Kern River Reduction In Water Flow Leads To Fish Kill Of 3,000

As the Kern County city of Bakersfield reduced flow in the Kern River as part of a repair job on weirs, the decision became an environmental disaster.

Here’s ABC 23 in Bakersfield with more:

“You see the deeper areas. There was a lot of water. Now, there’s only water over here,” Antje Lauer, a biology professor at California State University Bakersfield, said as she walked through the dry river bed of the Kern River. 

The city of Bakersfield reduced Kern River water flows on Sept. 3 to perform repairs and maintenance to the weir near the Stockdale Highway bridge. 

Lauer says as the water levels drop, the number of dead fish rises. 

“Fish don’t cry,” she said. “They don’t scream, but if you see them in shallow waters, gasping for air, it’s like heartbreaking.”

Another Bakersfield TV station, NBC affiliate KGET, reported that some of the fish found dead in the dry dirver bed were native Sacramento suckers.