Whitewater rafters portaged a boat for 16 miles beside the Kern River, protesting the removal of water for a hydropower plant. The facility's license is up for renewal.

As you float downriver, Simms shares facts about the Fairview Dam, which diverts 600 cubic feet of water per second through pipelines to generate electricity for Kern, Tulare and Los Angeles counties.

As the six boaters set out on the road beside Fairview Dam in late June, about three-fourths of the river’s flow was being diverted into a tunnel and coursing through pipelines that snake along ...