Mass fish die off in the suddenly dry Kern River prompts state investigation
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is looking into the mass fish die off in the Kern River after the City of Bakersfield cut flows on Tuesday in order to do weir maintenance. “CDFW takes all instances of fish mortality seriously and is investigating what has occurred on the Kern and how it may relate to the authorizations that the City has from CDFW for work on the Kern,” wrote Julie Vance, regional manager of the agency’s central region, in an email. She provided SJV Water with a copy of a permit obtained by Bakersfield in February this year to replace the weir at Coffee Road and noted “…we are unclear at this time if the river drying is related to this project or some other work.” That project is separate from maintenance and sediment removal projects at Bellevue Weir across from the Park at River Walk on Stockdale Highway.