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Topic: Sacramento River

Overview June 25, 2014

Sacramento River

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.

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Aquafornia news May 26, 2022 KRCR - Redding

Shasta Lake levels will drop, but not as drastically as 2021

Each year, Lake Shasta brings in locals and tourists from all over, especially for Memorial Day weekend. Businesses on Lake Shasta are dealing with low lake levels and short staffing but despite the challenges, they still expect a good holiday turnout. … With a three-year drought, lake levels are front-of-mind for many frequent lake visitors, but there is good news. Lake levels are currently about 120 feet below full pool and expected to drop 155 feet later this summer, but that’s still 30 feet higher than we saw last year. Matt Doyle, general manager of Lake Shasta Caverns, said businesses around the lake are very hopeful for this year’s summer.

Related articles: 

  • ABC 10 – Sacramento: Folsom Lake is nearly full amid drought—but why are other reservoirs still dry?
  • KMPH – Fresno: Bass Lake welcomes increase in water levels ahead of summer fun
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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 Fox 40 - Sacramento

California Tribal communities ask the State Water Resources Board to protect the Delta

As drought conditions continue, people who rely on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are demanding California make sure their communities are protected. Early Tuesday, a group gathered in front of the California State Water Resources Control Board building to demand the state enforce the Bay-Delta plan. It’s been a long fight and the group said enough is enough. For many of the tribes, the Delta is an important lifeline.

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Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Sacramento Bee

UC Davis creates AI model to predict leptospirosis in dogs

Veterinarians and researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a new way to detect leptospirosis, a life-threatening bacterial disease, in dogs using artificial intelligence. Leptospirosis is caused by the Leptospira bacteria, according to American Veterinary Medical Association, and it is typically found in soil and water. … Infections stem from urine-contaminated soil, food, bedding or from an animal bite. Dogs can be exposed to the bacteria from drinking water in rivers, lakes and streams, or being in contact with infected wildlife, farm animals, rodents and other dogs.

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Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Stockton Record

Readers photo challenge: The bridges that connect the California Delta

This month’s Reader Photo Challenge assignment was “bridges.” Being situated in the California Delta, Central Valley residents know all too well the importance of bridges. Without them communities would be stranded from each other and cities would be split into sections by the network of rivers, canals and sloughs that are ubiquitous to the area. Bridges help to connect us to our neighbors and to each other. Eight readers sent in 31 photos. Here are some of the best examples.

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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 Los Angeles Times

Northern California’s endangered Chinook salmon trucked to cooler waters

In a stopgap measure to help struggling spring- and winter-run Chinook salmon spawn in the face of rising water temperatures and lower water levels due to climate change, state and federal wildlife officials in Northern California have begun trucking adult fish to cooler waters. The spring- and winter-run salmon are genetically different, with the seasonal labels marking when adult fish travel from the Pacific Ocean back to the Sacramento River to spawn. The spring-run Chinook, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, are being moved from traps at the base of Keswick Dam to Clear Creek in the Sacramento River.

Related article: 

  • California Fisheries: State and federal hatcheries release salmon smolts to rivers, Delta, bay, and coast
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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 Record Searchlight

Planned Colusa County reservoir draws concerns of ‘harmful’ water quality

Most people have never heard of Sites, California. It’s just a tiny dot on maps, little more than an intersection in the road on the remote west side of rural Colusa County in Northern California. But the surrounding Antelope Valley, where wildflowers bloom and cattle graze on spring grasses, is one of the next battlegrounds in California’s water wars. Under plans endorsed by state, federal and local officials, the valley would be flooded by the Sites Reservoir, a 14,000-acre lake that would take in water pumped from the Sacramento River and store it for agricultural and municipal use during dry periods.

Related article: 

  • Water and the West: Does drought-prone California need another reservoir?  
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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 The New York Times

Why salmon and rice go so well together

The rice farmer John Brennan … [is] collaborating with the scientist Jacob Katz to turn a piece of the Sacramento Valley, specifically in the Yolo Bypass, into a floodplain that can be home to baby Chinook salmon during the winter months, as they make their way down the river system to the Pacific. Their experiment, aptly named the Nigiri Project (in reference to the beds of seasoned sushi rice draped in little blankets of raw fish), involves flooding Brennan’s rice fields once the grain has been harvested so that the depleted stalks can decompose in the water, thereby making those nutrients available to bugs and plankton, which then serve as food for schools of growing salmon. 

