The Sacramento River is California’s
largest river, providing 35 percent of the state’s developed
water supply. The river helps support the valley’s millions of
acres of irrigated agriculture and is home to wildlife and a
range of aquatic species, including rearing habitat for 70
percent of all salmon caught off the California coast.
Once called “the Nile of the West,” the Sacramento River drains
the inland slopes of the Klamath Mountains, the Cascade Range,
the Coast Ranges and the western slopes of the northern Sierra
Nevada. The river stretches some 384 miles from its headwaters
near Mount Shasta to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Cool waters flow south as a group of geese (skeins) fly over
the clear, blue-tinted river waters following the warm weather.
The life cycle of the salmon occurs in six stages: egg, alevin,
fry, parr, smolt and adult. For the Sacramento River winter-run
Chinook salmon the waters are a way of life for them. The cool
river waters are critical to the salmon because cold water can
hold more oxygen than warmer water and the cold waters help the
salmon’s metabolism by slowing down the way they digest their
food. The endangered winter-run salmon spawning grounds were
once in the McCloud River, but after the construction of Shasta
and Keswick dams the salmon lost the only way to swim
downstream the Sacramento River.
The Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) turns 30
this year. We asked three experts—Jeanne Brantigan of The
Nature Conservancy, Samantha Arthur of the National Audubon
Society, and Catherine Hickey of Point Blue Conservation
Science—to explain what the CVPIA is and why it’s so important
for birds. Can you explain a little bit about dedicating water
for wildlife refuges under CVPIA? When did it start, and why
has it been so significant for California? Samantha
Arthur: Congress passed the act in 1992. It recognized the
importance of the Central Valley’s rivers for migratory birds,
fish, and other wildlife—and the need to make protection and
restoration of fish and wildlife a coequal purpose of the
Central Valley Project (CVP), along with other uses, including
agricultural, municipal, industrial, and more.
Water suppliers in and near Stanislaus County had a leading
role in a ruling Monday limiting state cutbacks during drought.
The 6th Appellate District Court found that the State Water
Resources Control Board lacks the power to interfere with
so-called “senior” water rights holders and curtail their
diversions of water from rivers. The case stems from orders
imposed by the state board in 2015, during the previous
drought, when it halted farms and cities throughout the Central
Valley from taking water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin
rivers. The Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation
districts joined the suit to protect their rights to the
Stanislaus River.
California’s drought regulators have lost a major lawsuit that
could undermine their legal authority to stop farms and cities
from pulling water from rivers and streams. With California in
its third punishing year of a historic drought, an appeals
court ruled Monday that the State Water Resources Control Board
lacks the power to interfere with so-called “senior” water
rights holders and curtail their diversions of water from
rivers. The case stems from orders imposed by the state board
in 2015, during the previous drought, when it halted farms and
cities throughout the Central Valley from taking water from the
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. … [Brian Gray, a
water-rights expert at the Public Policy Institute of
California] said the court’s ruling did suggest that the
board could exercise its authority over senior rights holders
by using emergency powers granted by the governor.
The brainchild for fishgate came to River Partners Senior
Restoration Ecologist Michael Rogner, and Co-Founder of
River Partners and Director of Special Projects John Carlon,
over a couple of beers at a bar. Fishgate is an
automated/engineered fish door which helps struggling Chinook
salmon at River Partners’ Willow Bend Preserve near Colusa
return back to their native riverside ranges along the
Sacramento River. The first-of-its-kind fish gate
designed by the Cal Poly Irrigation & Training Research Center
will prevent juvenile salmon from being trapped on the restored
floodplain.
The relentless Western drought that is threatening water
supplies in the country’s largest reservoirs is exposing a
reality that could portend a significant shift in electricity:
Hydropower is not the reliable backbone it once was. Utilities
and states are preparing for a world with less available water
and turning more to wind and solar, demand response, energy
storage and improved grid connections. That planning has helped
Western states keep the lights on this summer even in severe
drought conditions. Take California, which experienced record
demand during a heat wave last week but did not have to impose
any rolling blackouts.
