www.bakersfield.com/news/columnist/henry/x2120045792/LOIS-HENRY-More-wells-go-dry-in-Rosedale

Lois Henry, columnist

The Bakersfield Californian

Saturday, Jul 31 2010 06:10 PM

Last Updated Saturday, Jul 31 2010 06:10 PM

Gaylord Beeson was spooked by what he heard at a landowners meeting put on by the Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District in May.

Massive pumping operations by the Kern Water Bank and Kern County Water Agency were draining away Rosedale's groundwater, according to Rosedale district officials.

People's wells were going dry. The district has since filed two lawsuits against the water banks.

"That scared me," Beeson said. "I stood up at the meeting back then and said it was immoral. And it is. They (the water banks) are stealing our water."

On Thursday, his worst fears came true. Beeson's western Rosedale community's well went dry.

That well served 32 homes near Rosedale Highway and Wegis Avenue, according to Beeson's wife, Pamela Kaspar.

Homes still have a small trickle through an emergency tie-in with Vaughn Water Company, but only enough to keep the toilets running, Kaspar said.

The Goose Lake well is 260 feet deep. It's old but they had it worked on just last year and everything was fine.

Because of its age, Kaspar said, they can't just have the well lowered. The community will have to kick in to drill a whole new well in a different location to 800 feet. Cost is about $110 a foot, plus electrical, piping and other costs.

That's a lot of money for something that didn't have to happen, not only to this community but to the dozen or so other families who've already been down this road. "Oh my gosh! Those poor people," was Ana Lopez's reaction when she heard about this latest well going dry.

She and her husband, Paul, have been struggling to keep their home and care for their four children since their community well dried up around Christmastime.

The Lopezes are trying to save enough to hook into Vaughn's system. But it's expensive, around $10,000. Most other residents in her neighborhood have already packed up and left.

Vaughn, the largest commercial water operation in the area, isn't having the same problems because its wells are drilled to 1,200 feet, manager Michael Huhn told me. At a cost of about $2 million, that's a little out of range for most homeowners on community wells, which are sprinkled throughout Rosedale.

"No one has come to talk to us about what's going on," Ana Lopez said. "We haven't heard anything." Unfortunately, the outlook isn't good, according to Eric Averett, general manager of Rosedale-Rio Bravo.

The area where wells are going belly up seems to be expanding, he said. Besides the Goose Lake well, he said he had calls on two other wells last week.

He expects more calls as the groundwater continues to drain toward pumping depressions created by the water banks, which are tucked along Rosedale-Rio Bravo's southern edge.

The banking projects have ceased pumping this summer as an above average snowfall year has brought more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to area farms and Southern California cities.

But the void created by previous pumping is so great it's still sucking groundwater from surrounding lands, according to Averett.

The district's groundwater expert believes it could take years before the water table stops declining beneath the Rosedale area, Averett said.

"What we're seeing now is just the initial wave of people affected." The Kern County Water Agency disputes that its banking projects are at fault.

General Manager Jim Beck has said previously that the banks have brought in far more water than they've extracted over their years of operation.

The banks have had to take out more water in recent years, he said, because of a combination of drought and environmental rulings that restricted the amount of water growers and cities could receive from Northern California.

He said while the agency is sympathetic to landowners, no one has shown specific impacts attributable to the banking projects.

Rosedale-Rio Bravo has, however, commissioned reports that show the intensity of pumping from water banks has taken a vast amount of water in a very short time.

Between 1981 and 2006, 94,000 acre feet were pumped out of two agency banks. Between 2007 and 2009, 290,000 acre feet were pumped out of those same projects, according to Agency figures obtained by Rosedale-Rio Bravo.

The district is also concerned that traditional groundwater mounding beneath the Kern River channel has morphed into a trough that acts as a drain for surrounding groundwater.

So, even though Rosedale-Rio Bravo has brought more recharge water into the district than anytime in its history, and water is being run down the river bed this year, none of it is stabilizing the water table.

"We've brought in close to 30,000 acre feet of water and a lot of it has been recharged right next to wells that we're monitoring and we're not seeing one bit of benefit," he said.

That doesn't bode well for Beeson and Kaspar, the Lopezes and many others.

Beeson recalled how his father farmed in the area for decades until he quit because the water table had dropped more than 100 feet over a 30-year span.

"Now, we're talking about the water table dropping hundreds of feet in three years from them pumping our water out all because of greed!" Beeson said.

I think Beeson was right: It is immoral.

Opinions expressed in this column are those of Lois Henry, not The Bakersfield Californian.

Her column appears Wednesdays and Sundays. Comment at people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/noholdsbarred, call her at 395-7373 or e-mail lhenry@bakersfield.com