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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 Water Education Foundation

Announcement: Save the date for our fall tours exploring California’s two largest rivers

Mark your calendars now for our upcoming fall 2022 tours exploring California’s two largest rivers – the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers!  On our Northern California Tour, Oct. 12-14, participants can learn about key reservoirs and infrastructure that transports vital water resources statewide. Our San Joaquin River Restoration Tour Nov. 2-3 returns this year to tell the story of bringing back a river’s chinook salmon while balancing water supply needs. Registration is coming soon!

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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 FISHBIO

New research: Worth waiting for – The advantages of late-migrating spring-run Chinook

Rare traits and behaviors within a population often get less attention, but might sometimes be the perfect ingredient to ensure the survival of a species in the face of threats like climate change. A recent article published in the journal Nature revealed the surprising success of a rare life-history strategy for threatened spring-run Chinook salmon. Juveniles that spent the summer in cool, high-elevation habitat and migrated in the fall rather than the spring were found to be crucial to the success of the population, especially in years experiencing stressful environmental conditions.

Related article: 

  • California Trout: Blog - Walker Creek live stream outing
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Aquafornia news May 13, 2022 CBS 13 - Sacramento

Drought severely affecting California rice crops

Severe drought is taking a severe toll on California rice crops as this year, hundreds of thousands of acres won’t be planted. Some call the impact on farmers and the surrounding communities catastrophic…. The Northern California Water Association expects the rice industry to lose more than $250 million statewide, including more than $70 million in lost wages.

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Aquafornia news May 13, 2022 Red Bluff Daily News

Opinion: Can today’s ag techies track our precious water?

I will attempt to convince you the drought is simply an excuse to take our water and that farmers are the unfortunate victims, too. Just ask members of the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District (ACID), who thought they were safe from having their water taken because ACID holds a Sacramento River Settlement Contract with the United States Bureau of Reclamation. The contract states the irrigation district… will have their full supply of 100 percent cut to 25 percent (although some users say it’s 18 percent) even though their contract states 75 percent during critical years.
-Written by Shanna Long, a fourth generation journalist and former editor of the Corning Daily Observer.

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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 The Sacramento Bee

Are there sea lions by the Tower Bridge in Sacramento CA?

Your eyes aren’t playing tricks. That honking blob that looked like a sea lion near Tower Bridge — it probably was one. Sightings of the marine animals often make their rounds on Sacramento social media, and can send the average user down a rabbit hole (if you’re new, or younger than, say, 35 you may also be excited to learn about Humphrey, the vagabond humpback whale). But why are these creatures — who typically spend their time on the coast — appearing so far from the ocean? The answer’s rather simple: They’re are more of them, and they’re hungry.

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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 California Water Research

Blog: On sowing doubt about extinction risks for Chinook salmon in 2022

A decade ago, Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway wrote the seminal book, Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. Oreskes and Conway documented how scientists paid by the tobacco industry sowed doubt about the links between smoking and lung cancer, and how the same strategy has been used with climate change, acid rain, the ozone hole, and asbestos. Similar tactics have been used to sow doubt about the causes of the collapse of native fish populations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its watersheds.

Related article: 

  • California Fisheries blog: 2022 Sacramento River Operations – Temperature Management Plan
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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 The New Yorker

The biggest potential water disaster in the United States

The Delta is crucial because, if it ever failed as a hub, the resulting water crisis in California would increase existing tensions with the Colorado’s other parched dependents. … The Delta’s problems are as dire, but they receive far less public attention. The main threat to the Delta is saltwater intrusion. If an earthquake caused a major levee failure, the sunken islands would flood, drawing salt water from the Pacific into waterways that are now kept fresh by the pressure of inflows from the Sacramento.

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Aquafornia news May 9, 2022 California WaterBlog

Blog: Five “f”unctions of the Central Valley floodplain

The Yolo Bypass is one of two large flood bypasses in California’s Central Valley that are examples of multi-benefit floodplain projects (Figure 1; Serra-Llobet et al., 2022). Originally constructed in the early 20th century for flood control, up to 75% of the Sacramento River’s flood flow can be diverted through a system of weirs into the Yolo Bypass and away from nearby communities (Figure 2; Salcido, 2012; Sommer et al., 2001). During the dry season, floodplain soils in the bypass support farming of seasonal crops (mostly rice). Today, the bypass is also widely recognized for its ecological benefits.

