BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — There is new information on the river siphons that were installed in the Kern River near the Coffee Road Bridge to help with the flow and protect a vital intersection of the river and several canals.
Officials say so far, the project has been a success.
More than two dozen river siphons were installed in mid-March over the course of more than two weeks. The siphons carry the water up and over the "sand plug" to relieve some of the pressure on the smallest weir on the river through Bakersfield. Relieving the pressure helps to divert some of the flow into the Arvin-Edison Canal and Kern Canal.
Tim Ashlock is the Engineer Manager for the Buena Vista Water Storage District in Buttonwillow. His district got permission from the City of Bakersfield to install the pipes. He says now that the siphons are doing their job, he can look ahead to big demands for irrigation water next month.
"Some of the districts are probably still pumping," said Ashlock. "Some of them, they just don't have facilities to distribute that much water or have choking point somewhere. But there's a lot of districts that will use almost nothing but surface water, ours being one of them."
According to Ashlock, the district has created several recharge ponds, including 2,100 acres of the old McCallister Ranch development on Panama Lane. He says the golf course was built below ground, creating the perfect banking ponds over 18 holes.
The project was in cooperation with the Rosedale Rio Bravo Water District.
