Topic: Central Valley

Overview

Central Valley

The Central Valley is a vital agricultural region that dominates the center of California, stretching 40-60 miles east to west and about 450 miles from north to south.  It covers 22,500 square miles, about 13.7% of California’s total land area.

Key watersheds are located here: The Sacramento Valley in the north, San Joaquin Valley and Tulare Basin to the south. In addition, the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers drain their respective valleys and meet to form the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta, which flows to the Pacific Ocean via the San Francisco Bay.

Aquafornia news Daily Republic

Efforts to attract salmon to Putah Creek come early this year

Actions to bring spawning salmon into Putah Creek will start earlier than ever this fall. The Los Rios Check Dam boards will be pulled on Oct. 18. … By pulling the boards early, the fish are not just waiting around and can get to the spawning grounds on the creek. That could give the Nov. 4 Salmon Festival in Winters a good showing of fish.

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Aquafornia news USA Today

Mosquitoes thriving in California after big storms and blistering heat

Potent winter storms, summer heat, and tropical storm Hilary have bred a surge of invasive, day-biting Aedes mosquitoes in California, spawning in some regions the first reported human cases of West Nile virus in years. The statewide rise has brought 153 West Nile reports so far, more than double last year’s, according to the California Department of Public Health. 

Aquafornia news San Francisco Chronicle

California weather: Thunderstorms, fire risk and Sierra snowfall

Fall officially begins Friday night, and Northern California will certainly feel the changing of the seasons this week. A mix of weather conditions is in store from the Bay Area to the Sierra Nevada. The Bay Area will see partly cloudy skies with seasonal temperatures through Wednesday, but changes are coming for the second half of the week. By Thursday, north winds are expected to clear out skies and elevate the fire risk in the Sacramento Valley. However, these winds will bring chilly air to the mountains, possibly cool enough for the first snowflakes of the season in the high Sierra.

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Aquafornia news Public Policy Institute of California

Report: Managing water and farmland transitions in the San Joaquin Valley

Successful implementation of the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is vital to the long-term health of the San Joaquin Valley’s communities, agriculture, environment, and economy. But the transition will be challenging. Even with robust efforts to augment water supplies through activities like groundwater recharge, significant land fallowing will be necessary. How the valley manages that fallowing will be paramount to protecting the region’s residents—including the growers and rural, low-income communities who will be most directly impacted by the changes. With coordinated planning and robust incentives, the valley can navigate the difficult water and land transitions coming its way and put itself on a path to a productive and sustainable future.

Aquafornia news The Sun-Gazette Newspaper

Key crop prices emerge after spring flooding

While large tracts of farmland were underwater this spring, prices for Valley crops are on the rise as California soil and growers prove to be resilient once again. California’s tomato processors reported they have or will have contracts for 12.7 million tons of processing tomatoes for 2023, the highest number of contracted planted acres since 2016. This production estimate is 2.4% higher than the January intentions forecast of 12.4 million tons, and 21.4% above the final contracted production total in 2022. The May contracted acreage of 254,000 is 2.4% above the January intentions forecast of 248,000 acres and 24,000 acres more than last year’s final contracted acreage.

Aquafornia news Public Policy Institute Of California

Blog: How might small farms fare under SGMA?

Change is coming to the heavily agricultural San Joaquin Valley. We know that a combination of climate change, new environmental regulations, and especially the implementation of the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) are leading to a decline in water available for irrigation. (By 2040, overall farm supplies in the valley could drop by as much as 20%—and irrigated cropland by nearly 900,000 acres.) But what we haven’t known is how these changes could impact farms of different sizes in the valley—and there is understandable concern about how the shift will play out, particularly for smaller farms that have fewer resources and capacity to adapt.

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Aquafornia news Capital Public Radio

Invasive mosquito species found in San Joaquin County

A mosquito breed known for carrying yellow fever and other diseases has been spotted in portions of the San Joaquin Valley. Last week, the San Joaquin County Mosquito and Vector Control District said high numbers of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have shown up in traps around South Stockton, Manteca, Escalon and Ripon. The mosquitoes have also popped up in Butte and Glenn counties this summer. Like the majority of other mosquitoes that live here, Aedes aegypti are not native to the state. They’re also relatively new to California, having first shown up in traps in 2011, according to the state’s Department of Public Health.

Aquafornia news ABC 10 - Sacramento

Reservoir levels remain elevated across California

Reservoirs across the state of California remain elevated as another wet season approaches.  Following the record wet winter, lakes and reservoirs were nearly full to the brim as the melting snowpack made its way into them. Following the melt-off period, Lake Shasta — the keystone of the Central Valley Project — was at 98% capacity, Oroville was at 100% capacity, and Folsom Lake was nearly full as well at 95% capacity. These bodies of water were quite parched heading into the winter due to the three years of drought preceding the past winter’s deluge and ranged from 25-32% capacity before the atmospheric river events rolled in.

Aquafornia news Courthouse News Service

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: California ponies up $300 million to prepare groundwater infrastructure for climate change

California will spend about $300 million to prepare a vast groundwater and farming infrastructure system for the growing impacts of climate change. California Department of Water Resources announced Tuesday that it has awarded $187 million to 32 groundwater sub-basins, which store water for future use that mainly flows from valuable snowmelt, through the Sustainable Groundwater Management Grant Program. Governor Gavin Newsom also announced Tuesday that California’s Department of Food and Agriculture will award more than $106 million in grants to 23 organizations, which will design and implement new carbon sequestration and irrigation efficiency projects. 

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Aquafornia news Weather.com

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: 2023 a record number of US billion-dollar disasters

H​ere is NOAA’s list of these 23 disasters, in chronological order, along with their latest damage estimates. 1. California Flooding ($4.6 billion): A parade of Pacific storms began just after Christmas 2022 and lasted into March, dumping flooding rain in parts of Northern California and the Central Valley, as well as feet of record snowfall in parts of the Sierra and Southern California high country. … 15. Late June Severe Weather ($3.5 billion): This siege of storms from June 21-26 began in the High Plains, including destructive hailstorms in Colorado, one of which injured almost 100 concertgoers near Denver,​ and a deadly tornado in Matador, Texas.

