KERNVILLE, Calif. (KGET) — Three years ago, the Sierra foothill town of Kernville was practically swept away by record-breaking floods. They’ve put the town back together again in most respects, except one — reinforcement of the banks of popular Riverside Park. Disagreement lingers over the best way to go about that.
The question is aesthetics or safety; access to the river or mitigation. Back in 2023, devastating flooding through this mountain town 50 winding miles east Bakersfield overflowed the banks of the Kern River, the region’s economic lifeblood. Damage was significant. The raging water swept away the boulders that had been positioned to stabilize the banks — large, jagged rocks known as riprap, most often used on levees and freeway embankments to minimize erosion.
Kern County applied for and was granted $700,000 in federal FEMA dollars to repair the bank of the town’s popular Riverside Park, where kayakers and inner tubers play — and, with any luck, also eat in the restaurants, dance in the saloons and overnight in the motels…