Full Notification

Wildfires are a significant concern for Bear Valley Springs and neighboring communities. We have seen the recent devastation in Southern California and know how critical it is to be prepared for the worst.

At the January 9th board meeting, the Board of Directors and CSD staff provided a number of updates related to wildfire safety, both short-term and long-term:

-Bear Valley Springs has 653 fire hydrants. As of 1/9/25, 651 of them are operational. The other two need valve repairs, parts have been ordered and those will be completed soon.

-The CSD has created a new Standard Operating Procedure for hydrant inspections and testing. Under this SOP, the CSD will be reinspecting and testing all hydrants in our service area in 2025. The Kern County Fire Department will also be completing their annual inspections of all Fire Hydrants

-The CSD has entered into a new agreement with the Kern County Fire Department to manage hydrant inspections.

-The Bear Valley Springs Association and the Community Services District are working together to monitor water levels at our lakes, which can be used for firefighting efforts:
    -Four million gallons of water have been added to Cub Lake over the past week, bringing the total to 20 million gallons.
    -Four Island Lake has a total of 67 million gallons, with space for an additional 13.5 million more.
    -Jack’s Hole has five million gallons available for an emergency.

-The CSD has backup generators at our Cummings Valley Wells and at booster stations across the valley.

-The CSD has 43 storage tanks that can hold a total of 4.5 million gallons of water.

-The CSD Board of Directors has assigned various committees to review different aspects of wildfire preparation, including flow capabilities of our water system, water storage, evacuation plans, disaster recovery, and business continuity.

The Community Services District will continuously review our emergency preparations. We invite everyone in the community to participate and give their input by attending board and/or committee meetings. The meeting schedule and agendas can be found here: https://www.bvcsd.org/agendas. You can also email Communications Specialist Jeff Lenk, jlenk@bvcsd.org.