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Aquafornia news May 6, 2022 The Nature Conservancy

Blog: Hamilton City

Rivers in California’s Central Valley like to go their own way: they expand, contract, meander and regenerate soil in the process. The historic movement of rivers is what made Central Valley soil so fertile. Naturally flowing rivers recharge and save water for people and nature, providing habitat for many species including four distinct runs of chinook salmon.  Before the early 20th century, the Sacramento River had one of the biggest salmon runs in North America …

Related article: 

  • California Department of Fish and Wildlife: Endangered California Salmon Returned To Safer Waters After More Than A Century
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Aquafornia news May 3, 2022 Pleasanton Weekly

Zone 7 directors vote 5-2 to continue in Delta Conveyance Project planning

A divided Zone 7 Water Agency Board of Directors voted to continue participating in the planning phase for the ambitious and long-discussed Delta Conveyance Project, following discussions about intricacies and concerns related to the matter last month. The directors’ 5-2 vote on April 20 comes with an a commitment of an additional $4.75 million in funding by Zone 7 for environmental planning for the proposed project.

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Aquafornia news April 29, 2022 The Sacramento Bee

Trucking salmon shows slow pace of California habitat work

Critically endangered adult salmon are again swimming above a century-old dam in this remote corner of far Northern California in the shadow of the Mount Lassen volcano. But this isn’t a habitat-restoration success story — at least not yet. For the past two weeks, state and federal fisheries managers have begun hauling the winter-run Chinook nearly 50 miles by truck from the dangerously warming Sacramento River to a stretch of the north fork of Battle Creek and releasing them, a handful at a time, into the creek’s icy waters.

Related article: 

  • Water Forum: Blog - How the Water Forum will use fish ear bones to help evaluate flow management
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news April 29, 2022 Bloomberg

Megadrought threatens California power blackouts this summer

The historic drought that’s choked off rivers and reservoirs from the Rocky Mountains to the California coast is threatening to strain power grids this summer, raising the specter of blackouts and forcing the region to rely on more fossil fuels. Many reservoirs that should be brimming with spring snowmelt show bathtub rings of dry dirt instead, including the largest one in the U.S., Lake Mead, which fell this week to a record low. Hydropower dams feeding off those reservoirs won’t be able to pump out as much electricity as they should, if they keep operating at all.

Related articles: 

  • Arizona Republic: Extreme heat, rising demand: Arizona utilities warn of blackouts in summers ahead
  • Tucson Weekly: The Daily Agenda - It’s Getting Hot in Here
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Aquafornia news April 27, 2022 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

News release: A necessary building block of fish survival is added to the Sacramento River

In addition to sufficient flows of cold water, chinook salmon migrating in the Sacramento River depend on having sufficient gravel in the riverbed to support spawning. In response to that need, Reclamation and its partners — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento River Settlement Contractors, Reclamation District 108, and the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District – recently completed placing 20,000 tons of spawning gravel on the west bank of the Sacramento River below Keswick Dam. 

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Aquafornia news April 26, 2022 American Rivers

Blog: Untapped beauty in California’s Central Valley

Over the past two centuries, 95% of the Central Valley’s wetlands have been lost to development, landscaped out of existence to satisfy the hunger of an urbanizing, growing nation. But that’s only part of the picture. California’s Central Valley extends far beyond what you can see from the freeways bisecting the belly of the state to connect the Redding to the Bay Area to Los Angeles. The region once boasted one of the largest and most biologically diverse wetlands on earth nourished by the mighty Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers …

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Aquafornia news April 26, 2022 Los Angeles Times

California wildlife officials bust white sturgeon poaching ring

Nine people were arrested by state wildlife police on suspicion of poaching, selling animals on the black market and other offenses after a sprawling investigation by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the agency said. Eight men were arrested on suspicion of poaching white sturgeon from Sacramento Valley waterways, the department said last week. A ninth man was arrested on suspicion of selling Dungeness crab and red abalone on the black market. 

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Aquafornia news April 26, 2022 NRDC

Blog: Delta voluntary agreements are a “plan to fail” in droughts

Rather than planning for droughts and ensuring that minimum water quality objectives are achieved in critically dry years, the proposed voluntary agreement appears to be a “plan to fail” to protect the Delta in future droughts.  Droughts are a fact of life in California, even as climate change is making them worse.  The Governor’s Water Resilience Portfolio recognizes the need to improve drought preparedness, requiring that the State to be able to protect fish and wildlife during a six year drought …

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Aquafornia news April 25, 2022 California WaterBlog

Blog: The Putah Creek fish kill: Learning from a local disaster

In November 2021, salmon entering Putah Creek were part of a large fish kill in the lower creek. The event took everyone familiar with the creek by surprise and prevented successful migration of the creek’s fall salmon. Only 4 or 5 adult Chinook salmon made it upstream to suitable spawning habitat. The result was particularly tragic as it followed on the heels of the restoration of a salmon run in the creek, as well as habitat for other fishes.

