BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Bakersfield is reducing the amount of water released into the Kern River after the city's extra water supply ran out.
City leaders say after months of keeping water flowing through the Kern River channel since April, the available supply beyond what is needed for drinking water and environmental requirements has been exhausted.
Assistant Water Department Director Daniel Maldonado said early projections estimated the flow could last anywhere from six weeks to four months.
"That's all the available data that we had that six weeks would have been a bare minimum run that we could have attained. And then as we learned more, that snow melt in the Sierras, that melts into Lake Isabella and a cruise to the city of Bakersfield, it actually produced a lot more water than we were initially anticipating," Maldonado said.
Each year, the city reviews its water supplies to ensure drinking water treatment demands and contractual obligations are met before directing any remaining water toward surface recharge.
"Every year is different when we're reviewing our water supplies, of course, we go through the motions of making sure we're meeting our water treatment demands for drinking water, meeting our contractual obligations. And then anything above that is used for surface water recharge in the river channel as well as our facilities," Maldonado said.
Water department crews are now slowly reducing the amount of water being released into the river. The reduction is taking place downstream of a Callaway RiverWare near North Chester and Golden State Freeway.
"That is our last point of diversion, that will be met after July 31st. From August to September there is a pool of Kern River water that Kern River Channel that will stay wetted and keep water in that vicinity. And that's through September. As far as what happens after that, it's to be determined. We don't have an obligation to deliver water in that area as it stands now, but that could change," Maldonado said.
Maldonado said conserving water stored in Lake Isabella is a priority heading into the coming year.
"Making sure that we have that water available for the next year, because, as we know in Bakersfield and Kern County, drought is always around the corner, so we need to make sure that we're having that supply carried over to the next year to make sure that we can meet our drinking water demands in the event that there is a drought conditions," Maldonado said.
Bring Back the Kern, a group that advocates for the Kern River to continue flowing, issued a statement in response to the news.
"We are so happy that the city ran their water through the riverbed this summer. Having water in the river improves not only the local ecosystem but also our community. This is why Bring Back the Kern brought the lawsuit against the city. Right now the court case is in motion and we are waiting for our case regarding the removal of the injunction to be heard in the Supreme Court. Our full case is likely to go to trial in the fall of 2027. As nice as it has been to have water in the river during the summer we need much more steady and predictable flows to truly support the ecosystem and our community. This is why we are hoping that those in power will work together to come up with a real plan keep more water in the river more often."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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