LOIS HENRY: California water 'stockings' stuffed with federal money - The Bakersfield Californian
Christmas appeared to come early for California water interests with more than $1 billion in federal funding for a variety of projects packed into the recent federal funding bill that included COVID-19 relief. At the top of the list for the San Joaquin Valley is $206 million to aid in repairing the Friant-Kern Canal. The funding bill also includes $28 million for San Joaquin River Restoration. It has another $8 million to “repair Bureau of Reclamation canals” specifically to help recharge aquifers to comply with the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, according to a news release from Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office. And there’s a small but significant stocking stuffer to create and fund a new “Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program” within the Department of the Interior, which could be extremely helpful for San Joaquin Valley water managers. (See sidebar.) All of this funding is, of course, assuming the overall spending bill is signed, or approved over veto,...