Tuesday February 20, 2024
SJV Water —
Avid cyclist and angler Jonathan Vegas was thrilled last fall when he read that a local judge had issued an injunction requiring the City of Bakersfield to keep enough water in the Kern River to support fish populations.
“It’s a dream of mine to be able to leave my backyard, take a two mile trip and be fishing right in town,” the construction worker told SJV Water. “How amazing would that be?”
So, he was dismayed when he saw water dwindling in the riverbed west of town. At this point, he said, by the time the Kern River reaches Enos lane, the braided flows have mostly petered out leaving just a smattering of shrinking pools and dead and dying fish as he shows in a video he shot Feb. 11.
Vegas said he was unclear until then that the injunction issued Oct. 30 by Kern County Superior Court Judge Gregory Pulskamp only affects six weirs operated by the city from about Hart Park to the McClung weir, three miles west of Allen Road.