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Aquafornia news Pleasanton Weekly

Pleasanton residents weigh in on proposed water rate increases — and they’re not happy

More than a thousand people have recently signed a new petition to ask the Pleasanton City Council and city staff to postpone the upcoming decision to increase water rates. The petition on change.org, which cites just over 1,600 signatures as of Wednesday morning, claims that city officials have not done a good job communicating accurate information about their proposal — which is a shared concern among some residents. Resident concerns were heightened after the city sent out a state-mandated public notice brochure, which many said was very confusing to read and understand. Several residents, like Jocelyn Combs, even pointed out formatting errors that made the document difficult to follow.

Aquafornia news Northern California Water Association

Blog: Biodiversity in the Sacramento Valley

Today is California Biodiversity Day, which marks the anniversary of the launch of California Biodiversity Initiative in 2018 and celebrates our amazing state, the exceptional biodiversity we have in the Sacramento Valley and throughout California, and the actions we can work on with our many partners to ensure biodiversity. In the Sacramento Valley, our goal is to promote functioning ecosystems and sustainable water supplies by preserving, sustaining, and promoting our communities and working agricultural landscapes that support ecosystem function and provide landscape-scale habitat benefits for fish, bird, and wildlife populations.

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Aquafornia news Los Angeles Times

Thursday Top of the Scroll: Sweeping California water conservation rules could force big cuts in some areas

With California facing a hotter and drier future — punctuated by bouts of extreme weather — state officials are moving forward with a new framework for urban water use that could require some suppliers to make cuts of 20% or more as soon as 2025. Many of the suppliers facing the harshest cuts are located in the Central Valley and in the southeastern part of the state — large, hot and primarily rural areas that have historically struggled to meet conservation targets. … The move marks a shift away from the one-size-fits-all approach that has governed California water for years. If adopted, the new rules would require the state’s more than 400 urban water suppliers to come up with a new water-use budget every year beginning in 2025. They could face hefty fines for failing to comply or meet their targets.

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Aquafornia news San Francisco Chronicle

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: California Senate candidates share a position on the Delta tunnel: no position

Most statewide California candidates blow off the Central Valley. There are more votes and media — and donors, of course — on the coast. But not this year. The Central Valley is up for grabs for Senate candidates vying to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The top three Democrats — who represent coastal districts in Los Angeles, Orange County and the Bay Area and aren’t well known in almond country — made a beeline last Saturday from a major union endorsement interview in Los Angeles to a $25-a-head fundraiser hosted by Rep. Josh Harder along the Stockton waterfront. … But while they’re all showing up to campaign in the Valley, none has crafted a position on a crucial aspect of the issue in America’s breadbasket that could give them an advantage over their rivals: water.  Specifically, the Delta tunnel, the proposed 45-mile conveyance tunnel through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. 

Aquafornia news Ag Net West

‘Most stressful and most challenging’ watermelon season

Watermelon season has been a tough one this year after a late start due to the weather. VP of Crops and Soils at Van Groningen & Sons Incorporated, Bryan Van Groningen said their planting was delayed about three weeks back in Spring. Plantings usually go in around the middle of March, but this year the earliest plantings did not start until the first week of April. “At one time we had almost one million transplants sitting in greenhouses in the last couple weeks of March that were ready to be planted and we had no place to plant them because the fields were too wet,” Van Groningen.

Aquafornia news Los Angeles Times

West Nile virus is a growing threat this summer in California. Here’s why

West Nile virus infections are on the rise this year in California after a particularly wet winter led to more mosquito reproduction, according to health experts. The state had 55 human cases of the virus as of Aug. 25. Five of them were fatal, according to the California Mosquito-Borne Virus Surveillance and Response Program. That’s more than double the 24 cases that had occurred in 2022 by late August of that year. In total in 2022, there were 207 cases and 15 deaths. Among California’s latest infections, a woman in Orange tested positive for the West Nile virus  this week, becoming the first human case in Orange County this year, according to the county Health Care Agency. The Orange resident wasn’t experiencing any symptoms.

Aquafornia news The Sun-Gazette

Commentary: Billionaire land buys threaten state ag, water resources

State Senator Melissa Hurtado and Congressman John Garamendi are sounding the alarm on the dangers of when billionaire investors gobble up ag land. On Aug. 29, Senator Hurtado, 16th District and chair of the State Agriculture Committee, hosted an informational hearing at the State Capitol to discuss the unprecedented land purchases in Solano County by Flannery Associates LLC; and to explore possible remedies to prevent private entities and foreign governments from acquiring California agricultural land. … “I don’t think it’s about building a city,” Hurtado said. “I think it’s about water and energy.” She mentioned the state’s futures water market. In 2020, California became the first state to create a futures market for water. With water in the futures market, this means investors are able to trade water the same way they have things like gold, or oil.

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Aquafornia news KCRA - Sacramento

What to know about West Nile Virus as cases increase in Northern California

West Nile virus cases have been increasing in Northern California. The West Nile virus is the most common and serious vector-borne disease in the state. There were 29 new West Nile Virus cases in humans last week, bringing the total for the year to 55 cases. Those cases have been reported in Glenn, Lake, Butte, Yolo, El Dorado, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Kings, Tulare, Kern, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. On Wednesday, another human case in Roseville became the first this summer in Placer County. Five people with the virus have died, including one person in Sacramento County and another person in Yolo County.

