The Southern Sierra Fly Fishers has received a $120,000 grant through the Hatchery Wells Project.

This final and fifth grant  is designated for the construction and development of additional water wells to provide a dependable water source to the Kern River Fish Hatchery. The other four grants were issued in 2007 and have been in operation since that time.

The Hatchery Wells Project grant was approved by the Board of Directors of the Kern Community Foundation back in April 2007 and then approved for issuance by the Upper Kern Basin Fishery Resource Trust. Delay in the issuance of this grant has been a county land transfer between the Kern River Fish Hatchery and the U.S. Forest Service. The source of the reported grants comes from earnings of the endowment fund established in connection with the 1996 re-licensing of Southern California Edison Company’s Kern River Hydroelectric Plant #3.

This endowment fund, totaling approximately $2.3 million, is held and managed by the Kern Community Foundation, and has as its primary objective, the "net gain in population, size and viability of Kern River rainbow trout."

The mission of Kern Community Foundation is to enhance the quality of life for all the people of Kern County by encouraging philanthropy, providing services to the donors and assisting those who serve to meet the needs of the community. The Kern Fisheries Trust Fund is funded from an endowment fund from Southern California Edison Company.