BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Flowing water, an essential resource, which is often overlooked. Now reduced from Stockdale Highway to the east by the city to address maintenance and infrastructure needs.
“We are taking too much water out and we are wasting too much water so if we would waste less water then we would not have the problem,” said Dr. Antje Lauer.
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Biologist Dr. Antje Lauer of CSUB said the city’s need to reduce river flow shows flaws in its water management. And if this goes on for too long it could have grave effects as fish are dying all along the river.
“If you have to do that you have to rescue as many animals as you can before you do that,” said Lauer.
In a statement from the organization Bring Back the Kern on the issue it states, “The city needs to change how it does channel maintenance and start treating the river as an important ecosystem, not just a canal for moving water and recharging groundwater. Other municipalities with perennial rivers have found ways to protect infrastructure from flooding without destroying river habitat.”