Aquafornia news Public Policy Institute of California

Blog: Mapping farms by size in the San Joaquin Valley

As implementation of the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) proceeds, it’s no secret that the San Joaquin Valley will have to adapt to a future with less water for irrigation. Our research shows that overall irrigation supplies may decline by as much as 20% by 2040. Land uses will have to change, and some have raised concerns that SGMA’s implementation could put smaller farms at a disadvantage, given their more limited resources and capacity. To gain insight on these issues, we conducted a detailed geographical analysis of cropping patterns and water conditions by farm size on the San Joaquin Valley floor, using county real estate records on ownership of agricultural parcels (individual properties of varying sizes) to identify farms.

Aquafornia news The Hill

‘Valley fever’ fungus surging northward in California as climate changes

Workers across California are grappling with yet another climate change-induced threat: a rapidly spreading fungus that can land its unsuspecting victims with prolonged flu-like symptoms, or far worse. The culprit is a soil-dwelling organism called coccidioides, which is now spreading the disease coccidioidomycosis — known as “Valley fever” — farther and farther north of its Southwest origins. Rather than spreading from person to person, Valley fever results from the direct inhalation of fungal spores — spores climate change is now allowing to flourish in new places.

Aquafornia news LAist

West Nile cases jump after California rains

What is going on? There have been four West Nile-related deaths in California this year, including the one confirmed case in San Bernardino County. Cases are being reported as far north as Lake County and as far south as Imperial. So far this year 55 people have tested positive — over half were reported just last week. What can I do? The solution is easy, simple and cheap: Wear insect repellent. It has the added bonus of fewer itchy mosquito bites as well as protecting your health. Stop mosquitoes from laying eggs in or near standing water. Dump any standing water around your house, such as in flower pots, tires or buckets to keep mosquitoes from breeding. Check and repair holes in screens to keep mosquitoes outdoors.

Aquafornia news FishBio

Blog: Chemical cuisine – Chinook exposure to pesticides varies with preferred prey

The Central Valley of California only contains 1% of U.S. farmland, but generates 8% of the country’s agricultural output and produces a quarter of the nation’s food. Much of this astounding production comes from the 8,500 square kilometers of farmland in the Sacramento River watershed, which covers the northern portion of the Central Valley. This extensive farmland means that the watershed is exposed to a significant amount of compounds commonly used in farming, including pesticides. As water flows over the land to streams and rivers, it carries these contaminants along with it, ultimately dumping them in waterways and floodplains, where they often make their way into the food web. Consequently, juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) feeding and rearing within the watershed can be exposed to these harmful compounds.

Aquafornia news Red Bluff Daily News

Opinion: Ranchers’ GSA fees should be lower

Cattle producers who own and manage land in Butte, Colusa, Glenn, and Tehama counties are gravely concerned with the approach adopted by the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) in our respective basin/counties. In every basin, non-extractors (or de minimis users who only pump stock water) are being assessed acreage fees by the GSA to generate the funding required to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Cattle producers are predominantly rangeland operations that do not use groundwater, and in fact, serve as a net recharge zone for the basins.

Aquafornia news GV Wire

Opinion: Farmers flush with water now, but state still hasn’t prepared for the next drought

For most of the state, the drought is over. The Central Valley is receiving their full state water supply allocation and farmers don’t need to pull water from the ground to keep their crops from dying of thirst. But that doesn’t mean the signs along Interstate 5 and Highway 99 grumbling about the “Politicians Created Water Crisis” and the Valley’s man-made dust bowl, and asking if “Growing Food Is Wasting Water?” should be taken down. The abundance won’t last forever, and the farmers eventually will be back where they were before record rain and snow provided them with a bounty of life-giving water. That could be avoided, though, if policymakers got busy building needed water infrastructure.
-Written by Kerry Jackson, a fellow with the Center for California Reform at the Pacific Research Institute.​

Aquafornia news Ducks Unlimited

News release: Ducks Unlimited’s scientific studies will help conserve Pacific Flyway waterfowl, habitats

Ducks Unlimited and its scientific partners have several studies planned or underway to study waterfowl and their habitats in the Pacific Flyway. … The lack of floodplain habitat for salmon and other migratory fish in the Sacramento Valley in California has contributed to their decline. As a result, there are proposals to manage floodplain habitats to benefit fish. This study, led by a team in Ducks Unlimited’s Western Region, will determine the effects of floodplain reactivation for fish on waterfowl and Sacramento Valley waterfowl hunting.

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Aquafornia news The Sacramento Bee

Opinion: San Diego water agency turns to Sacramento to get its way

Somewhere in California, two small water districts propose to leave a big agency that has long provided the water for another that can provide the very same supply. They agree to hire an outside expert to help a county commission find a fair financial solution. The expert recommends an exit fee of sorts if the water districts want to leave. The commission goes along with the expert. And now the big agency has come to Sacramento looking to abuse the state legislative process in order to undo a perfectly legal local decision. These water districts all happen to be in San Diego County. But this is an abuse of power that can happen anywhere if the Legislature gets into a dangerous habit of changing local decisions about boundaries and governance simply because a powerful government in town wants a different outcome.
-Written by Tom Kennedy, general manager of the Rainbow Municipal Water District; and Jack Bebee, the general manager of the Fallbrook Public Utility District.​

Aquafornia news SF Gate

Why you should keep your car windows rolled up in parts of California

California health officials are warning of a potential increased risk of valley fever, a respiratory disease caused by fungus that grows in soil across many parts of the state. This winter’s heavy rains may have caused an increase in the growth of the Coccidioides fungus, which causes valley fever, the California Department of Public Health announced in a press release. Valley fever occurs when dust containing the fungus is inhaled, leading to respiratory symptoms that can turn severe or even fatal.  Periods of heavy rain can cause the Coccidioides fungus to become more active, according to research conducted by the University of California, Berkeley and CDPH. That means valley fever cases could spike in the coming months, as spores that grew during this year’s record rainfall dry out and become airborne in dust.

