 Comment

Groundwater flow charty

In a suit listing dozens of defendants, including Groundwater Sustainability Agencies for the Oakdale Irrigation District, Stanislaus County, and the cities of Stockton, Lodi, and Manteca, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance  (CSPA) has alleged that in adopting their Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP), the various agencies and authorities involved failed to follow procedures required by California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) which was signed into law September 16, 2014. More critically, […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, ground water Stanislaus County, Oakdale Irrigation District water sales

Draining the Last Great Aquifer: a Group Project

December 8, 2019 By Eric Caine 8 Comments

California map of critically overdrafted groundwater basins

Environmentalists who had high hopes Gavin Newsom would lead the way to sustainable water use in the San Joaquin Valley are waking up to the knowledge that the new governor isn’t going to be any more effective than the old governor. Sustainability is just too big a lift. Even before Newsom took office, the terms of the water debate were morphing from “sustainability” to “voluntary agreements.” Not long after, sustainability […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: California groundwater law, Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, San Joaquin Valley groundwater, Sustainable Groundwater Management Act

Water: “We farm, you pay.” Subsidence and Socialism in the Valley

March 25, 2019 By Eric Caine 9 Comments

Among the more persistent mythologies of the American west, few are as enduring and erroneous as those about water, especially here in the San Joaquin Valley. The one consistent element in all of them is that no matter what’s wrong, “It’s all government’s fault.” So it is that when California became the last state in the nation to regulate groundwater, the cry went up that water shortages are, “All the […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: California groundwater, California groundwater law, Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, groundwater Stanislaus County

Fallow Me to Water? Not Likely

February 26, 2019 By Eric Caine 14 Comments

For the better part of thirty years, Modesto’s Vance Kennedy has been trying to tell people we don’t have enough water. Now in his mid-nineties, Kennedy is a retired hydrologist who received the highest possible service award from the Environmental Protection Agency when he was with the United States Geological Survey. In an announcement bound to foment even more than the usual furor over water issues, the Public Policy Institute […]

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: Almond Orchards eastern Stanislaus County, Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, mining groundwater

Did Trinitas Leave OID Holding the Bag (Again)?

February 12, 2018 By Eric Caine 3 Comments

When the big-time investors from the Bay Area showed up in Oakdale saying they were ready to become farmers, the city swooned. Oakdale Irrigation District (OID) was entranced by their offer to build infrastructure for water deliveries and offered them bargain-basement water rates and a sweet annexation deal, even while it had previously denied many long-term farmers’ applications. When a few local farmers suggested Trinitas Partners was yet another “turn […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, Trinitas Almonds, Trinitas Partners Oakdale

Groundwater Extraction Needs Oversight Now, Says Kennedy

July 4, 2017 By admin 4 Comments

Dr. Vance Kennedy

Dr. Vance Kennedy is a retired research hydrologist, with degrees in chemical engineering, geochemistry, and geology. There are hundreds of deep wells in the foothills east of the San Joaquin Valley, especially in Stanislaus and Merced Counties. They are depleting the general water table at an alarming rate. When that water table drops by several hundred feet, no one will be able to live there who relies on groundwater because […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: California groundwater law, eastern Stanislaus County almond orchards, Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, mining groundwater

Parting the Waters: No Ag Miracles

November 8, 2016 By Eric Caine 7 Comments

They’re still planting trees. Look anywhere around the northern San Joaquin Valley and you’ll see saplings—mostly almonds—being hurled into the ground like spears. This during the worst drought in memory. Most of the new orchards will have few or no surface water rights. They will be strictly groundwater-dependent. And that’s just one reason opposition to the state’s proposals for increased flows along Valley rivers rings so false. “If you increase […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Almond orchards Stanislaus County, Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, San Joaquin Valley aquifer

Groundwater: Why Regulation Fails

August 22, 2015 By Eric Caine 2 Comments

Despite state-mandated regulation, vast stores of groundwater have disappeared from the Colorado River Basin and the Ogallala Aquifer. The water is gone for a simple reason: More has been taken out than has come in. The simple notion of overdrafting—taking more from an account than has been put in— is something people learn early on when it comes to checking accounts. “Money in minus money out” is the basis for […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, Stanislaus County groundwater

Pawns in the Water Game

June 30, 2015 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

Dr. Vance Kennedy was visiting Modesto Reservoir in eastern Stanislaus County last week when someone asked him what the likelihood is that almond orchards around the reservoir are pumping water from the reservoir via seepage into nearby aquifers. “One-hundred percent,” replied Kennedy.  Kennedy retired from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) after winning its highest possible award. His special expertise is in tracing sediments in water, but he’s well versed in […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: eastern Stanislaus County almond orchards, Eastern Stanislaus County groundwater, Vance Kennedy hydrologist

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