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Aquafornia news April 25, 2022 Jefferson Public Radio

Water rights groups win lawsuit in Siskiyou County over environmental review

The group “We Advocate Through Environmental Review” and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe challenged the environmental impact report prepared by the city [of Mt. Shasta] and Siskiyou County. They argued county officials offered a misleading report and failed to properly look at the impacts of the bottling plant on the environment. The groups filed two lawsuits, one against the city and one against the county.

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Aquafornia news April 22, 2022 CBS Sacramento

9 arrests made after investigation into Sacramento River sturgeon poaching

A total of nine people have been arrested after an investigation into a large suspected sturgeon poaching operation along Sacramento Valley waterways. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says the investigation started as two separate cases, but a connection between the suspects led them to uncovering the larger operation.

Related article: 

  • CA Department of Fish and Wildlife: Major Sturgeon Poaching Operation Nets Nine Suspects
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Aquafornia news April 22, 2022 Northern California Water Association

Blog: Salmon recovery project to implement voluntary agreements being implemented on the Sacramento River

The Sacramento River Settlement Contractors are currently implementing another project on the Sacramento River just downstream from Keswick Reservoir that will contribute to the habitat targets established by the recently signed Voluntary Agreements Memorandum of Understanding. The 2022 Keswick Gravel Injection Project will provide much needed spawning habitat in the upper Sacramento River for endangered winter-run Chinook salmon.

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Aquafornia news April 21, 2022 CA Department of Water Resources

Blog: Big storms, dry spells, demonstrate the need for improved infrastructure and the Delta Conveyance Project

California is immersed in a third year of drought, with January, February and March of 2022 experiencing the lowest precipitation on record. Weather whiplash of big storms followed by dry spells makes every drop of rain, every flake of snow, and every water molecule vital this year for families, farms, the environment and the economy. But outdated infrastructure and the orientation of the pumping facilities in the south Delta limits our ability to capture available water from storm events. The Delta Conveyance Project would help resolve this limitation.

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Aquafornia news April 19, 2022 NOAA Fisheries

Blog: “An era of surprises” – Studying climate change and salmon with Nate Mantua

Growing up in a Northern Californian fishing town, Nate Mantua’s family owned a business connected to the local salmon fishing industry. When one of the worst El Niño events ever recorded hit the West Coast in 1982 and 1983, the salmon fishery his family relied on suffered. Nate would go on to study how to predict El Niño events in graduate school, years later. Now he works to understand the impacts of climate change. Nate leads a team of salmon ecologists, biologists, freshwater and ocean experts at NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center. 

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Aquafornia news April 19, 2022 Associated Press

California gives rivers more room to flow to stem flood risk

Between vast almond orchards and dairy pastures in the heart of California’s farm country sits a property being redesigned to look like it did 150 years ago, before levees restricted the flow of rivers that weave across the landscape. The 2,100 acres (1,100 hectares) at the confluence of the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers in the state’s Central Valley are being reverted to a floodplain. 

Related article: 

  • Public Policy Institute of California: Blog - California’s rivers could help protect the state from flood and drought
  • Western Water rewind: California Spent Decades Trying to Keep Central Valley Floods at Bay. Now It Looks to Welcome Them Back
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Aquafornia news April 18, 2022 California WaterBlog

Blog: The 20th anniversary of another good idea: Ecogeomorphology

Several years ago on this site, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Center for Watershed Sciences—what we termed a “really good idea.”  That blog described the founding principles of the Center that live on today.  A few years after starting the Center, we had a second really good idea—a course called Ecogeomorphology.  For us, the most rewarding aspect of the Center was the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues from different disciplines to try and address complex water management problems.  

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Aquafornia news April 18, 2022 Mercury News

San Francisco Bay restoration bolstered by $53 million federal influx

Despite being the largest estuary on the West Coast and supporting both a highly diverse ecosystem and a multi-billion dollar economy, the San Francisco Bay Estuary was not getting its fair share of federal funding for restoration, according to local lawmakers and environmental organizations. That changed this year after Congress and President Joe Biden approved more than $50 million in funding to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for projects to restore lost wetlands, improve water quality, address pollution and bolster sea-level rise defenses throughout San Francisco Bay.

