- The U.S Army Corps of Engineers is currently reviewing a request by power plant operators to reduce the outflow of the Lake Isabella Dam from it's currently outflow, which average about 600 cubic feet per second to 25 cubic feet per second.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The Lake Isabella Dam is operated by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers. However, the power plant that is directly south of it, which is powered by the water released by the dam, is owned by a separate entity, Isabella Partners.
Recently, Isabella Partners put in a request to the Army Corps of Engineers to reduce the outflow of the dam.
On December 15 the average output of the dam, which solely determines how full the Kern River is south of the dam, was around 650 cubic feet per second. This has resulted in a heavy flow that continues down the canyon and through Bakersfield. The request from Isabella Partners asks for that to be reduced to 25 CFS.
“Twenty-Five cubic feet per second is barely a trickle, if that,” said Gary Ananian, Director of the Kern River Conservancy, and a Kern River Valley Resident.
Ananian says he supports needed maintenance, but is also worried about the impact on the local economy.
“Kern River Valley gets really busy with tourism, for winter break. So all these people who are trying to come up here for their winter holiday are going to come up to an empty river.”
Arthur Cianello, the Kern River Watermaster who acts as a liaison between the Army Corps and water interests first down the river, said in an email that maintenance on the plant was needed due to the unusually high water year in 2023.
In a statement from the U.S Army Corps, they said that they are still reviewing the request, and plan to make a decision within the next few days. They said it is currently unclear how long the flows would be reduced.
“From a flood risk management perspective, we’re considering weather forecast information, available storage in the reservoir and how this may impact our ability to manage our project and the downstream flood risk to help keep the public safe. We’re also looking at the environmental impacts of the deviation in flow, in accordance with the National Environmental Compliance Act (NEPA),” the Army Corps said in a statement to 23ABC.
In an email Roger Kirk, representing the Isabella Partners, said the start date is unknown, but will not be on December 18 as previously requested. He said maintenance needs to be done soon and mentioned the need for the Army Corps to potentially increase outflows of the dam in preparation for winter storms.
With the timing of the flow reduction still unknown, Ananian hopes that once it is decided, it will be announced to the public.
“Transparency is always key when it comes to big projects like this, especially when it impacts the community and the local economy.”
The last time the flow was significantly reduced was in April, when the Army Corps stopped the flow out of the dam entirely so the power plant could fully open their gates, allowing the Isabella Dam to have complete control over the amount of water being released into the Kern river. The process of slowly reducing the flow, which was at roughly 1,000 CFS, opening the gates at the power plant, and resuming the flow, took about 18 hours.
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