“Infrastructure” in general can be defined as the components and
equipment needed to operate, as well as the structures needed
for, public works systems. Typical examples include roads,
bridges, sewers and water supply systems.Various dams and
infrastructural buildings have given Californians and the West
the opportunity to control water, dating back to the days of
Native Americans.
Water management infrastructure focuses on the parts, including
pipes, storage reservoirs, pumps, valves, filtration and
treatment equipment and meters, as well as the buildings to
house process and treatment equipment. Irrigation infrastructure
includes reservoirs, irrigation canals. Major flood control
infrastructure includes dikes, levees, major pumping stations and
floodgates.
The Trump administration has canceled $33 million worth of
federal funds meant to help pay for earthquake retrofits in
California — sparking “grave concern” and a call to reconsider
from one of the state’s highest elected officials.
… FEMA issued a statement on April 4 announcing the
cancellation of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and
Communities program, known as BRIC, that would have funded the
California earthquake retrofits. … Also in jeopardy is up to
$50 million in funding apiece for a Port of San Francisco
coastal resilience project, a flood protection
project for the Menlo Park area, a flood
adaptation project in Oakland and Alameda, a Sutter
Bypass levee project in the Central Valley,
for water supply resiliency for the city of
Riverbank in Stanislaus County, and for infrastructure
resiliency for the city of Pacifica in San Mateo County.
In an ominous sign for an already struggling project, state
officials on Wednesday said they are unhappy with the lack of
progress over plans by the Santa Clara Valley Water District to
build a huge new dam near Pacheco Pass and Henry W. Coe State
Park in Santa Clara County. Members of the California Water
Commission, an 8-member agency appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom
that tentatively committed $504 million in state bond funding
seven years ago to the $2.7 billion project — and still could
revoke it — expressed frustration at the district’s shifting
timelines and lack of specifics and accomplishments.
… On Wednesday, district officials told the water
commission that they still haven’t secured major permits needed
to start construction, haven’t secured water rights, and only
have completed 30% of the design. They said they wouldn’t be
able to break ground until 2029 and won’t complete construction
until at least 2036.
Sen. Jerry McNerney is laying down the gauntlet against Gov.
Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal to fast-track a controversial
Delta water tunnel. What happened: McNerney said he has the
votes to defeat Newsom’s bid last week to speed up the
permitting for a tunnel underneath the state’s main water
delivery hub, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, if it came to
that. “I’m confident that we do,” the former House Democrat
said in an interview following a press conference on the
issue. A version of the proposed project has been floating
around — first as a canal, then a pair of tunnels — for more
than a half-century, during which it has reliably brought out
opposition from environmental groups and elected officials in
the Delta region concerned about habitat loss and construction
impacts.
The Trump administration significantly cut funding for flood
prevention projects in blue states across the country while
creating new water construction opportunities in red states,
undoing a Biden-era budget proposal that would have allocated
money more evenly, according to a data analysis prepared by
Democratic staffers. California and the state
of Washington lost the most funds, with the administration
cutting water construction budget for those states by a
combined $606 million, according to the analysis, which was
shared with CNN. Texas, meanwhile, gained $206 million. …
Collectively, states with Democratic senators lost over $436
million in funding compared to what they would have received
under the last proposed budget of President Joe Biden’s
administration, the data analysis shows. Republican-led states
gained more than $257 million, the analysis shows.
Memorial Day weekend guests at Whiskeytown National Recreation
Area should be on alert for fast moving, deep and very cold
water, the park’s rangers cautioned. The Bureau of
Reclamationis releasing more water through Whiskeytown Dam and
into the park through June 24, boosting water levels. Expect
highest flows this week, peaking Thursday, according to an
announcement issued by the park. … Increasing the amount
of water flowing into Clear Creek and the Trinity River will
benefit fish species, including salmon, by
mimicking natural springtime runoff. These fish need a lot of
water, “particularly cold water if you are (a) Chinook salmon,”
the park said. Sacramento River spring-run Chinook live in
Clear Creek, and are under federal protection.
Across California, water utility managers, elected officials,
and state regulators are working to address a critical
challenge: funding essential water infrastructure investments
that deliver public health through the provision of reliable
water service, while minimizing customer rate impacts. To
tackle this issue, the California Water Association (CWA) has
developed the Water Affordability Framework to guide efforts in
maintaining affordability and sustainability for the six
million Californians our member utilities
serve. … Over the next 5 years, CWA members plan to
invest up to $5 billion in new water infrastructure projects,
including pipeline replacements and meter upgrades. Our members
remain committed to minimizing costs and exploring strategies
to keep water service affordable, while navigating the
financial implications of future regulations.
