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Water shortage to keep river dry this holiday

DROUGHT

BY JAMES GELUSO, Californian staff writer
e-mail: jgeluso@bakersfield.com | Saturday, Jun 30 2007 10:35 PM

Last Updated: Saturday, Jun 30 2007 10:38 PM

Independence Day will be a dry one this year, at least on the Kern River through Bakersfield.

Uncertainty about the supply of water from the State Water Project led the Kern County Water Agency to decide against putting water into the river.

"We really are, and have been, in a crisis mode of day-to-day operations," said Jim Beck, general manager of the agency.

Things were bad enough when water agencies found themselves in a dry year.

But on May 31, the state shut down the massive pumps that pull water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, citing concern about the threatened delta smelt, a fish that can be sucked into the pumps and killed.

Pumping resumed June 10 and is climbing back to normal, said Don Strickland, spokesman for the state Department of Water Resources.

He said the pumps have put as much as 2.7 million gallons per minute into the system, although the operators are still limiting operation in an attempt to limit harm to the fish.

Beck said his concern is in making sure there's enough water for use in Bakersfield, and he's not certain enough to warrant diverting some of the supply for recreational use.

But that doesn't mean you won't be able to see some water on the river.

"If you're willing to go to other portions of the river you'll be able to see it," Beck said.

Water will still be flowing down the Kern as far as the Calloway Weir, near the Golden State Avenue bridge over the river, Beck said.