It's been a wild year in the KRV and businesses and nonprofits are feeling the pinch
Steven Mayer, The Bakersfield Californian
Updated 5 min read
Aug. 12—In a normal year, the Kern River Conservancy hires staff to help out during the nonprofit's busy summer season.
But this year has been anything but normal for the organization based in the Kern River Valley.
"Not this year," said Gary Ananian, the conservancy's executive director. "We have no funding."
Nonprofit giving is down nationwide, according to CalNonprofits, a statewide membership organization with nearly 10,000 nonprofits as members.
Nonprofits in the U.S. received $55 billion less in donations last year, the organization reported, and as a percentage of disposable personal income, nonprofit giving dropped to a 40-year low of just 1.7%.
"Nonprofits are the lifeline of rural communities in America," said Ananian, whose organization hosts large-scale trash and graffiti clean-ups along the river, and promotes environmental education, river safety and responsible use of the Kern.
But the national trend, Ananian said, is only part of the story. The KRV is separate, geographically, and there are many factors that play into the decline the nonprofit is seeing, a decline that is much more pronounced than the national numbers.
Last year, local giving by valley businesses was down about 20%, Ananian said. This year, it's approaching 50%.
Why is the funding slowdown happening now?
"The flood event in March, forest closures and river closures have had a huge impact here economically," he said of the powerful, wet winter and spring that affected the region up and down the Kern River watershed.
Chronic road closures on Highway 178 through the Kern River Canyon didn't help, local business owners say. Monthslong closures on Highway 155, which normally offers a picturesque way in and out of of the valley via Glennville, also hurt business.
And the closure of Sierra Way, a county road that traverses the back side of Isabella Lake, tacked on several extra miles for some travelers.
Many KRV businesses are feeling stressed financially, businesses whose generosity and support have long been crucial to the conservancy's effectiveness, said Ananian, who also serves on the board of the Kernville Chamber of Commerce.
"What was supposed to be a blockbuster summer turned out to be a sleeper," Ananian said.
Amanda Pascoe, owner of Rivernook Campground in Kernville, said business was directly impacted by the spring flooding and the damage it caused — and by the high river levels that came with the spring and summer thaw.
"We temporarily shut down after the flooding," Pascoe said. And even after Rivernook was able to reopen, due to high river levels and safety concerns, they closed about half of the campground.
"A lot of people who would normally come up to enjoy the river, they were very concerned about the level of the river," she said.
Flow levels on the Kern have since receded, and the campground is fully open. But there was no way to recover the lost revenue.
Pascoe knows she's not alone. She's heard from other business owners in the valley who also say they're down this year.
"It didn't turn out the way we thought," said Cheryl Borthick, longtime owner of Cheryl's Diner in Kernville and past president of the Kernville Chamber.
After more than a half-dozen years working on the Isabella Dam Safety Modification Project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced in late 2022 that the work on the dam was essentially finished.
But Ananian and others believe the effect from all those contractors and workers going home contributed to the slump.
"There were hundreds of dam workers who were getting over $100 of daily per diem for food," Ananian said. "These guys would go eat at all the eateries in town for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the bars, not to mention all the lodging and Airbnbs they stayed at when they were here."
Still, businesses were expecting a pretty solid year, Borthick said. The lake filled nearly to the top for the first time in years. The drought ended. And the river was awe-inspiring.
"I'll be brutally honest," she said. "We got some terrible publicity."
Ananian agreed.
"There was a lot of misinformation about the Kern River Valley being closed or wiped off the map from the flooding," he said.
It's been a double-edged sword. For every plus, there seemed to be a minus. The water level has been so healthy, Borthick said, local whitewater adventure outfits are going to be able to raft into the fall.
But Riverside Park was practically destroyed in the March floods, she said of the popular county park in Kernville.
"They are finally getting around to that."
The weather has been beautiful, she said, and visitors are swarming, including tourists from Europe.
"I have been extremely busy," Borthick said. "But I've had to hire more people. All of that has been eaten up by 16% inflation, in food and labor costs."
Both Pascoe and Borthick have had to pull back on donations to the conservancy.
Ananian believes local businesses and residents in the valley understand how important the conservancy has been in keeping the river clean and inviting for travelers and tourists.
"The local businesses here benefit from ecotourism every summer," he said. "And those same businesses are generous enough to donate a percentage of their proceeds back to us so we can use that money to take care of the river and the campgrounds in the forest.
"This way, access is always open and it's clean for people to keep coming back and enjoying the Kern River."
Volunteers, Ananian said, are the backbone of the conservancy and the community.
"We all know that rural communities are underserved and ignored by government resources. We are always the last to receive any help, so it's nonprofits like Kern River Conservancy that fill the void and provide community services — with help from local businesses who donate to keep our mission going."
Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.