Democrats bashed the Trump administration Friday for cutting
funding for water infrastructure in several blue states,
calling the move politically motivated. The Army Corps of
Engineers has zeroed out of its budget hundreds of millions of
dollars for ports, dams and other projects in
California, Washington state and Hawaii, while
giving projects in some red states a funding boost, according
to top Democrats on the House and Senate Appropriations
committees. The shuffling of funds was revealed this week in
the Army Corps’ work plan for this year. Because of the
continuing resolution that Congress passed in March, President
Donald Trump has more discretion on spending decisions than
would normally be allowed.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to accelerate his
administration’s plan to build a $20-billion water tunnel
beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
by short-cutting permitting for the project and limiting
avenues for legal challenges. Newsom urged the Legislature on
Wednesday to adopt his plan to “fast-track” the tunnel, called
the Delta Conveyance Project, as part of his
revised May budget proposal. …The tunnel would create a
second route to transport water to the state’s pumping
facilities on the south side of the Delta, where supplies enter
the aqueducts of the State Water Project and are delivered to
27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland.
… Newsom said his proposal would: simplify permitting by
eliminating certain deadlines from water rights permits; narrow
legal review to avoid delays from legal challenges; confirm
that the state has authority to issue bonds to pay for the
project, which would be repaid by water agencies; and
accelerate state efforts to acquire land for construction.
Above the shimmering waters of Salt River Project’s Granite
Reef Diversion Dam, a scenic view of Red Mountain is on full
display, but below the surface, a dirty problem grows. As the
key piece of infrastructure diverts water from the Verde and
Salt Rivers into the region’s canal system, sand and sediment
continually build up until they spill into the canals. SRP now
has a new tool for cleaning the dam: a state-of-the-art dredge
to suck up the piles of sand. The dredge acts like a pool
cleaner, stirring up the underwater sediment before vacuuming
it to the surface. By removing the sediment, the dredge ensures
that water can be delivered cleanly and efficiently into SRP’s
canals, which provide water to about 2.5 million Phoenix-area
residents. Without removal, the sediment can spill into the
canals, increasing water treatment costs and leading to canal
closures.
The Los Osos water pipeline has been in the works for the past
four years. If funded, it would connect Los Osos to the state
water project, providing the town with a new source of water.
The project has already been approved at the federal level, but
for work to begin, the Army Corps of Engineers needs to approve
the allocation of funds. A recent report from the Los Osos
Community Services District’s general manager states the CSD
has reached out to the Corps several times since December for
an update on the project but has never received a
response.
Humans might be the ultimate ecosystem engineers in the sense
that we constantly modify ecosystems and change the processes
which drive them. In some cases, this can harm biodiversity by
displacing native ecosystem engineers which deliver important
benefits for other species and bolster both habitat and species
diversity (Romero et al. 2015). Humans also can leverage their
ecosystem engineering to benefit biodiversity, such as through
mimicking ecosystem engineering structures as part of
restoration. Our recent paper (Goss et al. 2025) reviews how
mimicked ecosystem engineer structures might help meet
restoration goals, and potential risks with the use of these
human-engineered structures.
PG&E mostly agrees with a recent opinion piece urging the
removal of Scott Dam due to a better understanding of the
seismic risks. As described in our draft decommissioning plan,
PG&E considers the expedited removal of the Scott Dam to be
in the best interest of PG&E customers. It is also the most
appropriate long-term mitigation to address the seismic risk.
In the meantime, PG&E has implemented interim measures to
reduce near-term seismic risk — the most prominent being the
restricted maximum reservoir storage elevation. However,
contrary to the opinion piece, PG&E’s decision not to seek
a new license for the Potter Valley Project — a hydroelectric
facility — is based on the fact the project is not economical
for PG&E’s customers. –Written by Dave Canny, vice president of PG&E’s North
Coast Region.
Sunlight glimmers on Lake Tahoe on a spring morning in April as
the John LeConte, the 48-year-old research vessel for the UC
Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, motors across the
glassy water. The engine turns over with a rhythmic revving
that eventually fades into a background hum. Gentle waves
ripple out from the prow, but the water is otherwise completely
still. I’m onboard the John LeConte with a group of scientists.
