It isn’t just water that’s been barreling down the Kern River in this historic water year. Trees, shrubs, trash –  even old appliances – have come swirling down the river bed, plucked out by heavy equipment and piled on the banks in massive heaps. City of Bakersfield crews, along with other agencies, worked round the clock getting debris out of the swollen river after the March 10 storm drenched the valley and flushed low elevation snow through the system. The amount of debris has diminished but with this year’s runoff expected to break records, it could still be a problem. In past years, the City of Bakersfield would have cleared away most of that debris when it was dry in anticipation of exactly this type of big water year.