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Banner May 22, 2014

Your Online Water Encyclopedia

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Overview January 30, 2014

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CALFED
Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

CALFED

CALFED began as a cooperative state-federal planning effort between water, environmental, state and federal officials involved in the 1994 Bay-Delta Accord.

That accord aimed to protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and provide water to urban and agricultural interests.

Today, as part of the Delta Reform Act of 2009, the Delta Stewardship Council has in effect taken on the CALFED mission.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

California Aqueduct

The California Aqueduct, a critical part of the State Water Project, carries water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Deltato the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

California Endangered Species Act

California was the first state in the nation to protect fish, flora and fauna with the enactment of the California Endangered Species Act in 1970. (Congress followed suit in 1973 by passing the federal Endangered Species Act. See also the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES.)

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

California Environmental Quality Act

The California Environmental Quality Act, commonly known as CEQA, serves a key foundation for the state’s environmental protection efforts. The law requires that projects with the potential for significant impacts on the physical environment undergo an environmental review. [See also California water rights.]

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

California Gold Rush and Today’s Water

More than 100 years ago, California’s Gold Rush left a toxic legacy that continues to cause problems in Northern California watersheds.

The discovery of gold in John Sutter’s millrace at Coloma in the 1840s drew people from around the globe.

Over the course of decades, intense efforts were focused on washing and prying gold from the hills of the Sierra Nevada.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014 Layperson's Guide to California Water California Water Map Water & the Shaping of California

California Water Overview

Aerial view of the Sacramento-San Joaquin DeltaCalifornia will always be inextricably linked to its water resources. Water continues to shape the state’s development and no resource is as vital to California’s urban centers, farms, industry, recreation, scenic beauty and environmental preservation.

But California’s relationship to water is also one that continues to generate controversy.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

California Water Plan

Every five years the California Department of Water Resources releases an updated version of the California Water Plan— a comprehensive compilation of water data that guides future water policy in the state. The plan is commonly referred to as Bulletin 160.

Spurred by legislative mandate, the Water Plan serves as a guide for state and local officials as they pursue adequate water stewardship at a time of reduced allocations, drought and climate change.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

California Water Timeline

1769 First permanent Spanish settlements established. Water rights established by Spanish law.

1848 Gold discovered on the American River. Treaty of Guadalupe signed, California ceded from Mexico, California republic established.

1850 California admitted to Union. Construction begins on Delta levees and channels.

1860 Legislature authorizes the formation of levee and reclamation districts.

1862  Major flood in Sacramento Valley inundates new city.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

North Fork of the American River,  a section deemed wild and scenic. California’s Legislature passed the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1972, following the passage of the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act by Congress in 1968. Under California law, “[c]ertain rivers which possess extraordinary scenic, recreational, fishery, or wildlife values shall be preserved in their free-flowing state, together with their immediate environments, for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of the state.”

Rivers are classified as:

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Aquapedia background February 14, 2014

Francis C. Carr

Francis C. CarrFrancis C. Carr (1875-1944) and his descendants played a prominent role in the development of the federal Central Valley Project, including Shasta Dam, and the creation of the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.

In the Northern California community of Redding, he was a justice of peace, a renowned water rights attorney in the law firm of Carr and Kennedy and helped form the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District. He was often in the nation’s Capitol in Washington, D.C., advocating for funds from Congress to get this visionary project built for the benefit of all of California. In his honor, the Judge Francis Carr Powerplant was named after him.

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Carson River and the Newlands Project
Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Carson River and the Newlands Project

The Carson River begins in the Sierra Nevada southeast of Lake Tahoe as two separate forks.

The East Fork begins in the mountains of California’s Sonora Pass and after flowing through California and Nevada, it meets the West Fork just south of Carson City. The West Fork forms at California’s Carson Pass, running through California and into Nevada to its junction with the East Fork.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson (1907-1964) authored Silent Spring, a book published in 1962 about the impacts of pesticides on the ecosystem and credited with beginning the modern environmental movement.

Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, renamed the Fish and Wildlife Service, from 1935-1952 as a biologist and then editor-in-chief of publications.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014 Layperson's Guide to the Central Valley Project

Central Valley Project

Birthed in part by a long-ago federal effort to create farmland, the Central Valley Project today is one of the largest water storage and transport systems in the world. In years of normal precipitation, it stores and distributes about 20 percent of the state’s developed water through its massive system of reservoirs and canals.

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Central Valley Project Improvement Act
Aquapedia background January 30, 2014 Layperson's Guide to the Central Valley Project

Central Valley Project Improvement Act

The Central Valley Project Improvement Act supports a major federal effort to store and transport water in California’s Central Valley.

The 1992 Act changed operations of Central Valley Project; a major project that addresses flooding, storage and irrigation issues in the valley [see also Central Valley Project].

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Central Valley Wetlands and Riparian Habitat

In the Central Valley, wetlands—partly or seasonally saturated land that supports aquatic life and distinct ecosystems— provide critical habitat for a variety of wildlife.

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Aquapedia background February 10, 2014

Ira J. “Jack” Chrisman

Ira J. “Jack” Chrisman (1910-1988) became a well-known force in California’s water history beginning back in 1955 after his family home was flooded in the San Joaquin Valley town of Visalia.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Clifton Court Forebay and Banks Pumping Plant

The Clifton Court Forebay is a key part of the State Water Project (SWP) and serves as ground zero for the starting point of the California Aqueduct (which delivers water to Southern California). Clifton Court also recharges water in the San Joaquin Valley via the Delta-Mendota Canal.

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California Department of Water Resources snow survey in the Sierra Nevada.
Aquapedia background January 30, 2014 Layperson's Guide to Climate Change and Water Resources

Climate Change

Climate change involves natural and man-made changes to weather patterns that occur over millions of years or over multiple decades.

In the past 150 years, human industrial activity has accelerated the rate of change in the climate due to the increase in greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, among others). Scientific studies describing this climate change continue to be produced and its expected impacts continue to be assessed.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Coachella Valley

The Coachella Valley in Southern California’s Inland Empire is one of several valleys throughout the state with a water district established to support agriculture.

Like the others, the Coachella Valley Water District in Riverside County delivers water to arid agricultural lands and constructs, operates and maintains a regional agricultural drainage system. These systems collect drainage water from individual farm drain outlets and convey the water to a point of reuse, disposal or dilution.

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Aquapedia background August 15, 2016

Cogeneration

Process by which energy is extracted from the waste heat of an industrial process such as a steam boiler or food processing system.

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