The San Joaquin Valley stretches from across mid-California
between coastal ranges in west and the Sierras on the east. The
region includes large cities such as Fresno and Bakersfield,
national parks such as Yosemite and Kings and fertile farmland
and multi-billion dollar agriculture industry.
The federal Central Valley Project and State Water Project (about
30 percent of SWP water is used for irrigation) helped
deliver water to the valley. Today, San Joaquin Valley crops
include grapes, tomatoes, hay, sugar beets, nuts, cotton and a
multitude of other fruits and vegetables. At the same time, water
used to grow these crops has led to the need for agricultural
drainage.
For years, conversations about the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act – known commonly as SGMA – have largely taken a
tone of speculation and even apprehension. The 2014 law, which
aims to slow California’s unlimited tapping of underground
aquifers, gives locally organized groundwater sustainability
agencies until 2042 to overhaul pumping practices for the
spectrum of groundwater users — from cities and rural
communities to dairies, small farms and agricultural
conglomerates. Ultimately, the consequences could be dire: the
non-profit Public Policy Institute of California predicted even
in the best-case scenario, as much as 500,000 acres of farmland
may need to be fallowed in order to adequately reduce
groundwater pumping.
In most parts of California, and indeed the United States, the
idea that the government would largely cede to private
companies management of a natural disaster that could decimate
multiple towns, displace thousands of farmworkers and wreak
destruction across hundreds of square miles would be
unfathomable. But that has long been how things operate in the
Tulare Lake Basin. Land barons, chief among them J.G. Boswell’s
founder, seized control of the basin and its water generations
ago and have since managed it with minimal government
interference. … The flood-prone Tulare Lake Basin is the one
part of the Central Valley that has a special exemption from
state-required flood control plans, leaving the area without a
clear public strategy for managing floodwaters.
Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval acknowledged the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act’s (SGMA) importance to
the valley in his opening remarks. … As water supplies
decline, said Central Valley Community Foundation CEO Ashley
Swearengin, it is key to bring all the valley’s many players to
the table to hammer out coping strategies. The need for
coordination is paramount, given the magnitude of the
challenge. As PPIC research fellow Andrew Ayres explained,
reducing groundwater pumping ultimately will help the valley
maintain its robust agricultural industry and protect
communities. But even with new water supplies, our research
found that valley agriculture will need to occupy a smaller
footprint than it does now: at least 500,000 acres of farmland
will likely need to come out of intensively irrigated
production.
More than a decade after California became the first state in
the nation to declare that access to clean, safe and affordable
drinking water was a human right, about a million residents
remain connected to failing water systems — many of which may
increase their risk of cancer, liver and kidney problems, or
other serious health issues. The number of failed water systems
has jumped about 25% since 2021, an increase driven partly by
the collection of more data. … The crisis has cast
a harsh light on the state’s ability to provide clean and
affordable drinking water to all its residents, particularly
those in the Central Valley, where widespread contaminants
afflict communities with substandard infrastructure and where
the heavy use of agricultural fertilizers and fumigants, as
well as the overpumping of aquifers, has worsened water
quality.
After a four-year decline in potato production nationwide, this
season’s crop appears poised to buck the trend, spurred by
strong demand and improved water supplies. While higher
processing contract prices are driving much of the increased
acreage, California’s mostly fresh-market growers may see
prices decline once harvest starts elsewhere, said Almuhanad
Melhim, a fruit and vegetable market analyst for Rabobank’s
RaboResearch division. … During the past few years,
processors have been short on russet potatoes that go into
french fries, so they snapped up fresh-market russet supplies,
driving up fresh prices. To encourage more processed potato
production this year, processors increased contract prices
substantially.
