Little Kern River

Kern River
Rio de San Felipe, La Porciuncula, Po-sun-co-la, Porsiuncula River
River
Panorama of the upper Kern River
Country	United States
State	California
Regions	Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley
Districts	Tulare County, Kern County
City	Bakersfield
Source	Kings-Kern Divide
- location	Sequoia National Park
- elevation	13,608 ft (4,148 m)
- coordinates	36°41′48″N 118°23′53″W / 36.69667°N 118.39806°W / 36.69667; -118.39806
Mouth	Buena Vista Lake Bed
- location	San Joaquin Valley
- elevation	299 ft (91 m)
- coordinates	35°16′4″N 119°18′25″W / 35.26778°N 119.30694°W / 35.26778; -119.30694Coordinates: 35°16′4″N 119°18′25″W / 35.26778°N 119.30694°W / 35.26778; -119.30694
Length	164 mi (264 km)
Basin	3,612 sq mi (9,355 km2)
Discharge	for Near Democrat Springs, CA
- average	946 cu ft/s (26.79 m3/s)
- max	47,000 cu ft/s (1,330.89 m3/s)
- min	10 cu ft/s (0.28 m3/s)
Map of the San Joaquin and Tulare Basin region with the Kern River highlighted. Some rivers shown are intermittent or normally dry. A few selected canals are shown. Below: Map of the San Joaquin and Tulare Basin region showing the old lakes and river courses.

The Kern River is a 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 only major river in the Sierra Nevada mountain range that drains in a southerly direction.

The Kern River formerly emptied into the now dry Buena Vista Lake and Kern Lake via the Kern River Slough, and Kern Lake in turn emptied into Buena Vista Lake via the Connecting Slough at the southern end of the Central Valley. Buena Vista Lake, when overflowing, first backed up into Kern Lake and then upon rising higher drained into Tulare Lake via Buena Vista Slough and a changing series of sloughs of the Kern River. The lakes were part of a partially endorheic basin that sometimes overflowed into the San Joaquin River. This basin also included the Kaweah and Tule Rivers, as well as southern distributaries of the Kings that all flowed into Tulare Lake.

Since the late 19th century the Kern has been almost entirely diverted for irrigation, recharging aquifers and the California Aqueduct, although some water empties into Lake Webb and Lake Evans, two small lakes in a portion of the former Buena Vista Lakebed. The lakes were created in 1973 for recreational use. The lakes hold 6,800 acre·ft (8,400 dam³) combined. Crops are grown in the rest of the former lakebed. In extremely wet years the river will reach the Tulare Lake basin through a series of sloughs and flood channels.