Mount Shasta, the widely recognizable face of California’s far
north, has lost almost all its defining snow cover for a second
straight year. Another summer of scorching temperatures,
punctuated by the recent heat wave, has melted most of the
mountain’s lofty white crown, typically a year-round symbol of
the north state’s enduring wilds. … While the seven named ice
sheets have been retreating for years, if not decades, the
diminishing snow, which helps insulate the glaciers and keep
them from thawing, has caused an unprecedented melt-off: About
20% of the glaciers’ ice, and possibly more, is expected to
have vanished over the past two summers.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has released a study on the
American River Basin that shows how changing climate could
affect future water supplies. The study projects increases in
temperatures of 4-7 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the 21st
century, depending on the season. Hydrologic impacts show an
increase in runoff during fall and winter while spring and
summer showed a decrease in runoff. Warmer temperatures are
driving earlier snow melts in winter rather than summer and the
lost volume of runoff will affect water operations, said U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation Hydrologic Engineer Ian Ferguson during a
virtual press conference last week.
The Bureau of Reclamation has released the American River Basin
Study, which predicts that the American River Basin in central
California will see increasing temperatures and a declining
snowpack through the rest of the century. The study also found
an increased variability of fall and winter precipitation,
which will amplify the severity of droughts and flooding in the
basin. The full report is available on Reclamation’s Basin
Study website. … The American River Basin Study found
that maximum temperatures are projected to increase throughout
any given year, with the most significant increase of 7.3°F
during the summer months by the end of the 21st century.
Hotter weather, less snow and more water shortages. The U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation offered a bleak vision of the future of
the American River watershed Wednesday, releasing an extensive
report on how the basin that’s so vital to the Sacramento
region’s water supplies will be affected by climate change in
the coming decades. The bureau, which operates Folsom Lake,
said the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Sacramento could
eventually see shortfalls of as much as 78,000 acre-feet per
year unless stronger conservation and water-storage projects
are undertaken. … The heart of the problem is the
warming climate. Average summer temperatures in the watershed
are expected to increase by 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit by the end
of the century, the study said. Winter temperatures will climb
4.9 degrees.
Deep in California’s farm country … about 70 miles north
of Sacramento, a coalition of water agencies is setting out to
build the first major reservoir in California in nearly half a
century. The $4 billion plan calls for flooding miles of
ranchlands with flows from the nearby Sacramento River and
sending the water to cities and irrigation districts as far
away as the Bay Area and Los Angeles. … But there’s a
problem: There may not be enough water to fill the new
reservoir. In a letter sent out by state regulators
Friday, project officials were told that their application for
a water right is incomplete because they failed to show that
there’s sufficient flow to draw from in the Sacramento
River.
The California Department of Water Resources, or DWR, has
released the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the
embattled Delta Tunnel, beginning the 90-day public
comment period from July 27 to October 27 for what
conservationists describe as an “environmentally
destructive project.” According to project opponents,
different versions of this same gigantic and
wasteful public works project — the Peripheral Canal,
the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, the California Water Fix and
now the single Delta Conveyance — have cast a dark, toxic
shadow over California water policy since it was
first decisively rejected by California voters in
November 1982 as the Peripheral Canal.
Explore the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic
landscape while learning about the issues associated with a
key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of
California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State
Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.
Water Education Foundation
2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 205
Sacramento, CA 95833
In the vast labyrinth of the West
Coast’s largest freshwater tidal estuary, one native fish species
has never been so rare. Once uncountably numerous, the Delta
smelt was placed on state and federal endangered species lists in
1993, stopped appearing in most annual sampling surveys in 2016,
and is now, for all practical purposes, extinct in the wild. At
least, it was.
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.
This tour guided participants on a virtual exploration of the Sacramento River and its tributaries and learn about the issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.
This tour guided participants on a virtual journey deep into California’s most crucial water and ecological resource – the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The 720,000-acre network of islands and canals support the state’s two major water systems – the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project. The Delta and the connecting San Francisco Bay form the largest freshwater tidal estuary of its kind on the West coast.
USACE Sacramento District has a proven track record of facing
challenges head-on. When 2020 brought with it the Novel
Coronavirus, the District responded quickly to address the
needs of a rapidly changing work environment…This year marked
the start of major construction on the [American River Common
Features] project, and the pandemic hit just as crews were
mobilizing, meaning both USACE and its contractors faced
unexpected public impacts.
