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.
There’s now a plan underway to store more water in [Folsom
Reservoir], and that involves raising Folsom Dam. It was a
Memorial Day sight not seen in years. Folsom Lake is currently
at 116% of its historical average. … Now, efforts are
underway to help store more of this water during wet years. The
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is working to raise Folsom Dam by
three and a half feet. The plan also requires raising eight
earthen dikes that surround the lake’s perimeter. Work has
already been completed on one of the dikes, and this year,
construction is beginning along the western shoreline. The
project’s primary goal is to increase the Sacramento region’s
flood protection, but it will also allow Folsom Lake to store
an extra 42,000 acre-feet of water.
A new salmon habitat has been created on the Sacramento River
in Redding thanks to an improvement act providing millions and
partnerships between state, local, and tribal partners. The
Kapusta Open Space Side Channel Project was built on the
Sacramento River near the Kapusta Open Space to protect the
endangered chinook salmon. Wednesday representatives from all
over came to celebrate. The channel will provide a
year-round spawning habitat for the fish where they are
protected from prey. The channel is about a half-mile long and
was excavated this winter and completed this spring. This
is just the first of five projects Chico State
Enterprise has received $27 million through
the Central Valley Project Improvement Act to create.
On May 16, 2023, the California Department of Fish and
Wildlife, National Marine Fisheries Service, and Yuba Water
Agency announced a plan to design and build a fish bypass at
Daguerre Point Dam on the lower Yuba River (see Figure below).
At present, the dam has fish ladders on both ends of the dam
that don’t work well. The plan’s conceptual design is for
a bypass channel that would allow fish to circumvent the
existing dam; the plan would retain the dam. The plan
would reconfigure the diversion works at the dam’s south end
and add effective fish screens to the agricultural diversion
infrastructure at both ends of the dam. Essentially, the bypass
would operate as a long, high-capacity fish ladder that would
also allow passage of sturgeon and lamprey, which cannot use
the existing fish ladders.
In a widely-broadcasted press conference held on the banks
of the lower Yuba River yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom,
the Yuba Water Agency, the California Department of Fish and
Wildlife (CDFW) and the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) announced a controversial plan to build a fish passage
canal around Daguerre Point Dam and begin a reintroduction
trap-and- haul effort around New Bullards Bar Dam. Shockingly,
no representatives of fishing groups, environmental groups and
Tribes were invited to be part of the negotiations for the
restoration effort nor invited to the press conference by a
state government that has constantly gushed
about “inclusion” and “diversity” but has done the very
opposite in practice.
No matter if it’s a dry year or wet year, there are
continued pleas for more water storage. Now, an American River
Basin study is showing how a strategically placed high Sierra
reservoir might be part of the water solution. The concern to
capture Sierra runoff is seeing increased interest as
California experiences even bigger climate whiplash years -
going from droughts to floods. The big snowpack in the
Sierra this year stands out as an anomaly with climate models
forecasting more rain than snow falling in the lower mountains
by the end of the century. The other concern is the earlier
runoff and having to store and manage reservoir water over a
longer period of time through the dry summer months. To
help ease that tension, a new reservoir is being considered
near Alder Creek in the Sierra.
Citing the need to boost survival rates for imperiled salmon
and sturgeon along the heavily dammed Yuba River, state, local
and federal officials have announced a $60-million plan to
build a channel that will allow fish to swim easily around a
dam that has impeded their passage for more than a century. …
Already, some environmentalists and fishing advocates have
blasted the Yuba River plan, saying it was the result of
closed-door haggling between government agencies and doesn’t do
enough to protect threatened species. Some say that a better
solution would be removal of the dam.
The Sacramento region can expect to see big changes related to
how wastewater is treated and reused with the completion of
Regional San’s $1.7 billion, decade-long expansion. Named the
EchoWater Project, the immense upgrade was completed in spring
2023—on schedule and under budget. The result is a safe and
reliable supply of treated water for discharge to the
Sacramento River, which will also be used for recycled water
purposes—like irrigating local agriculture and supporting
habitat conservation land. The expanded tertiary treatment
facility is now the second largest treatment plant of its kind
in the nation, and the expansion project was among the largest
public works projects in the Sacramento region’s history.