We’re heading to the middle of Lake Tahoe to get a picture of
what’s happening beneath the surface of the water, all the
way down to the deepest parts of the lake.
Officials in Santa Barbara County are exploring the possibility
of allowing visitors to swim in Lake Cachuma, a human-made
reservoir in the Santa Ynez Valley where swimming has been
banned since its creation in 1953. … Swimming is banned
at the lake because it’s used as a local water source. That’s
been the case since the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation created the
lake in 1953 by constructing the Bradbury Dam, then called the
Cachuma Dam, thereby blocking the flow of the Santa Ynez River.
The lake is still owned by the Bureau of Reclamation, though
it’s managed by the county. Bantilan said the county is in
touch with local water agencies about allowing swimming at the
lake, a move that’s already taken place at other reservoirs in
the state.
An agreement to build a waterway allowing fish to swim freely
past a dam on the lower Yuba River has moved forward as part of
an initiative that also includes returning a threatened salmon
species to another part of the watershed. Federal, state and
local agencies have partnered on the potentially $100 million
project and tout its goal of restoring access for a variety of
fish species to parts of the river system walled off for more
than a century. … But local anglers have raised concerns
about the project, fearing that the free-flowing bypass will
allow predatory fish, particularly striped bass, to access a
section of the river seen as a haven for certain species.
A major California water lifeline serving more than 600,000
residents is on the brink of being shut down by one of
America’s largest utility companies – and now its fate may lie
in the hands of Donald Trump. Since 1922, the century-old
Potter Valley Project has diverted water from Northern
California’s Eel River into the Russian River, serving as a
critical source of water for farms and communities across
Mendocino, Sonoma, Marin and Lake counties. However,
PG&E announced plans to fully dismantle the project, citing
financial losses and aging infrastructure – a move that sparked
controversy across the region, SF Gate reported. In a rare
twist, the federal government is now stepping into the local
water battle, as the Trump administration reviews whether or
not to block the shutdown.
A new partnership between three organizations will explore
options for raising the dam at Lake Mendocino to boost the
water supply supporting agriculture and recreation. State and
local politicians, tribal officials and representatives from
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers met this past Friday at Lake
Mendocino to formalize a cost-sharing agreement for the Coyote
Valley Dam General Investigation Study. According to the
Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission, Lake
Mendocino provides drinking water for over 650,000 people in
Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin counties and plays a role in flood
control. The study, led by a partnership between the
commission, the Lytton Rancheria and the Corps of Engineers
will assess the prospects of greater water supply and potential
federal interest in reducing flood risks.
The Marin Municipal Water District took another step this week
in pursuit of what the agency says is its largest supply and
drought resiliency project in 40 years. The district board
voted unanimously on Tuesday to authorize spending $9.7 million
to design a pipeline that would tap into an existing aqueduct
system to get Sonoma County water to Marin reservoirs. The
pipeline project was selected in February as the district’s
priority effort to boost supply. If completed, it would be the
largest water supply project since Kent Lake was expanded in
1982, according to the district. … Estimated at $167
million, the proposed project would construct a 13-mile,
36-inch pipeline and a pump station to redirect some of that
(excess) water into the Nicasio Reservoir for storage. The
pipeline could yield 3,800 to 4,750 acre-feet of water a year.
Cities across California and the Southwest are significantly
increasing and diversifying their use of recycled wastewater as
traditional water supplies grow tighter.
The 5th edition of our Layperson’s Guide to Water Recycling
covers the latest trends and statistics on water reuse as a
strategic defense against prolonged drought and climate change.
As the permitting battle over the proposed Sites Reservoir
Project in Northern California heats up, it’s become clear that
the project would further heat up the atmosphere as well. Just
as California has made bold commitments to achieve carbon
neutrality in the next few decades, the state seems ready to
approve a dam project that would put that progress in jeopardy.
A new report, “Estimate of Greenhouse Gas Emissions for the
Proposed Sites Reservoir Project Using the All-Res Modeling
Tool,” created by a science team at my organization, Tell The
Dam Truth, exposes the climate impacts caused by this massive
dam and reservoir system. -Written by Gary Wockner, PhD, who directs Tell The
Dam Truth
Residents living below the Isabella Auxiliary Dam were thrilled
earlier this month with a temporary fix that finally dried up
excessive seepage from the dam that had been swamping septic
systems and breeding forests of mosquito-infested weeds around
their homes. The didn’t realize how temporary the fix would be,
however. After only 12 days without a river cutting through his
land, rancher Gerald Wenstrand woke up to see the seepage back
on Saturday.