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Aquafornia news Supermarket Perimeter

California walnut production benefits from heavy rains last winter

Ahead of an annual US Department of Agriculture estimate for California walnut production, the outlook is far more positive in 2023, according to the California Walnut Board. In an update published Aug. 9, the CWB credited heavy rains over a long period last winter for restoring subsoil moisture and providing “for healthy root zones, enabling trees to better tolerate late season high temperatures,” the CWB said. Extensive snowpack also helped sustain the trees during the growing season. Rainfall, caused by atmospheric rivers in California, was intense from the first of the year through late March, affecting large areas of Southern California, the Central Coast of California and northern parts of the state.

Aquafornia news California Local

Blog: How land reclamation hurts California’s environment

One of the most famous, though possibly apocryphal, quotes to come out of the Vietnam War appeared in a Feb. 7, 1968, Associated Press report. It quoted an unnamed “United States Major” explaining why U.S. forces leveled the Vietnamese town of Ben Tre—in one succinct, memorable turn of phrase: “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it,” the major reportedly commented.  The quote lives on because, real or not, it seemed to perfectly encapsulate the absurdity of military logic. … But the quote didn’t apply only to the military. In fact, it could easily be applied to the large-scale public improvement project that built much of what California is today—via a process known as “land reclamation.” The reclamation projects of the late 19th and early 20th century turned the so-called swamps of California’s Central Valley into some of the country’s most fertile agricultural land—but in the process, destroyed or damaged 90 percent of the wetlands that were the natural habitat for hundreds of species of birds, mammals, reptiles and many other kinds of life.

Aquafornia news Northern California Water Association

Blog: Engaging in a holistic approach for healthy rivers and landscapes in the Sacramento River basin

Sacramento Valley leaders are seeking input on a document providing a macro-view of the approach underway to benefit Chinook salmon in the region. A Holistic Approach for Healthy Rivers and Landscapes in the Sacramento River Basin is an overview of the amazing efforts underway from ridgetop to river mouth in every part of the Sacramento Valley to “give salmon a chance” by improving freshwater conditions for each life-stage of all four runs of Chinook salmon.

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High-Tech Mapping of Central Valley’s Underground Blazes Path to Drought Resilience
Aerial Surveillance Reveals Best Spots to Store Floodwater for Dry Times but Delivering the Surplus Remains Thorny

Helicopter towing an AEM loopA new underground mapping technology that reveals the best spots for storing surplus water in California’s Central Valley is providing a big boost to the state’s most groundwater-dependent communities.

The maps provided by the California Department of Water Resources for the first time pinpoint paleo valleys and similar prime underground storage zones traditionally found with some guesswork by drilling exploratory wells and other more time-consuming manual methods. The new maps are drawn from data on the composition of underlying rock and soil gathered by low-flying helicopters towing giant magnets.

The unique peeks below ground are saving water agencies’ resources and allowing them to accurately devise ways to capture water from extreme storms and soak or inject the surplus underground for use during the next drought.

“Understanding where you’re putting and taking water from really helps, versus trying to make multimillion-dollar decisions based on a thumb and which way the wind is blowing,” said Aaron Fukuda, general manager of the Tulare Irrigation District, an early adopter of the airborne electromagnetic or AEM technology in California.

As New Deadline Looms, Groundwater Managers Rework ‘Incomplete’ Plans to Meet California’s Sustainability Goals
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: More than half of the most critically overdrawn basins, mainly in the San Joaquin Valley, are racing against a July deadline to retool their plans and avoid state intervention

A field in Kern County is irrigated by sprinkler.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.

Central Valley Tour 2022
Field Trip - April 20-22

Central Valley Tour participants at a dam.This tour ventured through California’s Central Valley, known as the nation’s breadbasket thanks to an imported supply of surface water and local groundwater. Covering about 20,000 square miles through the heart of the state, the valley provides 25 percent of the nation’s food, including 40 percent of all fruits, nuts and vegetables consumed throughout the country.

California Spent Decades Trying to Keep Central Valley Floods at Bay. Now It Looks to Welcome Them Back
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Floodplain restoration gets a policy and funding boost as interest grows in projects that bring multiple benefits to respond to climate change impacts

Land and waterway managers labored hard over the course of a century to control California’s unruly rivers by building dams and levees to slow and contain their water. Now, farmers, environmentalists and agencies are undoing some of that work as part of an accelerating campaign to restore the state’s major floodplains.

Western Water By Alastair Bland

SIDEBAR: Creating A Floodplain Buffet for Salmon Smolts

Biologists have designed a variety of unique experiments in the past decade to demonstrate the benefits that floodplains provide for small fish. Tracking studies have used acoustic tags to show that chinook salmon smolts with access to inundated fields are more likely than their river-bound cohorts to reach the Pacific Ocean. This is because the richness of floodplains offers a vital buffet of nourishment on which young salmon can capitalize, supercharging their growth and leading to bigger, stronger smolts.

Aquafornia news The Sacramento Bee

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: Red alert sounding on California drought, as farmers get less water

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.

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Western Water California Groundwater Map Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Gary Pitzer

With Sustainability Plans Filed, Groundwater Agencies Now Must Figure Out How To Pay For Them
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: California's Prop. 218 taxpayer law and local politics could complicate efforts to finance groundwater improvement projects

A groundwater monitoring well in Colusa County, north of Sacramento. The bill is coming due, literally, to protect and restore groundwater in California.

Local agencies in the most depleted groundwater basins in California spent months putting together plans to show how they will achieve balance in about 20 years.