Voluntary agreements in California
have been touted as an innovative and flexible way to improve
environmental conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
and the rivers that feed it. The goal is to provide river flows
and habitat for fish while still allowing enough water to be
diverted for farms and cities in a way that satisfies state
regulators.
California is chock full of rivers and creeks, yet the state’s network of stream gauges has significant gaps that limit real-time tracking of how much water is flowing downstream, information that is vital for flood protection, forecasting water supplies and knowing what the future might bring.
That network of stream gauges got a big boost Sept. 30 with the signing of SB 19. Authored by Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa), the law requires the state to develop a stream gauge deployment plan, focusing on reactivating existing gauges that have been offline for lack of funding and other reasons. Nearly half of California’s stream gauges are dormant.
The deadliest and most destructive
wildfire in California history had a severe impact on the water
system in the town of Paradise. Participants on our Oct. 2-4
Northern California
Tour will hear from Kevin Phillips, general manager of
Paradise Irrigation District, on the scope of the damages, the
obstacles to recovery and the future of the water district.
The Camp Fire destroyed 90 percent of the structures in Paradise,
and 90 percent of the irrigation district’s ratepayer base. The
fire did not destroy the irrigation district’s water storage or
treatment facilities, but it did melt plastic pipes, releasing
contaminants into parts of the system and prompting do-not-drink
advisories to water customers.
Get an up-close look at some of
California’s key water reservoirs and learn about farming
operations, salmon habitat restoration, flood management and
wetlands on our Northern California Water Tour Oct. 2-4.
Each year, participants on the tour enjoy three days exploring
the Sacramento Valley during the temperate fall. Join us as we
travel through a scenic landscape along the Sacramento and
Feather rivers to learn about issues associated with storing
and delivering the state’s water supply.
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.
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.
The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.
These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.
We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries
through a scenic landscape as participants learned about the
issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of
California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State
Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. Tour
participants got an on-site update of Oroville Dam spillway
repairs.
The 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.
An hour’s drive north of Sacramento sits a picture-perfect valley hugging the eastern foothills of Northern California’s Coast Range, with golden hills framing grasslands mostly used for cattle grazing.
Back in the late 1800s, pioneer John Sites built his ranch there and a small township, now gone, bore his name. Today, the community of a handful of families and ranchers still maintains a proud heritage.
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.
The Sacramento and San Joaquin
rivers are the two major Central Valley waterways that feed the
Delta, the hub of California’s water supply
network. Our last water tours of
2018 will look in-depth at how these rivers are managed and
used for agriculture, cities and the environment. You’ll see
infrastructure, learn about efforts to restore salmon runs and
talk to people with expertise on these rivers.
Get an up-close look at some of
California’s key water reservoirs and learn about farming
operations, habitat restoration, flood management and wetlands in
the Sacramento Valley on our Northern California Water Tour
Oct. 10-12.
Each year, participants on the Northern California Water Tour
enjoy three days exploring the Sacramento Valley during the
temperate fall. Join us as we travel through a scenic landscape
along the Sacramento and Feather rivers to learn about
issues associated with storing and delivering the state’s water
supply.
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.
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.
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.
Despite 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.
Does California need to revamp the way in which water is dedicated to the environment to better protect fish and the ecosystem at large? In the hypersensitive world of California water, where differences over who gets what can result in epic legislative and legal battles, the idea sparks a combination of fear, uncertainty and promise.
Saying that the way California manages water for the environment “isn’t working for anyone,” the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) shook things up late last year by proposing a redesigned regulatory system featuring what they described as water ecosystem plans and water budgets with allocations set aside for the environment.
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries
through a scenic landscape as participants learned about the
issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of
California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State
Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. Tour
participants got an on-site update of repair efforts on the
Oroville Dam spillway.
The Sacramento and San Joaquin are the two major rivers in the
Central Valley that feed the Delta, the hub of
California’s water supply network.
Our last two water tours of 2017 will take in-depth looks at how
these rivers are managed and used for agriculture, cities and the
environment. You’ll see infrastructure, learn about efforts to
restore salmon runs and talk to people with expertise on these
rivers.