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alatinteacher 2 weeks ago
JKeyes and 8 more liked this.
When all those house tracts were being built with 2,000+ square foot houses, wasn't this foreseeable? Also, correct me if I"m wrong, but is there Kern water that's being sold to the L.A area. I guess L.A used up all the nearby water that they had.
P6 and 4 more liked this.
Sounds like the traffic problem on the west side. Lack of planning by the city and county has led to many problems. This is just another example and likely not the last. Cheap housing is great until you lose the services you can't afford because of a lack of infrastructure.
P6 2 weeks ago in reply to Promo
1 person liked this.
promo is right. Its time to start planning better before we allow more building. By the way, who owns the water rights in these areas?
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pkaspar 2 weeks ago
4 people liked this.
I am one of the 32 homeowners affected. It should be noted that this is not a new sub-division. 30 years ago when our home was built, our well was the only option for a water supply. It was originally an agricultural well. As far as the water rights, we were here before Kern Water Bank. We are part of Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District, and believe our well was affected by the masssive draw down of our water table by Kern Water Bank and Kern County Water Agency.
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I am curious to know what happens when the water banks deposit water. Also, can you tell me what your water district is asking for in the lawsuit? These points were not addressed in Ms. Henry's article.
By the way, are those water tanks safe? They look hazardous.
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Oh yeah, those wacko environmental groups and all those lawsuits are to blame for the deforestation and water crisis. It could never be the strip mining that has occurred for much of the last two centuries, or the clear cutting by the logging industry, or the continual motorized off-road enthusiasts who have harmed nature in any way. Just those pesky litigious environmentalists, and those activist judges. The huge drop in the water table has nothing to do with with the various industrial moguls, and their corporate water district fiefdoms pumping out vast amounts of a public resource for private profit. Yep, just those old hippies with lawsuits to blame.
maybelline 2 weeks ago in reply to pkaspar
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adampayne 2 weeks ago
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8/17/10 13:42
4 of 7
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/columnist/henry/... LOIS HENRY: More wells go dry in Rosedale - Bakersf...
Jennifers7 1weekago
2 people liked this.
We live in the Gooselake Water District in Rosedale. This well is 40+-year-old agriculture well. It had never been cleaned and had 3 feet of sediment we were drinking until last year. Our well is not following state regulations for testing or how close to keep livestock. Our well was deemed contaminated for a short period for actual pollutants they do test for. Nitrates from septic tanks and pigs kept near the well were the cause. We have lived here 2 years. Last year my two-year-old daughter began having a serious life threatening medical condition. My 10 year old was getting migraines and my 8-year-old missed weeks of school last year due to illness. None of this happened prior to moving here. I have discovered that the well also had unhealthy levels of uranium. We don't drink the water but it is not even safe to bathe in. The board also did not get the title 22 testing required that would make this public. Our well is currently "dry” and our water even to give our livestock is monitored. Because I have asked for more testing at the board meetings I have been threatened, cussed out, had terrorist phone calls in the middle of the night, had the president of the board trespass onto my property numerous times. We have sheriff reports of this. They have slandered me to the other homeowners. I would personally consider all of these acts "immoral". I have decided to hire an attorney. I have made contact with the news. They are not interested in covering any other angle besides the Rosedale wells drying up.
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I feel very sorry for these people but this is not a new problem in Bakersfield. Ask the people in northeast Bakersfield who have been hauling water for many,many years.
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Thanks to Lois Henry for following up on this story. I was at the meeting with the water district and while it was a one sided presentation from Rosedale Rio Bravo, the Water Bank had a representative who spoke a few times, he had his talking points ready, his comments didn't convince me that they are not at fault.
As far as new homes causing problems, housing developments use much less water than an irrigated crop, so it is not the addition of homes. What has happened is the Water Bank had to pump too much water for agricultural irrigation due to the rationing of water from the Delta. According to the presentation, the water is not being sent to LA, I'm sure some is, but I don't think this is the problem here.
Water law is very complicated, I'm guessing that the Water Bank has some high powered lawyers, it looks to me like a David and Goliath, I just hope this story turns out like that one.
Watchdawg 2 weeks ago
2 people liked this.
dadofour 2weeksago
1 person liked this.
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Oxymoron 2 weeks ago
1 person liked this.
The time of backyard wells in Bakersfield are over. You bred them, now deal with it.
8/17/10 13:42
5 of 7
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/columnist/henry/... LOIS HENRY: More wells go dry in Rosedale - Bakersf...
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It sounds like a good ole frontier water rights problem. Bring in Burl Ives, Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Charlton Heston, Carol Baker and throw on Chuck Connors and you've got Big Country.
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If the Forest was healthy, there would be more water coming out of the mountains. But the environmental groups and their never ending lawsuits are destroying the forest and water coming to the Valley.
dgrealish 2 weeks ago
JKeyes 2 weeks ago
Oxymoron 2 weeks ago in reply to JKeyes
2 people liked this.
What a great expample of how bad the education system is in this country.
Your stupid reply has absolutely NOTHING to do with the story!
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marinemom 2 weeks ago in reply to Oxymoron
1 person liked this.
Oxymoron 2 weeks ago in reply to marinemom
4 people liked this.
It has everything to do with it mommy. When idiots like you and JKeyes are unable to recognize the real causes of this problem, it will just continue. I just don't know why I waste any time on you, because you mommy, are the root of the problem, idiots breeding.
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What does the education system have to do with the problem these people are having with their water supply? The cause of the problem is greed, higher population requiring/demanding more water, and changes in weather patterns that have led to drought over the past years. Calling me an idiot does nothing but make you look petty for my not agreeing with you.
marinemom 2 weeks ago in reply to Oxymoron
1 person liked this.
8/17/10 13:42
6 of 7
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/columnist/henry/... LOIS HENRY: More wells go dry in Rosedale - Bakersf...
Your bully tactics don't make me look bad, they reflect on your character instead.
How does the condition of the forest affect the amount of precipitation in that particular area?
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tonyh 2 weeks ago in reply to JKeyes
1 person liked this.
Looks like Bakersfield ain’t the place to own a home. You never know when that home will abruptly end up without water. I guess when the market picks up, I need to start selling my rentals and give up on returning home when I retire. That’s sad.