Western Water Water Education Foundation

ON THE ROAD: Cosumnes River Preserve Offers Visitors a Peek at What the Central Valley Once Looked Like
Preserve at the edge of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta includes valley oak forests and wintering grounds for cranes

Sandhill cranes gather at the Cosumnes River Preserve south of Sacramento.Deep, throaty cadenced calls — sounding like an off-key bassoon — echo over the grasslands, farmers’ fields and wetlands starting in late September of each year. They mark the annual return of sandhill cranes to the Cosumnes River Preserve, 46,000 acres located 20 miles south of Sacramento on the edge of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Western Water California Water Map Gary Pitzer

Meet the Veteran Insider Who’s Shepherding Gov. Newsom’s Plan to Bring Climate Resilience to California Water
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Former journalist Nancy Vogel explains how the draft California Water Resilience Portfolio came together and why it’s expected to guide future state decisions

Nancy Vogel, director of the Governor’s Water Portfolio Program, highlights key points in the draft Water Resilience Portfolio last month for the Water Education Foundation's 2020 Water Leaders class. Shortly after taking office in 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom called on state agencies to deliver a Water Resilience Portfolio to meet California’s urgent challenges — unsafe drinking water, flood and drought risks from a changing climate, severely depleted groundwater aquifers and native fish populations threatened with extinction.

Within days, he appointed Nancy Vogel, a former journalist and veteran water communicator, as director of the Governor’s Water Portfolio Program to help shepherd the monumental task of compiling all the information necessary for the portfolio. The three state agencies tasked with preparing the document delivered the draft Water Resilience Portfolio Jan. 3. The document, which Vogel said will help guide policy and investment decisions related to water resilience, is nearing the end of its comment period, which goes through Friday, Feb. 7.

Western Water Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Douglas E. Beeman

Water Resource Innovation, Hard-Earned Lessons and Colorado River Challenges — Western Water Year in Review
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK-Our 2019 articles spanned the gamut from groundwater sustainability and drought resiliency to collaboration and innovation

Smoke from the 2018 Camp Fire as viewed from Lake Oroville in Northern California. 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.

Western Water California Groundwater Map Gary Pitzer

Recharging Depleted Aquifers No Easy Task, But It’s Key To California’s Water Supply Future
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: A UC Berkeley symposium explores approaches and challenges to managed aquifer recharge around the West

A water recharge basin in Southern California's Coachella Valley. To survive the next drought and meet the looming demands of the state’s groundwater sustainability law, California is going to have to put more water back in the ground. But as other Western states have found, recharging overpumped aquifers is no easy task.

Successfully recharging aquifers could bring multiple benefits for farms and wildlife and help restore the vital interconnection between groundwater and rivers or streams. As local areas around California draft their groundwater sustainability plans, though, landowners in the hardest hit regions of the state know they will have to reduce pumping to address the chronic overdraft in which millions of acre-feet more are withdrawn than are naturally recharged.

Western Water California Water Map Gary Pitzer

California’s New Natural Resources Secretary Takes on Challenge of Implementing Gov. Newsom’s Ambitious Water Agenda
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Wade Crowfoot addresses Delta tunnel shift, Salton Sea plan and managing water amid a legacy of conflict

Wade Crowfoot, California Natural Resources Secretary.One of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first actions after taking office was to appoint Wade Crowfoot as Natural Resources Agency secretary. Then, within weeks, the governor laid out an ambitious water agenda that Crowfoot, 45, is now charged with executing.

That agenda includes the governor’s desire for a “fresh approach” on water, scaling back the conveyance plan in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and calling for more water recycling, expanded floodplains in the Central Valley and more groundwater recharge.

Western Water Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map Gary Pitzer

Bruce Babbitt Urges Creation of Bay-Delta Compact as Way to End ‘Culture of Conflict’ in California’s Key Water Hub
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Former Interior secretary says Colorado River Compact is a model for achieving peace and addressing environmental and water needs in the Delta

Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt gives the Anne J. Schneider Lecture April 3 at Sacramento's Crocker Art Museum.  Bruce Babbitt, the former Arizona governor and secretary of the Interior, has been a thoughtful, provocative and sometimes forceful voice in some of the most high-profile water conflicts over the last 40 years, including groundwater management in Arizona and the reduction of California’s take of the Colorado River. In 2016, former California Gov. Jerry Brown named Babbitt as a special adviser to work on matters relating to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the Delta tunnels plan.

Western Water California Groundwater Map Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Gary Pitzer

As Deadline Looms for California’s Badly Overdrafted Groundwater Basins, Kern County Seeks a Balance to Keep Farms Thriving
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: Sustainability plans required by the state’s groundwater law could cap Kern County pumping, alter what's grown and how land is used

Water sprinklers irrigate a field in the southern region of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County.Groundwater helped make Kern County the king of California agricultural production, with a $7 billion annual array of crops that help feed the nation. That success has come at a price, however. Decades of unchecked groundwater pumping in the county and elsewhere across the state have left some aquifers severely depleted. Now, the county’s water managers have less than a year left to devise a plan that manages and protects groundwater for the long term, yet ensures that Kern County’s economy can continue to thrive, even with less water.

Announcement

A Bounty of San Joaquin Valley Crops on Display During Central Valley Tour
Act now, our April 3-5 tour is almost sold out!

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.

Key California Ag Region Ponders What’s Next After Voters Spurn Bond to Fix Sinking Friant-Kern Canal
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Subsidence chokes off up to 60% of canal’s capacity to move water to aid San Joaquin Valley farms and depleted groundwater basins

Water is up to the bottom of a bridge crossing the Friant-Kern Canal due to subsidence caused by overpumping of groundwater. The whims of political fate decided in 2018 that state bond money would not be forthcoming to help repair the subsidence-damaged parts of Friant-Kern Canal, the 152-mile conduit that conveys water from the San Joaquin River to farms that fuel a multibillion-dollar agricultural economy along the east side of the fertile San Joaquin Valley.

Western Water Douglas E. Beeman

What Would You Do About Water If You Were California’s Next Governor?
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Survey at Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit elicits a long and wide-ranging potential to-do list

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.

Western Water Colorado River Basin Map California Water Map Gary Pitzer

Despite Risk of Unprecedented Shortage on the Colorado River, Reclamation Commissioner Sees Room for Optimism
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Commissioner Brenda Burman, in address at Foundation’s Water Summit, also highlights Shasta Dam plan

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda BurmanThe Colorado River Basin is more than likely headed to unprecedented shortage in 2020 that could force supply cuts to some states, but work is “furiously” underway to reduce the risk and avert a crisis, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman told an audience of California water industry people.