Each year, participants on the Northern California Water Tour
enjoy three days exploring the Sacramento Valley during the
temperate fall. Join us as we travel along the Sacramento and
Feather rivers through a scenic landscape and learn about
issues associated with storing and delivering the state’s water
supply.
Before dams were built on the upper
Sacramento River, flood water regularly carried woody debris that
was an important part of the aquatic habitat.
Deprived of this refuge, salmon in the lower parts of the upper
Sacramento River have had a difficult time surviving and making
it down the river and out to the ocean. Seeing this, a group of
people, including water users, decided to lend a hand with an
unprecedented pilot project that saw massive walnut tree trunks
affixed to 12,000-pound boulders and deposited into the deepest
part of the Sacramento River near Redding to provide shelter for
young salmon and steelhead migrating downstream.
Protecting and restoring California’s populations of threatened
and endangered Chinook salmon and steelhead trout have been a big
part of the state’s water management picture for more than 20
years. Significant resources have been dedicated to helping the
various runs of the iconic fish, with successes and setbacks. In
a landscape dramatically altered from its natural setting,
finding a balance between the competing demands for water is
challenging.
Less than 50 miles northeast of Chico, California, begins the
93-mile Butte Creek – a tributary of the Sacramento River. It is named
after Butte County, which was in turn named for the nearby
volcanic plateaus, or “buttes,” and travels through a massive
canyon on its way southwest to the Sacramento Valley.
As a watershed, it drains about 800 square miles, both for
agricultural and residential use. The upper watershed is
dominated by forests, while the lower watershed is primarily
agricultural.
Whiskeytown Lake, a major reservoir in the foothills of the
Klamath Mountains nine miles west of Redding, was
built at the site of one of Shasta County’s first Gold Rush
communities. Whiskeytown, originally called
Whiskey Creek Diggings, was founded in 1849 and named in
reference to a whiskey barrel rolling off a citizen’s pack mule;
it may also refer to miners drinking a barrel per day.
Headwaters are the source of a
stream or river. They are located at the furthest point from
where the water body empties or merges with
another. Two-thirds of California’s surface water supply
originates in these mountainous and typically forested regions.
The American River, with headwaters
in the Tahoe and Eldorado national forests of the Sierra Nevada,
is the birthplace of the California Gold Rush. It currently
serves as a major water supply, recreational destination and
habitat for hundreds of species. The geologically diverse
North, Middle and South forks comprise the American
River or the Río de los Americanos, as it was called during
California’s Mexican rule.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
The 6,000-foot Delta Cross Channel diverts water from the
Sacramento River into a
branch of the Mokelumne River, where it follows natural channels
for about 50 miles to the Jones Pumping Plant
intake channel. Located near the State Water Project’s
Harvey O.
California’s largest river, the Sacramento, provides
31 percent of the state’s surface water runoff.
Once called “the Nile of the West,” the Sacramento River drains
the inland slopes of the Klamath Mountains, the Cascade Range,
the Coast Ranges and the western slopes of the northern Sierra Nevada. The river stretches
some 384 miles from its headwaters near Mount Shasta to the
Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta.
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.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the issues
associated with the State Water Board’s proposed revision of the
water quality Bay-Delta Plan, most notably the question of
whether additional flows are needed for the system, and how they
might be provided.
This printed issue of Western Water provides an overview of the
idea of a dual conveyance facility, including questions
surrounding its cost, operation and governance
This printed copy of Western Water examines the native salmon and
trout dilemma – the extent of the crisis, its potential impact on
water deliveries and the lengths to which combined efforts can
help restore threatened and endangered species.
This printed copy of Western Water examines the Delta through the
many ongoing activities focusing on it, most notably the Delta
Vision process. Many hours of testimony, research, legal
proceedings, public hearings and discussion have occurred and
will continue as the state seeks the ultimate solution to the
problems tied to the Delta.
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.
This issue of Western Water examines the presence of mercury in
the environment and the challenge of limiting the threat posed to
human health and wildlife. In addition to outlining the extent of
the problem and its resistance to conventional pollution
remedies, the article presents a glimpse of some possible courses
of action for what promises to be a long-term problem.
