Kern Island Canal is an irrigation canal in Kern County, California. It primarily irrigates farmland located on the Kern Lakebed, south of Bakersfield. It originates from a common diversion at Manor Street in Bakersfield, which also supplies the Carrier Canal and Eastside Canal. The common diversion originates from the Kern River about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Gordon's Ferry. [1]
The canal travels south, roughly parallel to Union Avenue. At 30th Street, just north of SR 178 (Crosstown Freeway), it shifts farther west, running closer to R Street. From here, the canal travels through the Mill Creek Linear Park and Central Park. From there, it continues to meander south until just north of Brundage Lane, where it diverges. The three branches are known as the West, Central, and East Branch. They terminate at the Kern Lakebed.
Part of the canal was dug with the Souther Ditch Plow. It is capable of cutting a furrow 5 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The plow weighed 1,400 pounds and used 40 oxen to pull. It has been restored and is located at the Kern County Museum. [2]
Tulare Lake or Tache Lake is a freshwater lake in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California, United States. Historically, Tulare Lake was once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. For thousands of years, from the Paleolithic onward, Tulare Lake was a uniquely rich area, which supported perhaps the largest population of Native Americans north of present-day Mexico.
The Governor Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct is a system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys of Northern and Central California to Southern California. Named after California Governor Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown Sr., the over 400-mile (640 km) aqueduct is the principal feature of the California State Water Project.
The Kern River is an Endangered, Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately 165 miles (270 km) long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfield. Fed by snowmelt near Mount Whitney, the river passes through scenic canyons in the mountains and is a popular destination for whitewater rafting and kayaking. It is the southernmost major river system in the Sierra Nevada, and is the only major river in the Sierra that drains in a southerly direction.
The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about 73 miles (117 km) long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is just over 210 miles (340 km). The main stem Feather River begins in Lake Oroville, where its four long tributary forks join—the South Fork, Middle Fork, North Fork, and West Branch Feather Rivers. These and other tributaries drain part of the northern Sierra Nevada, and the extreme southern Cascades, as well as a small portion of the Sacramento Valley. The total drainage basin is about 6,200 square miles (16,000 km2), with approximately 3,604 square miles (9,330 km2) above Lake Oroville.
Friant Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the San Joaquin River in central California in the United States, on the boundary of Fresno and Madera Counties. It was built between 1937 and 1942 as part of a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) water project to provide irrigation water to the southern San Joaquin Valley. The dam impounds Millerton Lake, a 4,900-acre (2,000 ha) reservoir about 15 miles (24 km) north of Fresno.
The Colorado–Big Thompson Project is a federal water diversion project in Colorado designed to collect West Slope mountain water from the headwaters of the Colorado River and divert it to Colorado's Front Range and plains. In Colorado, approximately 80% of the state's precipitation falls on the West Slope, in the Rocky Mountains, while around 80% of the state's growing population lives along the eastern slope, between the cities of Fort Collins and Pueblo.
Isabella Dam is an embankment dam located in the Kern River Valley, about halfway down the Kern River course, between the towns of Kernville and Lake Isabella in Kern County, California.
Shafter Airport, also known as Minter Field and formerly known as Air Corps Basic Flying School, is a public use airport located four nautical miles east of the central business district of Shafter and 14 miles northwest of Bakersfield, a city in Kern County, California, United States. Originally a World War II primary training facility for pilots, it is currently a public airport owned by the Minter Field Airport District. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.
The Friant-Kern Canal is a 152 mi (245 km) aqueduct managed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in Central California to convey water to augment irrigation capacity in Fresno, Tulare, and Kern counties. A part of the Central Valley Project, canal construction began in 1949 and was completed in 1951 at a cost of $60.8 million.
Downtown is the central business district for Bakersfield, California. It contains several of the city's major theaters, sports complex, museums, and historical landmarks.
Carrier Canal is an irrigation canal in Kern County, California. It originates from a common diversion at Manor Street in Bakersfield, which also supplies the Kern Island Canal and Eastside Canal. The common diversion originates from the Kern River about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Gordon's Ferry. There are additional diversions from the Kern River at Golden State Highway and Coffee Road. The canal terminates at the Kern River, near Enos Lane west of Bakersfield. For its entire length, it runs roughly parallel to the Kern River.
Calloway Canal is an irrigation canal owned by the North Kern Water Storage District in Kern County, California. It originates from the Kern River, just east of Golden State Highway in Bakersfield. It terminates at reservoirs located south of Whisler Road and east of SR 99, near McFarland.
Beardsley Canal is an irrigation canal in Kern County, California. It originates at the Kern River, east of Gordon's Ferry and just west of the First Point of Measurement. It is the first diversion from the river in the San Joaquin Valley for agriculture irrigation. It terminates at reservoirs located in Famoso, just east of SR 99.
Eastside Canal is an irrigation canal in Kern County, California. It originates from a common diversion at Manor Street in Bakersfield, which also serves the Carrier Canal and Kern Island Canal. The common diversion originates from the Kern River, about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Gordon's Ferry. The canal terminates south of Bear Mountain Boulevard, just west of Arvin.
Stine Canal is an irrigation canal in Kern County, California. It originates from the Carrier Canal adjacent to SR 99. It terminates at a reservoir on Bear Mountain Boulevard, just east of Gosford Road.
Buena Vista Canal is an irrigation canal in Kern County, California. It originates from the Carrier Canal at Coffee Road. The canal terminates at Lake Webb and the Kern River.
Pioneer Canal is an irrigation canal in Kern County, California, United States. It originates from the Kern River just east of the Stockdale Highway bridge. It terminates at reservoirs just east of Interstate 5.
Gardner Army Airfield auxiliary fields were a number of airfields used during World War II to support the Gardner Army Airfield. May 12, 1943 the US Army leased 1,396.36 acres for Gardner Field, located 9 miles southeast of Taft, California. Gardner Army Airfield was named after Major John H. Gardner, a World War I aviator hero. The Army built three runways to support training activities need for World War II. From Gardner Army Airfield the United States Army Air Corps's Western Flying Training Command started training the needed pilots. To support the training of the many pilots, Gardner Army Airfield operated a number of auxiliary airfields. Some auxiliary fields were no more than a landing strip, others were other operation airfield that supported the training at the Gardner Army Airfield. The Vultee BT-13 Valiant and Boeing-Stearman Model 75 were the most common planes used for training at Gardner Army Airfields, but large bombers were trained also. Gardner Army Airfield auxiliary fields were:
Minter Army Airfield auxiliary fields were a number of airfields used during World War II to support the Minter Army Airfield near Shafter, California. Minter Army Airfield was also called Lerdo Field, after the nearby road. Minter Army Airfield also housed the Shafter Gap Filler Annex P-59A and Shafter Army Aviation Test Activity and opened in June 1941. An Army depot open on the base in October 1941, the Minter Sub-Depot, a division of the Sacramento Air Depot. Minter Army Airfield had 7,000 troops and civilians working at the base.