During a keynote address at the Water Education Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento, Burman said there is opportunity for Colorado River Basin states to control their destiny, but acknowledged that in water, there are no guarantees that agreement can be reached.

Western Water California Water Map Gary Pitzer

When Water Worries Often Pit Farms vs. Fish, a Sacramento Valley Farm Is Trying To Address The Needs Of Both
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: River Garden Farms is piloting projects that could add habitat and food to aid Sacramento River salmon

Roger Cornwell, general manager of River Garden Farms, with an example of a refuge like the ones that were lowered into the Sacramento River at Redding to shelter juvenile salmon.  Farmers in the Central Valley are broiling about California’s plan to increase flows in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems to help struggling salmon runs avoid extinction. But in one corner of the fertile breadbasket, River Garden Farms is taking part in some extraordinary efforts to provide the embattled fish with refuge from predators and enough food to eat.

And while there is no direct benefit to one farm’s voluntary actions, the belief is what’s good for the fish is good for the farmers.

Western Water California Groundwater Map Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Gary Pitzer

Vexed by Salt And Nitrates In Central Valley Groundwater, Regulators Turn To Unusual Coalition For Solutions
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: Left unaddressed, salts and nitrates could render farmland unsuitable for crops and family well water undrinkable

An evaporation pond in Kings County, in the central San Joaquin Valley, with salt encrusted on the soil. More than a decade in the making, an ambitious plan to deal with the vexing problem of salt and nitrates in the soils that seep into key groundwater basins of the Central Valley is moving toward implementation. But its authors are not who you might expect.

An unusual collaboration of agricultural interests, cities, water agencies and environmental justice advocates collaborated for years to find common ground to address a set of problems that have rendered family wells undrinkable and some soil virtually unusable for farming.

Western Water California Water Map Gary Pitzer

As Decision Nears On California Water Storage Funding, a Chairman Reflects on Lessons Learned and What’s Next
WESTERN WATER Q&A: California Water Commission Chairman Armando Quintero

Armando Quintero, chair of the California Water CommissionNew 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.

Western Water Space Invaders Gary Pitzer

It’s Not Just Nutria — Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has 185 Invasive Species, But Tracking Them is Uneven
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Delta science panel urges greater coordination, funding of invasive species monitoring

Water hyacinth choke a channel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.For more than 100 years, invasive species have made the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta their home, disrupting the ecosystem and costing millions of dollars annually in remediation.

The latest invader is the nutria, a large rodent native to South America that causes concern because of its propensity to devour every bit of vegetation in sight and destabilize levees by burrowing into them. Wildlife officials are trapping the animal and trying to learn the extent of its infestation.

Western Water Water Education Foundation

ON THE ROAD: Cosumnes River Preserve Offers Visitors a Peek at What the Central Valley Once Looked Like
Preserve at the edge of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta includes valley oak forests and wintering grounds for cranes

Sandhill cranes gather at the Cosumnes River Preserve south of Sacramento.Deep, throaty cadenced calls — sounding like an off-key bassoon — echo over the grasslands, farmers’ fields and wetlands starting in late September of each year. They mark the annual return of sandhill cranes to the Cosumnes River Preserve, 46,000 acres located 20 miles south of Sacramento on the edge of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Western Water Layperson's Guide to the Delta

ON THE ROAD: Park Near Historic Levee Rupture Offers Glimpse of Old Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Big Break Regional Shoreline will be a stop on Bay-Delta Tour May 16-18

Visitors explore a large, three-dimensional map of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta at Big Break Regional Shoreline in Oakley. Along the banks of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in Oakley, about 50 miles southwest of Sacramento, is a park that harkens back to the days when the Delta lured Native Americans, Spanish explorers, French fur trappers, and later farmers to its abundant wildlife and rich soil.

That historical Delta was an enormous marsh linked to the two freshwater rivers entering from the north and south, and tidal flows coming from the San Francisco Bay. After the Gold Rush, settlers began building levees and farms, changing the landscape and altering the habitat.

Western Water Gary Pitzer

SPOTLIGHT: Putah Creek, Yuba River and environmental water for fish
Two legal settlements are cited as examples where water was set aside for environmental needs

Lower Yuba RiverDespite the heat that often accompanies debates over setting aside water for the environment, there are instances where California stakeholders have forged agreements to provide guaranteed water for fish. Here are two examples cited by the Public Policy Institute of California in its report arguing for an environmental water right.

Announcement

Central Valley Tour Offers Unique View of San Joaquin Valley’s Key Dams and Reservoirs
March 14-16 tour includes major federal and state water projects

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.

Tour

San Joaquin River Restoration Tour 2017

The 2-day, 1-night tour traveled along the river from Friant Dam near Fresno to the confluence of the Merced River. As it weaved across an historic farming region, participants learn about the status of the river’s restoration and how the challenges of the plan are being worked out.

Announcement

Enjoy Local Bounty on Our Central Valley Tour
Itinerary includes local restaurants and winery

Our tours are famous for not only being packed with diverse educational opportunities about California water, but showcasing local culture. Our Central Valley Tour on March 8-10 lets you unwind at a few San Joaquin Valley treasures and hear stories that go back generations.

Announcement

Explore Diverse Wildlife Habitat on Central Valley Tour
See how water is managed in ecologically fragile areas

Our water tours give a behind-the-scenes look at major water issues in California. On our Central Valley Tour, March 8-10, you will visit wildlife habitat areas – some of which are closed to the public – and learn directly from the experts who manage them, in addition to seeing farms, large dams and other infrastructure.