Regional San treats an average of 135 million gallons of
wastewater each day from 1.6 million people throughout
Sacramento County and West Sacramento.
According to a public notice published May 10th,
2023, Hat Creek Construction Company, contractor for
Caltrans, is planning to construct a “temporary” asphalt plant
directly adjacent to the Feather River in Delleker, 2000
feet south (and upwind) of the Delleker residential area, and
only 500 feet from homes in the Iron Horse community across the
river. The operation would run from April to November, from 6am
to 6pm, up to 24 hours/ day for 3 years (but probably longer)
mainly to supply Caltrans with asphalt for its Highway 70
repaving project. The project would generate at least 150
round trip truck trips per day, all crossing the railroad
at an uncontrolled crossing, risking accidents and derailments,
including possible oil spills directly into to the
river. -Written by Feather River Action.
California’s Yuba River, a vital breeding ground for salmon and
other fish, could enjoy a new chapter as an expanded habitat
under a new $60 million federal and state replenishment
project. Governor Gavin Newsom joined several state and
federal leaders at Daguerre Point Dam in Marysville, to
announce the new plan to remove obstacles and expand vital fish
habitats in the river. Chuck Bonham, director of
the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said
at a briefing in front of the dam that the structure has not
evolved since 1910, and is currently a complete barrier to
sturgeon and lamprey that need more miles of habitat.
While Lake Shasta is brimming with water, Trinity Lake is less
than half full. There are several reasons why that happened
this year, according to the Bureau of Reclamation, and why the
situation at Trinity Dam may not be as dire as it sounds.
Winter rainstorms filled Lake Shasta to 98% of its capacity,
116% of its historic average for this time of year, according
to the California Department of Water Resources. The water
level at the dam is lapping a little more than three feet from
the top, Bureau of Reclamation Area Manager Donald Bader said.
The rivers in Southern California are an enigma, and by some
observer’s standards, their meager, seasonal flows wouldn’t
even qualify as a “real river.” But few places in the world
have captured, managed, channeled, and fought over their water
resources with more necessity and ingenuity than the cities of
Southern California. Southern California rivers are unique for
several reasons; they are short by normal standards, their
flows are comparatively low, their origins can reach lofty
alpine elevations over 9,000 feet, and the area they collect
their water from, or “watershed,” is small in comparison to
other major rivers. As an example, the Sacramento River in
Northern California is four times longer and has a watershed 10
times larger than the Santa Ana River, which is the largest
river in Southern California. -Written by freelance writer Mark Landis.
Triple Threat. Deadman’s Drop. Satan’s Cesspool. After years of
drought, the rapids along California’s American River are truly
living up to their names. As a historic snowpack starts to
melt, the spring runoff is fueling conditions for some of the
best whitewater in years on the American River and its forks,
which course through the Sierra Nevada northeast of
Sacramento.
On April 7, 2023, the Third District Court of Appeal filed a
lengthy published opinion – the latest installment in one of
the longer ongoing CEQA battles in recent memory – affirming a
judgment finding an EIR for the Federal relicensing of Oroville
Dam and related hydropower facilities legally adequate.
County of Butte and County of Plumas, et al v. Dept. of Water
Resources (2023) ___ Cal.App.5th ___. … This
case’s remarkably extensive litigation history has resulted in
no fewer than four published decisions, three from the Third
District and one from the California Supreme Court (aka
“SCOCA”). (Of the three Third District opinions, only
this case (Butte IV) is good authority, the other two having
been abrogated by SCOCA’s grants of review.)
A California tribe has signed agreements with state and federal
agencies to work together on efforts to return endangered
Chinook salmon to their traditional spawning areas upstream of
Shasta Dam, a deal that could advance the long-standing goal of
tribal leaders to reintroduce fish that were transplanted from
California to New Zealand more than a century ago and still
thrive there. Members of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe have long
sought to restore a wild salmon population in the McCloud River
north of Redding, where their ancestors once lived. The
agreements that were signed this week for the first time
formally recognize the tribe as a partner participating in
efforts to save the endangered winter-run Chinook salmon.
