In a comment letter to the state Water Resources Control Board, one of the plaintiffs in the ongoing lawsuit over Kern River flows alleges information has been withheld from the region’s groundwater plan to the detriment of the river. Water Audit California states a number of entities, including the City of Bakersfield and its main drinking water purveyor California Water Services, “…failed to disclose the adverse impacts that their groundwater extraction is having on interconnected surface waters, thereby causing injury to the public trust and its biological components,” according to the June 20 letter. … Water Audit contends that diverting Kern River water into groundwater recharge basins that are then pumped for drinking water, creates an interconnectivity that may affect stream flows. … Kern’s plan states that there are no areas of interconnectivty in the subbasin per the definition under SGMA regulations, which is that there must be a continuous connection between underground and overlying surface water. 

Other groundwater news:

• The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.): Napa County halts compliance deal with ‘castle winery’ after discovering major groundwater discrepancy
• Public Policy Institute of California: Report: How much water is available for groundwater recharge in the Central Valley?
• KERO (Bakersfield, Calif.): Non-profit water agency (Water Association of Kern County) talks conservation, education, and storage
• KSBY (San Luis Obispo, Calif.): San Luis Obispo is one step closer to diversifying its water portfolio
• Northern California Public Media: Sonoma Valley eyes up conservation and recycling to protect limited (ground)water supplies