Announcement

Winter Rain Increases Flows on the San Joaquin River
March Central Valley water tour will analyze drought impacts

The recent deluge has led to changes in drought conditions in some areas of California and even public scrutiny of the possibility that the drought is over. Many eyes are focused on the San Joaquin Valley, one of the areas hardest hit by reduced surface water supplies. On our Central Valley Tour, March 8-10, we will visit key water delivery and storage sites in the San Joaquin Valley, including Friant Dam and Millerton Lake on the San Joaquin River.

Announcement

Go Deep into California’s Breadbasket to Explore Water Issues
First Foundation tour of 2017 traverses the San Joaquin Valley

The San Joaquin Valley has been hit hard by the six-year drought and related surface water cutbacks. Some land has been fallowed and groundwater pumping has increased. What does this year hold? Will these recent heavy storms provide enough surface water for improved water deliveries? 

Your best opportunity to see and understand this vital agricultural region of California is to join us on our annual Central Valley Tour, March 8-10.

Aquapedia background Layperson's Guide to Flood Management

ARkStorm

Sacramento's K Street during the 1862 flood that inundated the Central Valley.ARkStorm stands for an atmospheric river (“AR”) that carries precipitation levels expected to occur once every 1,000 years (“k”). The concept was presented in a 2011 report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) intended to elevate the visibility of the very real threats to human life, property and ecosystems posed by extreme storms on the West Coast.

Aquapedia background

Salinity

Excess salinity poses a growing threat to food production, drinking water quality and public health. Salts increase the cost of urban drinking water and wastewater treatment, which are paid for by residents and businesses. Increasing salinity is likely the largest long-term chronic water quality impairment to surface and groundwater in California’s Central Valley.

Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA)

A man watches as a groundwater pump pours water onto a field in Northern California.A new era of groundwater management began in 2014 with the passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), which aims for local and regional agencies to develop and implement sustainable groundwater management plans with the state as the backstop.

SGMA defines “sustainable groundwater management” as the “management and use of groundwater in a manner that can be maintained during the planning and implementation horizon without causing undesirable results.”

Publication

Water & the Shaping of California
Published 2000 - Paperback

The story of water is the story of California. And no book tells that story better than Water & the Shaping of California.

Publication

Water & the Shaping of California
Published 2000 - hardbound

The story of California is the story of water. And no book tells that story better than Water & the Shaping of California.

Video

Overcoming the Deluge: California’s Plan for Managing Floods (DVD)

This 30-minute documentary, produced in 2011, explores the past, present and future of flood management in California’s Central Valley. It features stories from residents who have experienced the devastating effects of a California flood firsthand. Interviews with long-time Central Valley water experts from California Department of Water Resources (FloodSAFE), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, Central Valley Flood Management Program and environmental groups are featured as they discuss current efforts to improve the state’s 150-year old flood protection system and develop a sustainable, integrated, holistic flood management plan for the Central Valley.

Video

Restoring a River: Voices of the San Joaquin

This 30-minute documentary-style DVD on the history and current state of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program includes an overview of the geography and history of the river, historical and current water delivery and uses, the genesis and timeline of the 1988 lawsuit, how the settlement was reached and what was agreed to.

Video

A Climate of Change: Water Adaptation Strategies

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.

Video

Salt of the Earth: Salinity in California’s Central Valley

Salt. In a small amount, it’s a gift from nature. But any doctor will tell you, if you take in too much salt, you’ll start to have health problems. The same negative effect is happening to land in the Central Valley. The problem scientists call “salinity” poses a growing threat to our food supply, our drinking water quality and our way of life. The problem of salt buildup and potential – but costly – solutions are highlighted in this 2008 public television documentary narrated by comedian Paul Rodriguez.

Video

Salt of the Earth: Salinity in California’s Central Valley (20-minute DVD)

A 20-minute version of the 2008 public television documentary Salt of the Earth: Salinity in California’s Central Valley. This DVD is ideal for showing at community forums and speaking engagements to help the public understand the complex issues surrounding the problem of salt build up in the Central Valley potential – but costly – solutions. Narrated by comedian Paul Rodriquez.

Video

Delta Warning

15-minute DVD that graphically portrays the potential disaster should a major earthquake hit the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. “Delta Warning” depicts what would happen in the event of an earthquake registering 6.5 on the Richter scale: 30 levee breaks, 16 flooded islands and a 300 billion gallon intrusion of salt water from the Bay – the “big gulp” – which would shut down the State Water Project and Central Valley Project pumping plants.

Video

Shaping of the West: 100 Years of Reclamation

30-minute DVD that traces the history of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and its role in the development of the West. Includes extensive historic footage of farming and the construction of dams and other water projects, and discusses historic and modern day issues.

Video

Water on the Edge (60-minute DVD)

Water truly has shaped California into the great state it is today. And if it is water that made California great, it’s the fight over – and with – water that also makes it so critically important. In efforts to remap California’s circulatory system, there have been some critical events that had a profound impact on California’s water history. These turning points not only forced a re-evaluation of water, but continue to impact the lives of every Californian. This 2005 PBS documentary offers a historical and current look at the major water issues that shaped the state we know today. Includes a 12-page viewer’s guide with background information, historic timeline and a teacher’s lesson.

Maps & Posters

San Joaquin River Restoration Map
Published 2012

This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, features a map of the San Joaquin River. The map text focuses on the San Joaquin River Restoration Program, which aims to restore flows and populations of Chinook salmon to the river below Friant Dam to its confluence with the Merced River. The text discusses the history of the program, its goals and ongoing challenges with implementation. 

Maps & Posters Groundwater Education Bundle

California Groundwater Map
Redesigned in 2017

California Groundwater poster map

Fashioned after the popular California Water Map, this 24×36 inch poster was extensively re-designed in 2017 to better illustrate the value and use of groundwater in California, the main types of aquifers, and the connection between groundwater and surface water.

Maps & Posters

California Water Map, Spanish

Spanish language version of our California Water Map

Versión en español de nuestro mapa de agua de California

Publication

Layperson’s Guide to the State Water Project
Updated 2013

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the State Water Project provides an overview of the California-funded and constructed State Water Project.