It was exactly the sort of deluge
California groundwater agencies have been counting on to
replenish their overworked aquifers.
The start of 2023 brought a parade of torrential Pacific storms
to bone dry California. Snow piled up across the Sierra Nevada at
a near-record pace while runoff from the foothills gushed into
the Central Valley, swelling rivers over their banks and filling
seasonal creeks for the first time in half a decade.
Suddenly, water managers and farmers toiling in one of the
state’s most groundwater-depleted regions had an opportunity to
capture stormwater and bank it underground. Enterprising agencies
diverted water from rushing rivers and creeks into manmade
recharge basins or intentionally flooded orchards and farmland.
Others snagged temporary permits from the state to pull from
streams they ordinarily couldn’t touch.
Managers of California’s most
overdrawn aquifers were given a monumental task under the state’s
landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act: Craft viable,
detailed plans on a 20-year timeline to bring their beleaguered
basins into balance. It was a task that required more than 250
newly formed local groundwater agencies – many of them in the
drought-stressed San Joaquin Valley – to set up shop, gather
data, hear from the public and collaborate with neighbors on
multiple complex plans, often covering just portions of a
groundwater basin.
Martha Guzman recalls those awful
days working on water and other issues as a deputy legislative
secretary for then-Gov. Jerry Brown. California was mired in a
recession and the state’s finances were deep in the red. Parks
were cut, schools were cut, programs were cut to try to balance a
troubled state budget in what she remembers as “that terrible
time.”
She now finds herself in a strikingly different position: As
administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
Region 9, she has a mandate to address water challenges across
California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii and $1 billion to help pay
for it. It is the kind of funding, she said, that is usually
spread out over a decade. Guzman called it the “absolutely
greatest opportunity.”
When you oversee the largest
supplier of treated water in the United States, you tend to think
big.
Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water
District of Southern California for the last 15 years, has
focused on diversifying his agency’s water supply and building
security through investment. That means looking beyond MWD’s
borders to ensure the reliable delivery of water to two-thirds of
California’s population.
As California slowly emerges from
the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, one remnant left behind by
the statewide lockdown offers a sobering reminder of the economic
challenges still ahead for millions of the state’s residents and
the water agencies that serve them – a mountain of water debt.
Water affordability concerns, long an issue in a state where
millions of people struggle to make ends meet, jumped into
overdrive last year as the pandemic wrenched the economy. Jobs
were lost and household finances were upended. Even with federal
stimulus aid and unemployment checks, bills fell by the wayside.
A government agency that controls much of California’s water
supply released its initial allocation for 2021, and the
numbers reinforced fears that the state is falling into another
drought. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said Tuesday that most
of the water agencies that rely on the Central Valley Project
will get just 5% of their contract supply, a dismally low
number. Although the figure could grow if California gets more
rain and snow, the allocation comes amid fresh weather
forecasts suggesting the dry winter is continuing. The National
Weather Service says the Sacramento Valley will be warm and
windy the next few days, with no rain in the forecast.
Across a sprawling corner of southern Tulare County snug against the Sierra Nevada, a bounty of navel oranges, grapes, pistachios, hay and other crops sprout from the loam and clay of the San Joaquin Valley. Groundwater helps keep these orchards, vineyards and fields vibrant and supports a multibillion-dollar agricultural economy across the valley. But that bounty has come at a price. Overpumping of groundwater has depleted aquifers, dried up household wells and degraded ecosystems.
Innovative efforts to accelerate
restoration of headwater forests and to improve a river for the
benefit of both farmers and fish. Hard-earned lessons for water
agencies from a string of devastating California wildfires.
Efforts to drought-proof a chronically water-short region of
California. And a broad debate surrounding how best to address
persistent challenges facing the Colorado River.
These were among the issues Western Water explored in
2019, and are still worth taking a look at in case you missed
them.
It’s been a year since two devastating wildfires on opposite ends
of California underscored the harsh new realities facing water
districts and cities serving communities in or adjacent to the
state’s fire-prone wildlands. Fire doesn’t just level homes, it
can contaminate water, scorch watersheds, damage delivery systems
and upend an agency’s finances.