Over the past year we’ve been showing you California’s effort
to save the winter run chinook salmon – a fish that has almost
been lost to dammed rivers and warming waters. It’s part of a
growing partnership between state and federal wildlife agencies
– and a small California tribe that’s been fighting to save
those fish for years, and bring them back home. On Monday, a
historic pact was signed to expand on those
efforts … For Sisk and the Winnemem Tribe this day
would have seemed improbable, or impossible, just a few years
ago. A tiny California tribe without federal recognition,
signing a formal agreement with state and federal partners.
When the moment arrived to actually sign the documents, the
tribe’s spiritual leader couldn’t help but acknowledge
generations of mistrust.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, NOAA Fisheries
and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe signed agreements to restore
Chinook salmon to the mountains north of Redding, California,
on May 1, 2023. The agreements support a joint effort to return
Chinook salmon to their original spawning areas in cold
mountain rivers now blocked by Shasta Reservoir in northern
California. The goal is ecological and cultural restoration
which will one day renew fishing opportunities for the tribe
that depended on the once-plentiful salmon for food and much
more. The tribe signed a co-management agreement with CDFW and
a co-stewardship agreement with NOAA Fisheries, reflecting the
way the two agencies describe accords with tribes. This
three-way collaboration is a historic achievement that advances
our common goals.
The heavy snow melt has triggered more water releases from Lake
Oroville this week. The first release through the Spillway in
four years happened in March with 15,000 cubic feet per second
(cfs) were released. The California Department of Water
Resources upped this amount this week. On Wednesday, 18,000 cfs
were released — and 20,000 cfs on Thursday…. As of Thursday,
Lake Oroville was at 91% capacity….The DWR said despite the
increase, the Sacramento River will remain at its normal
conditions, so there is no concern for flooding.
Snowmelt season is well underway, and as water flows down the
west slope of the Sierra, some of it is destined to end up in
Northern California’s reservoirs. Here’s an update on water
storage around the region. … Lake Shasta is
currently at 96% of capacity. At the start of April, the
reservoir was at 83% of capacity. As of Wednesday afternoon,
inflow from runoff is estimated to be around 12,000 cfs.
… Lake Oroville is also nearing capacity. On April 1,
storage was at 82%. As of Wednesday, storage is up to 90% with
19,000 cfs of runoff inflow. Water is being released at about
15,000 cfs to maintain space in the lake.
Researchers from NOAA Fisheries and University of California
Santa Cruz will tag several groups of juvenile salmon in the
Sacramento River system. The tags will help us measure the
benefits from the river’s first “pulse flow.” A pulse flow is a
rapid increase and decrease in dam released water designed to
resemble natural spring runoff. The researchers want to know if
the pulse flow increases the survival of juvenile salmon and
improves their chances of returning to the river as an adult to
spawn. They plan on measuring this by implanting tags into
juvenile salmon migrating downriver before, during, and after
the pulse. They will compare their speed and survival on the
way to the ocean.
The Bureau of Reclamation, NOAA Fisheries, and U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service announced the plan for two pulse flow releases
from Keswick Dam into the Sacramento River. Pulse flows are
rapid increases and decreases in dam-released flows, occurring
over a short time frame. The release of water helps improve
survival rates for out-migrating juvenile spring-run Chinook
salmon smolts through the Sacramento River in addition to the
planned releases of more than 10 million fall and winter-run
Chinook salmon from the Coleman National Fish Hatchery. Pulse
flows releases from Keswick Dam will be targeting flows at
Wilkins Slough of 11,000 cubic feet per second. The flow
release for the first pulse is scheduled to begin around April
24 and reach a peak of around 9,000 cfs. Flow rates will reduce
to around 7,000 cfs by April 29. The second pulse flow will
begin on or around May 8 and may reach a peak of around 12,000
cfs.
Growing up in the shadow of the
Rocky Mountains, Andrew Schwartz never missed an opportunity to
play in – or study – a Colorado snowstorm. During major
blizzards, he would traipse out into the icy wind and heavy
drifts of snow pretending to be a scientist researching in
Antarctica.
Decades later, still armed with an obsession for extreme weather,
Schwartz has landed in one of the snowiest places in the West,
leading a research lab whose mission is to give California water
managers instant information on the depth and quality of snow
draping the slopes of the Sierra Nevada.
This tour explored 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 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.