Publication

Layperson’s Guide to Integrated Regional Water Management
Published 2013

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.

Publication

Layperson’s Guide to Flood Management
Updated 2009

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to Flood Management explains the physical flood control system, including levees; discusses previous flood events (including the 1997 flooding); explores issues of floodplain management and development; provides an overview of flood forecasting; and outlines ongoing flood control projects. 

Publication California Water Map

Layperson’s Guide to California Water
Updated 2021

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to California Water provides an excellent overview of the history of water development and use in California. It includes sections on flood management; the state, federal and Colorado River delivery systems; Delta issues; water rights; environmental issues; water quality; and options for stretching the water supply such as water marketing and conjunctive use. New in this 10th edition of the guide is a section on the human need for water. 

Publication

Layperson’s Guide to the Central Valley Project
Updated 2021

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 CVP facilities, CVP operations, the benefits the CVP brought to the state and the CVP Improvement Act (CVPIA).

Publication Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map

Layperson’s Guide to the Delta
Updated 2020

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Delta explores the competing uses and demands on California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Included in the guide are sections on the history of the Delta, its role in the state’s water system, and its many complex issues with sections on water quality, levees, salinity and agricultural drainage, fish and wildlife, and water distribution.

Maps & Posters California Water Bundle

California Water Map
Updated December 2016

A new look for our most popular product! And it’s the perfect gift for the water wonk in your life.

Our 24×36 inch California Water Map is widely known for being the definitive poster that shows the integral role water plays in the state. On this updated version, it is easier to see California’s natural waterways and man-made reservoirs and aqueducts – including federally, state and locally funded projects – the wild and scenic rivers system, and natural lakes. The map features beautiful photos of California’s natural environment, rivers, water projects, wildlife, and urban and agricultural uses and the text focuses on key issues: water supply, water use, water projects, the Delta, wild and scenic rivers and the Colorado River.

Sea to Sierra Water Tour 2014
Rolling Seminar on California Water Issues (past)

The 2014 tour was held April 10 – 11.

Travel across the state on Amtrak’s famed California Zephyr, from the edge of sparkling San Francisco Bay, through the meandering channels of the Delta, past rich Central Valley farmland, growing cities, historic mining areas and into the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Floodplains in California

With the dual threats of obsolete levees and anticipated rising sea levels, floodplains—low areas adjacent to waterways that flood during wet years—are increasingly at the forefront of many public policy and water issues in California.

Adding to the challenges, many floodplains have been heavily developed and are home to major cities such as Sacramento. Large parts of California’s valleys are historic floodplains as well.

Aquapedia background California Water Map Layperson's Guide to California Water

Pacific Flyway

The Pacific Flyway is one of four major North American migration routes for birds, especially waterfowl, and extends from Alaska and Canada, through California, to Mexico and South America. Each year, birds follow ancestral patterns as they travel the flyway on their annual north-south migration. Along the way, they need stopover sites such as wetlands with suitable habitat and food supplies. In California, 90 percent of historic wetlands have been lost.

Aquapedia background

Mendota Pool

The Mendota Pool, located at the confluence of the San Joaquin River and Kings River in California’s Central Valley, is the terminus of a long journey for water from the Sacramento River.

After being diverted, the Sacramento River water heads south from the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta via the 117-mile long Delta-Mendota Canal.

Aquapedia background

Environmental Issues and Water

Environmental concerns have closely followed California’s development of water resources since its earliest days as a state.

Early miners harnessed water to dislodge gold through hydraulic mining. Debris resulting from these mining practices washed down in rivers and streams, choking them and harming aquatic life and causing flooding.

Aquapedia background

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.

Western Water Magazine

Meeting the Co-equal Goals? The Bay Delta Conservation Plan
May/June 2013

This issue of Western Water looks at the BDCP and the Coalition to Support Delta Projects, issues that are aimed at improving the health and safety of the Delta while solidifying California’s long-term water supply reliability.

Western Water Magazine

Nitrate and the Struggle for Clean Drinking Water
March/April 2013

This printed issue of Western Water discusses the problems of nitrate-contaminated water in small disadvantaged communities and possible solutions.

Western Water Magazine

Viewing Water with a Wide Angle Lens: A Roundtable Discussion
January/February 2013

This printed issue of Western Water features a roundtable discussion with Anthony Saracino, a water resources consultant; Martha Davis, executive manager of policy development with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and senior policy advisor to the Delta Stewardship Council; Stuart Leavenworth, editorial page editor of The Sacramento Bee and Ellen Hanak, co-director of research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.

Western Water Magazine

Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Quality: A Cause for Concern?
September/October 2012

This printed issue of Western Water looks at hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” in California. Much of the information in the article was presented at a conference hosted by the Groundwater Resources Association of California.

Western Water Magazine

Small Water Systems, Big Challenges
May/June 2008

This printed copy of Western Water examines the challenges facing small water systems, including drought preparedness, limited operating expenses and the hurdles of complying with costlier regulations. Much of the article is based on presentations at the November 2007 Small Systems Conference sponsored by the Water Education Foundation and the California Department of Water Resources.

Western Water Magazine

It Can Happen Here: Assessing California’s Flood Risk
November/December 2005

This issue of Western Water examines the extent to which California faces a disaster equal to or greater than the New Orleans floods and the steps being taken to recognize and address the shortcomings of the flood control system in the Central Valley and the Delta, which is of critical importance because of its role in providing water to 22 million people. Complicating matters are the state’s skyrocketing pace of growth coupled with an inherently difficult process of obtaining secure, long-term funds for levee repairs and continued maintenance.

Western Water Magazine

Flood Management 2004: A System in Peril
September/October 2004

This issue of Western Water analyzes northern California’s extensive flood control system – it’ history, current concerns, the Paterno decision and how experts are re-thinking the concept of flood management.