Watch our series of short videos on the importance of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, how it works as a water hub for
California and the challenges it is facing.
When a person opens a spigot to draw a glass of water, he or she
may be tapping a source close to home or hundreds of miles away.
Water gets to taps via a complex web of aqueducts, canals and
groundwater.
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Unlike California’s majestic rivers and massive dams and
conveyance systems, groundwater is out of sight and underground,
though no less plentiful. The state’s enormous cache of
underground water is a great natural resource and has contributed
to the state becoming the nation’s top agricultural producer and
leader in high-tech industries.
A new era of groundwater management began in 2014 in California
with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The landmark law
turned 10 in 2024, with many challenges still ahead.
Time is running out to register for next Thursday’s Water
101 Workshop and go beyond the headlines to gain a
deeper understanding of how water is managed and moved across
California. Plus, only a handful of seats remain for the
opportunity to extend your ‘beyond the headlines’ water education
experience on the optional watershed tour the next day!
To replenish California’s
chronically depleted aquifers, the state’s Department of Water
Resources is taking a hard look at a new line of attack: Pairing
more sophisticated reservoir operations with groundwater
recharge. Water managers are aiming to make greater use of the
increased floodwater that’s expected to come with flashier, more
intense storms and earlier snowmelt.
A large coalition of Native American tribes, environmental
groups and fishing organizations is asking California Gov.
Gavin Newsom to oppose a federal plan to raise Shasta Dam,
saying it would harm rivers, wildlife and tribal lands. In a
letter sent to the governor, about 50 groups said the proposal,
backed by the Trump administration and some Central Valley
farming interests, would increase the height of Shasta Dam in
the Northstate. Supporters say the project could store more
water, but opponents argue the costs would be too
high. The groups say raising the dam would flood parts of
the McCloud River, which is protected under California
law.
It might seem like an April Fool’s joke. But it’s not. After a
month of dry and sometimes record hot weather, rain is finally
back in forecast. A low-pressure system from the Pacific
Northwest is expected to bring rain to much of Northern
California next Tuesday and Wednesday. The showers would be the
first rain in the area in a month — since March 2 — and
although it is still early, could generate half an inch to 1
inch of precipitation across the Bay Area. … The same
two-day system is also likely to bring 1 foot or more
of snow and cooler temperatures to the Sierra Nevada,
where ski resorts have been closing early for the season and
the snowpack has been dwindling due to record-high temperatures
in recent weeks.
Arizona has lost about 90% of its snowpack in just three weeks
following this month’s record-breaking heat wave, according to
a new survey. The snowpack in the White Mountains acts
like a slow-release savings account that feeds Phoenix’s
largest reservoirs. But this year, that bank is
emptying fast. … Arizona State University and SRP have been
tracking the snowpack from the sky using a new airborne survey
that measures snow across the entire watershed, not just one
spot. … SRP officials say runoff is still tracking below
normal. But with reservoirs slightly more than half full, they
say the water supply is stable for now as they wait for the
next big wet year.
Under the rusty cliffs of Marble Canyon, the start of the Grand
Canyon in Arizona, a nondescript river measurement gauge has
been tracking the flow of the Colorado River for decades. …
The Colorado River’s flows at the gauge, called Lees Ferry, are
fundamental to water sharing agreements among upstream states,
like Colorado, and downstream states including Arizona,
California and Nevada. If the river’s flow falls too low, the
three downstream states can raise a ruckus, arguing the
upstream states are breaking century-old agreements and forcing
the basin into a legal mire that might only be decided in the
U.S. Supreme Court.
Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the
Bay Model is a giant hydraulic replica of San Francisco
Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta. It is housed in a converted World II-era
warehouse in Sausalito near San Francisco.
Hundreds of gallons of water are pumped through the
three-dimensional, 1.5-acre model to simulate a tidal ebb
and flow lasting 14 minutes.
As part of the historic Colorado
River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for
thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below
sea level.
The most recent version of the Salton Sea was formed in 1905 when
the Colorado River broke
through a series of dikes and flooded the seabed for two years,
creating California’s largest inland body of water. The
Salton Sea, which is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, includes 130
miles of shoreline and is larger than Lake Tahoe.
Drought—an extended period of
limited or no precipitation—is a fact of life in California and
the West, with water resources following boom-and-bust patterns.
During California’s 2012–2016 drought, much of the state
experienced severe drought conditions: significantly less
precipitation and snowpack, reduced streamflow and higher
temperatures. Those same conditions reappeared early in 2021
prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom in May to declare drought emergencies
in watersheds across 41 counties in California.
