BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The City of Bakersfield has responded to the state attorney general’s friend-of-the-court brief in support of restoring water year-round to the Kern River.
The city attorney’s office tells the 5th District Court of Appeals that Bring Back the Kern and its fellow plaintiffs, as well as California Attorney General Rob Bonta, are misguided in their arguments to compel the city of Bakersfield to stop diverting water from the Kern River.
The plaintiffs, according to the city, have asserted claims only against Bakersfield, even though several entities take water through six diversion weirs. Focusing all of their claims against Bakersfield is futile, the city claims, because most of the water flow is controlled by others.
The city also said it has been trying for decades to convince the state to keep 50,000 acre-feet per year of forfeited, unappropriated water in the Kern River.
Next up: A status conference on the matter in Bakersfield on Nov. 14.
You can read this city’s filing at 5th District Court of Appeals at this link .