A march in the mostly dry Kern River bed from the Panorama bluffs eight miles west to the Bellevue Weir started with about 30 people and gained steam to end with about 130 marchers, according to organizers.
“It was successful for what we wanted to do,” said Chris Molina, an organizer with the public interest group Bring Back the Kern. “What we wanted was to get media attention as a last-minute rallying cry to hopefully put pressure on the court to lean in favor of a flowing river. And the event exceeded our expectations.”
He referred to a hearing scheduled for Thursday, March 20 before the 5th District Court of Appeals in Fresno on whether to uphold a preliminary injunction issued by Kern County Superior Court Gregory Pulskamp in October 2023 mandating the City of Bakersfield keep enough water in the river for fish to survive.
“Their decision will have an enormous impact on the river for future generations,” Bring Back the Kern said in a previous statement. “If they rule in our favor (as the state AG wants them to), the preliminary injunction will be back in place, meaning the river will start flowing again, regardless of how long the full court case takes.”…