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Western Water February 25, 2022 Alastair Bland Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map Layperson's Guide to the Delta WESTERN WATER-With Delta Smelt Virtually Gone in the Wild, A "Hatch-and-Release" Program Aims to Save Them From Extinction By Alastair Bland

With Delta Smelt All But Gone in the Wild, A First-Ever “Hatch-and-Release” Effort Aims to Save Them From Extinction
Experimental releases of finger-size fish into Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta inspires hope, but also skepticism, about the smelt's future

Crew releases hatchery-raised Delta smelt into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. 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.

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Western Water November 19, 2021 Alastair Bland California Water Map WESTERN WATER-California Spent Decades Trying to Keep Central Valley Floods at Bay. Now It Looks to Welcome Them Back By Alastair Bland

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.

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Tour October 14, 2021 - 2:30pm - 5:30pm Nick Gray Jenn Bowles

Northern California Tour 2021
A Virtual Journey - October 14

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.

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Tour September 9, 2021 - 2:30pm - 5:30pm Nick Gray Jenn Bowles Layperson's Guide to the Delta

Bay-Delta Tour 2021
A Virtual Journey - September 9

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.

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Aquafornia news December 21, 2020 Army Corps of Engineers

Blog: Sacramento District quick to adapt in face of COVID

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.

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Western Water April 17, 2020 Gary Pitzer

Framework for Agreements to Aid Health of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a Starting Point With An Uncertain End
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Voluntary agreement discussions continue despite court fights, state-federal conflicts and skepticism among some water users and environmental groups

Aerial image of the Sacramento-San Joaquin DeltaVoluntary 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.

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Western Water October 24, 2019 California Water Map Gary Pitzer

Understanding Streamflow Is Vital to Water Management in California, But Gaps In Data Exist
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: A new law aims to reactivate dormant stream gauges to aid in flood protection, water forecasting

Stream gauges gather important metrics such as  depth, flow (described as cubic feet per second) and temperature.  This gauge near downtown Sacramento measures water depth.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.

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Announcement September 11, 2019

Northern California Tour to Include Update on Camp Fire Impacts to Paradise Water System
Paradise Irrigation District general manager will discuss the challenges to recovery on Oct. 2-4 tour

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.

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Announcement September 4, 2019

Northern California Tour Explores Water Resources Across Sacramento Valley to Shasta Dam
Examine state and federal water projects key to California's urban and agricultural supplies on Oct. 2-4 tour

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.

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Western Water April 25, 2019 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.

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Western Water April 11, 2019 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.

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Western Water January 4, 2019 Douglas E. Beeman Douglas E. Beeman

Women Leading in Water, Colorado River Drought and Promising Solutions — Western Water Year in Review

Dear Western Water readers:

Women named in the last year to water leadership roles (clockwise, from top left): Karla Nemeth, director, California Department of Water Resources; Gloria Gray,  chair, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Brenda Burman, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner; Jayne Harkins,  commissioner, International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S. and Mexico; Amy Haas, executive director, Upper Colorado River Commission.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:

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Western Water September 21, 2018 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.

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Western Water September 7, 2018 Enhancing California’s Water Supply: The Drive for New Storage Is California's Water Supply Resilient and Sustainable? Water Education Foundation

ON THE ROAD: Picturesque Northern California Valley Could Become the State’s Next Major Reservoir
Sites Reservoir site is a stop on our Northern California Tour Oct. 10-12

The proposed Sites Reservoir is in a rural cattle-grazing area west of the Sacramento Valley town of Maxwell. 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.

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Western Water August 24, 2018 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.

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Announcement August 8, 2018

Examine Key California Rivers on the Last Two Water Tours of 2018
Join us as we explore the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers; hear from farmers, water managers, environmentalists

Northern California Tour participants pose in front of Shasta Dam.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.

Early bird prices are still available!

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Announcement July 25, 2018

Northern California Tour Explores Water Resources Across Sacramento Valley
Examine key state and federal water projects, habitat restoration, irrigation and groundwater

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.

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Western Water June 29, 2018 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.

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Western Water June 1, 2018 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.

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Western Water March 23, 2018 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.

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Western Water February 23, 2018 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.

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Western Water February 23, 2018 Layperson's Guide to Water Rights Law Gary Pitzer

Does California’s Environment Deserve its Own Water Right?
IN-DEPTH: Fisheries and wildlife face growing challenges, but so do water systems competing for limited supply. Is there room for an environmental water right?

Sunset in Sacramento-San Joaquin DeltaDoes 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.

