State backs environmentalists after water shutoff kills thousands of fish in Kern River

LOS ANGELES — California officials have joined a legal effort to restore water to the Kern River after an abrupt shutoff of water dried up the river and killed thousands of fish in Bakersfield.

The decision by state officials and Attorney General Rob Bonta to intervene in the court case gives new impetus to environmental groups as they try to compel the city of Bakersfield and agricultural water districts to bring back a flowing river.

Bonta announced Monday that he and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife filed a brief supporting the environmental groups in their case before the state’s Fifth District Court of Appeal.

“California’s waterways and ecosystems are the lifeblood of our state’s rich and diverse wildlife and natural habitats,” Bonta said. “Yet, in Bakersfield, the sudden loss of Kern River flows due to the city officials’ decisions to divert all water away from the river, is leaving behind a dry wasteland where fish are dying in droves.”

The river suddenly dried up along several miles of its channel in Bakersfield starting in late August. Those who first noticed the abrupt loss of water included Rae McNeish, an associate professor at Cal State Bakersfield who was conducting biological surveys with her students.

They gathered data on the devastation as the flowing river dwindled to a dry riverbed, leaving masses of dead fish scattered on the sand and mud. By mid-September, they had counted more than 3,000 dead fish.

The collapse of the river came as a shock in Bakersfield, where residents had grown accustomed to seeing water flowing past parks and beneath bridges after two wet winters. It followed an appeals court ruling that cleared the way for city officials and water managers to reduce flows upstream, keeping some water behind a dam and sending other supplies to farms.

Bonta said with the filing of the amicus brief, “we urge the Court to allow enough water to flow in the Kern River, as required by law, to preserve ecosystems and ensure sustainability and viability of our fish populations.”

In the state’s friend-of-the-court brief, Bonta focused on the importance of a certain state environmental statute: Fish and Game Code Section 5937. It requires that all dam owners and operators release sufficient water to keep fish below the dams in “good condition.”

Six environmental groups have also cited this statute in their case. The groups, led by Bring Back the Kern and Water Audit California, sued Bakersfield in 2022, arguing that allowing water diversions to dry up the river violates California’s public trust doctrine, the principle that certain natural resources must be preserved for the public.

The city controls several weirs where water is diverted. Some of the water is used in Bakersfield, but much of it is used by agricultural water districts to supply farms that produce almonds, pistachios, grapes, oranges and other crops.

Last year, a judge granted the environmental groups a preliminary injunction requiring the city to ensure sufficient water to keep the river flowing and provide for fish. But earlier this year, an appeals court froze that order, effectively allowing for the river to be drained and dried up while the case is pending in Kern County Superior Court.

The attorney general’s office said in a news release that in late August, the city “once again diverted all of the flows from the Kern River below the Calloway Weir to deliver to agricultural customers, leaving thousands of fish to die.”

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