The southern part of California’s Central Coast from San Luis Obispo County to Ventura County, home to about 1.5 million people, is blessed with a pleasing Mediterranean climate and a picturesque terrain. Yet while its unique geography abounds in beauty, the area perpetually struggles with drought.
Indeed, while the rest of California breathed a sigh of relief with the return of wet weather after the severe drought of 2012–2016, places such as Santa Barbara still grappled with dry conditions.
For the bulk of her career, Jayne
Harkins has devoted her energy to issues associated with the
management of the Colorado River, both with the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation and with the Colorado River Commission of Nevada.
Now her career is taking a different direction. Harkins, 58, was
appointed by President Trump last August to take the helm of the
United States section of the U.S.-Mexico agency that oversees
myriad water matters between the two countries as they seek to
sustainably manage the supply and water quality of the Colorado
River, including its once-thriving Delta in Mexico, and other
rivers the two countries share. She is the first woman to be
named the U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary and
Water Commission for either the United States or Mexico in the
commission’s 129-year history.
The San Joaquin Valley, known as the
nation’s breadbasket, grows a cornucopia of fruits, nuts and
other agricultural products.
During our three-day Central Valley Tour April
3-5, you will meet farmers who will explain how they prepare
the fields, irrigate their crops and harvest the produce that
helps feed the nation and beyond. We also will drive through
hundreds of miles of farmland and visit the rivers, dams,
reservoirs and groundwater wells that provide the water.
In the universe of California water, Tim Quinn is a professor emeritus. Quinn has seen — and been a key player in — a lot of major California water issues since he began his water career 40 years ago as a young economist with the Rand Corporation, then later as deputy general manager with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and finally as executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. In December, the 66-year-old will retire from ACWA.
There’s going to be a new governor
in California next year – and a host of challenges both old and
new involving the state’s most vital natural resource, water.
So what should be the next governor’s water priorities?
That was one of the questions put to more than 150 participants
during a wrap-up session at the end of the Water Education
Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento.
New water storage is the holy grail
primarily for agricultural interests in California, and in 2014
the door to achieving long-held ambitions opened with the passage
of Proposition
1, which included $2.7 billion for the public benefits
portion of new reservoirs and groundwater storage projects. The
statute stipulated that the money is specifically for the
benefits that a new storage project would offer to the ecosystem,
water quality, flood control, emergency response and recreation.
It’s high-stakes time in Arizona. The state that depends on the
Colorado River to help supply its cities and farms — and is
first in line to absorb a shortage — is seeking a unified plan
for water supply management to join its Lower Basin neighbors,
California and Nevada, in a coordinated plan to preserve water
levels in Lake Mead before
they run too low.
If the lake’s elevation falls below 1,075 feet above sea level,
the secretary of the Interior would declare a shortage and
Arizona’s deliveries of Colorado River water would be reduced by
320,000 acre-feet. Arizona says that’s enough to serve about 1
million households in one year.
Get a unique view of the San Joaquin Valley’s key dams and
reservoirs that store and transport water on our March Central
Valley Tour.
Our Central Valley
Tour, March 14-16, offers a broad view of water issues
in the San Joaquin Valley. In addition to the farms, orchards,
critical habitat for threatened bird populations, flood bypasses
and a national wildlife refuge, we visit some of California’s
major water infrastructure projects.
One of the wettest years in California history that ended a
record five-year drought has rejuvenated the call for new storage
to be built above and below ground.
In a state that depends on large surface water reservoirs to help
store water before moving it hundreds of miles to where it is
used, a wet year after a long drought has some people yearning
for a place to sock away some of those flood flows for when they
are needed.
Contrary to popular belief, “100-Year Flood” does not refer to a
flood that happens every century. Rather, the term describes the
statistical chance of a flood of a certain magnitude (or greater)
taking place once in 100 years. It is also accurate to say a
so-called “100-Year Flood” has a 1 percent chance of occurring in
a given year, and those living in a 100-year floodplain have,
each year, a 1 percent chance of being flooded.
Mired in drought, expectations are high that new storage funded
by Prop. 1 will be constructed to help California weather the
adverse conditions and keep water flowing to homes and farms.
At the same time, there are some dams in the state eyed for
removal because they are obsolete – choked by accumulated
sediment, seismically vulnerable and out of compliance with
federal regulations that require environmental balance.