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Tour October 10, 2018 - October 12, 2018 New Stop Announced for Northern California Tour: Salmon Rearing Structures in the Sacramento River

Northern California Tour 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 repair efforts on the Oroville Dam spillway. 

  • David Guy
  • Christopher Williams
  • Carson Jeffres
  • Curt Aikens
  • Kelly Peterson
  • Mark Oliver
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Announcement September 14, 2017

Explore Key California Rivers on the Last Two Water Tours of the Year
Join us as we meander along the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers

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.

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Announcement August 24, 2017

Northern California Tour Highlights Water Infrastructure
Visit key components of state and federal water projects

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.

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Western Water May 23, 2017 Gary Pitzer

Habitat Renewal Project Aims to Boost Sacramento River Salmon
Salmon shelters installed in early May to help fry and juvenile salmon

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.

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Western Water Excerpt February 15, 2017 Jenn Bowles

Preservation and Restoration: Salmon in Northern California
Winter 2017

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.

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Aquapedia background September 1, 2016

Butte Creek

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. 

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Aquapedia background August 30, 2016

Whiskeytown Lake

Photo Credit: Jenn Bowles, Executive Director

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. 

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Aquapedia background August 25, 2016

Headwaters

Sierra Nevada headwaters streamHeadwaters 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.

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Aquapedia background August 25, 2016

American River

American RiverThe 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.

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Tour October 21, 2015 - October 23, 2015 Images from the Northern California Tour

Northern California Tour 2015
Field Trip (past)

This 3-day, 2-night tour traveled the length of the Sacramento Valley, a major source of water for California.

  • Draft Itinerary
  • Tour Brochure - Learn More
  • Presentation: Butte County and SGMA
  • Presentation: Iron Mountain. Superfund Site
  • Presentation: Sacramento Valley
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Tour October 22, 2014 Images from the Northern California Tour

Northern California Tour 2014
Field Trip (past)

The 2014 tour took place October 22-24.

This 3-day, 2-night tour travels the length of the Sacramento Valley, a major source of water for California.

  • Curt Aikens, Yuba County Water Agency
  • Curtis Anderson, DWR, maps
  • Curtis Anderson, DWR, Integrating Water Management
  • Thad Bettner, Glenn Colusa ID
  • Peter Buck, SAFCA, Habitat Mitigation
  • Peter Buck, SAFCA
  • Jeff Davids Sac Valley Groundwater
  • Michelle Dooley, DWR, Groundwater
  • Steve Emmons, USFWS
  • Ron Ganzfried, USBR, Shasta Enlargement
  • David Guy, NCWA, Overview
  • David Guy, NCWA, Informational Posters
  • Diana Jacobs, Sacramento River Preservation Trust
  • Kisanuki and Brown, Clear Creek
  • David Vogel, Natural Resources Scientists Inc.
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Publication August 19, 2014

New Director’s Packet

Newly elected to your local water board? Or city council? Or state Legislature? This packet of materials provides you with the valuable background information you need – and at a special price!

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Video May 27, 2014

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.

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Video May 27, 2014

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.

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Video May 22, 2014

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.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

California Water Map, Spanish

Spanish language version of our California Water Map

Versión en español de nuestro mapa de agua de California

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Publication May 20, 2014

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.

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Publication May 20, 2014

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. 

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Publication May 20, 2014

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. 

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Publication May 20, 2014

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).

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Photo gallery May 16, 2014

Images from the Northern California Tour

Shasta Dam
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Publication April 17, 2014

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.

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Maps & Posters April 17, 2014 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.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Cross Channel

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.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Sacramento River

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.

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Aquapedia background February 3, 2014

Delta-Mendota Canal

Delta-Mendota Canal

The117-mile long Delta-Mendota Canal in central California delivers water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the San Joaquin Valley. It is part of the Central Valley Project.

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Western Water Magazine May 1, 2013

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.

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Western Water Magazine July 1, 2012

How Much Water Does the Delta Need?
July/August 2012

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.

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Western Water Magazine March 1, 2009

Delta Conveyance: The Debate Continues
March/April 2009

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

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Western Water Magazine January 1, 2009

Making a Future for Fish: Preserving and Restoring Native Salmon and Trout
January/February 2009

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.

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Western Water Magazine March 1, 2008

Finding a Vision for the Delta
March/April 2008

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.

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Western Water Magazine September 1, 2004

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.

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Western Water Magazine May 1, 2004

Mercury Rising Tackling the Legacy of the Gold Rush
May/June 2004

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.

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