In the spring time, the snow in the High Sierras begins to melt across the vast 3,612 square miles of the Kern River Basin, which stretches from the jagged peaks of the Great Western Divide in the West, to the Sierra Crest in the East, and all the way past Mt. Whitney to the North. This melting snowpack is then caught by Lake Isabella, which can hold an impressive 568,075 acre feet of water (an acre foot is the volume of water it takes to cover an acre one foot deep with water). 

As the summer temperatures heat up in the Central Valley, the Army Corps of Engineers increases the rate of releases from the reservoir to support the needs of farmers and residents of the Valley. These higher flows last for much of the summer months.

Despite the the '19-20 winter being a below average snowpack year, Lake Isabella has still been consistently releasing over 1,000 cubic feet of water per second for much of the summer. On July 23rd, it was 1,200 cubic feet per second. For perspective, that means that right now the Kern River is releasing enough water to fill up an Olympic size swimming pool every 72 seconds, or 1,178 pools every single day!

If anyone ever tells you there isn't enough water in the Kern River, don't believe them. Our government and local business leaders need to know that keeping a portion of the river water inside the riverbed year round is non-negotiable. Water that flows through the riverbed can can still be put to productive urban or agricultural use, but only after it is allowed to sustain plant and animal life, and to improve quality of life for the half million people in Bakersfield that live near this majestic waterway.

In the 2 weeks since this petition went live we have already gathered over 1,000 signatures. We need your help to keep the momentum going. Please consider sharing this petition with your friends, family members, coworkers, or social media networks. Tell people what's happened to the Kern and how they can be a part of bringing it back to life.