The proposed Sites Reservoir would
be an off-river storage basin on the west side of the Sacramento
Valley, about 78 miles northwest of Sacramento. It would capture
stormwater flows from the Sacramento River for release in dry
years for fish and wildlife, farms, communities and
businesses.
The water would be held in a 14,000-acre basin of grasslands
surrounded by the rolling eastern foothills of the Coast Range.
Known as Antelope Valley, the sparsely populated area in Glenn
and Colusa counties is used for livestock grazing.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
Water as a renewable resource is depicted in this 18×24 inch
poster. Water is renewed again and again by the natural
hydrologic cycle where water evaporates, transpires from plants,
rises to form clouds, and returns to the earth as precipitation.
Excellent for elementary school classroom use.
Redesigned in 2017, this beautiful map depicts the seven
Western states that share the Colorado River with Mexico. The
Colorado River supplies water to nearly 40 million people in
Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
and Mexico. Text on this beautiful, 24×36-inch map, which is
suitable for framing, explains the river’s apportionment, history
and the need to adapt its management for urban growth and
expected climate change impacts.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the State Water Project provides
an overview of the California-funded and constructed State Water
Project.
The State Water Project is best known for the 444-mile-long
aqueduct that provides water from the Delta to San Joaquin Valley
agriculture and southern California cities. The guide contains
information about the project’s history and facilities.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to Integrated Regional Water
Management (IRWM) is an in-depth, easy-to-understand publication
that provides background information on the principles of IRWM,
its funding history and how it differs from the traditional water
management approach.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Central Valley Project
explores the history and development of the federal Central
Valley Project (CVP), California’s largest surface water delivery
system. In addition to the project’s history, the guide describes
the various facilities, operations and benefits the water
project brings to the state along with the CVP
Improvement Act (CVPIA).
Dams have allowed Californians and others across the West to
harness and control water dating back to pre-European settlement
days when Native Americans had erected simple dams for catching
salmon.
This printed issue of Western Water examines water
infrastructure – its costs and the quest to augment traditional
brick-and-mortar facilities with sleeker, “green” features.
Everywhere you look water infrastructure is working hard to keep
cities, farms and industry in the state running. From the massive
storage structures that dot the West to the aqueducts that convey
water hundreds of miles to large urban areas and the untold miles
of water mains and sewage lines under every city and town, the
semiarid West would not exist as it does without the hardware
that meets its water needs.
This printed issue of Western Water discusses low
impact development and stormwater capture – two areas of emerging
interest that are viewed as important components of California’s
future water supply and management scenario.
This printed issue of Western Water examines
groundwater banking, a water management strategy with appreciable
benefits but not without challenges and controversy.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the
changed nature of the California Water Plan, some aspects of the
2009 update (including the recommendation for a water finance
plan) and the reaction by certain stakeholders.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at some of
the pieces of the 2009 water legislation, including the Delta
Stewardship Council, the new requirements for groundwater
monitoring and the proposed water bond.
It’s no secret that providing water in a state with the size and
climate of California costs money. The gamut of water-related
infrastructure – from reservoirs like Lake Oroville to the pumps
and pipes that deliver water to homes, businesses and farms –
incurs initial and ongoing expenses. Throw in a new spate of
possible mega-projects, such as those designed to rescue the
ailing Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and the dollar amount grows
exponentially to billion-dollar amounts that rival the entire
gross national product of a small country.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the
financing of water infrastructure, both at the local level and
from the statewide perspective, and some of the factors that
influence how people receive their water, the price they pay for
it and how much they might have to pay in the future.
They are located in urban areas and in some of the most rural
parts of the state, but they have at least one thing in common:
they provide water service to a very small group of people. In a
state where water is managed and delivered by an organization as
large as the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California,
most small water systems exist in obscurity – financed by
shoestring budgets and operated by personnel who wear many hats.
This issue of Western Water looks at water
infrastructure – from the large conveyance systems to the small
neighborhood providers – and the many challenges faced by water
agencies in their continuing mission of assuring a steady and
reliable supply for their customers.
Chances are that deep within the ground beneath you as you read
this is a vast network of infrastructure that is busy providing
the necessary services that enable life to proceed at the pace it
does in the 21st century. Electricity zips through cables to
power lights and computers while other conduits move infinite
amounts of information that light up computer screens and phone
lines.
This issue of Western Water explores the question of whether the
state needs more surface storage, with a particular focus on the
five proposed projects identified in the CALFED 2000 ROD and the
politics and funding issues of these projects.