… a conference held this past week at Fresno State, “Managing
water and farmland transitions in the San Joaquin Valley,” drew
a large crowd of growers and water district managers. The
event was sponsored by the Public Policy Institute of
California [PPIC], a nonpartisan group that provides analysis
on key issues facing the state.The PPIC’s report on the
Valley’s water situation makes clear the stakes: Even if
growers do everything right, a half million acres could go out
of production because of water-supply shortages. … Using
water wisely while re-purposing land properly will be the key
issue facing San Joaquin Valley farmers for years to
come. -Written by Tad Weber, The Bee’s opinion
editor.
Decades of drought in the West has made water quality and
quantity a major issue requiring government funding and
innovation to fix, members of a U.S. Senate panel said
Wednesday. Demand for water in growing municipalities is
stretching agricultural and tribal communities, while shrinking
availability is leading to higher water prices, witnesses told
the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s Water and
Power Subcommittee. … Kyle Jones, the policy and legal
director at the advocacy group Community Water Center, told the
panel about a woman whose California well ran dry as her
husband recovered from open-heart surgery. A new well would
have required a $30,000 loan, he said.
Residents can be flooded with new hope now that 12 years of
planning is coming together to bring the [Tulare County]
community improved access to accessible, clean water. A new
well in Poplar had its groundbreaking on Monday, Sept. 18, to
celebrate the increased access to clean water in the area.
Poplar has been pursuing a new well for the last 12 years due
to the high level of contaminants in the water. After years of
planning, the community has now received assurance they will
have safe drinking water for years to come.
Even though California enacted sweeping legislation nearly a
decade ago to curb excessive agricultural pumping of
groundwater, new research predicts that thousands of drinking
water wells could run dry in the Central Valley by the time the
law’s restrictions take full effect in 2040. The study,
published this month in the journal Scientific Reports, casts
critical light on how the state is implementing the 2014
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The research reveals
that plans prepared by local agencies would allow for heavy
pumping to continue largely unabated, potentially drawing down
aquifers to low levels that would leave many residents with dry
wells.
Landowners and residents who live in front of the Auxiliary Dam
at Lake Isabella are being swamped by “seepage” coming through
the earthen dam that is ruining septic systems, causing
sinkholes, clogging the area with weeds and breeding swarms of
mosquitoes. They’ve tried working with the Army Corps of
Engineers, which recently rebuilt the Auxiliary and main dams
at a cost of nearly $300 million, but say they are getting
stonewalled.
Nestled in the heart of California’s vast Central Valley lies a
shimmering oasis, a testament to human ingenuity and the
ongoing quest for water management: the San Luis Reservoir.
This magnificent reservoir, holding both natural beauty and
immense significance for the Golden State’s water system, is
much more than just a large lake. Here’s everything you need to
know about this impressive structure. The San Luis
Reservoir was constructed as a result of a collaboration
between the federal and state governments in the 1960s. It
stands as a primary off-stream storage facility and is a key
component of both the California State Water Project (SWP) and
the federal Central Valley Project (CVP). The aim was to cater
to the growing water demands of the state’s booming population
and agricultural sectors.
Successful implementation of the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act (SGMA) is vital to the long-term health of the
San Joaquin Valley’s communities, agriculture, environment, and
economy. But the transition will be challenging. Even with
robust efforts to augment water supplies through activities
like groundwater recharge, significant land fallowing will be
necessary. How the valley manages that fallowing will be
paramount to protecting the region’s residents—including the
growers and rural, low-income communities who will be most
directly impacted by the changes. With coordinated planning and
robust incentives, the valley can navigate the difficult water
and land transitions coming its way and put itself on a path to
a productive and sustainable future.
Tribal members celebrated the return of more than 1,200 acres
of their ancestral lands in the jagged hills above Weldon on
Saturday in a ceremony marked with gratitude, emotion and
prayer. Chairman Robert Gomez opened the event by thanking a
large number of people who helped find, purchase and deed the
land back to the Tübatulabal tribe, which has called the Kern
River Valley home for more than 5,000 years. Western Rivers
Conservancy was chief among those Gomez called out for their
help in obtaining the land. Western Rivers, a non profit
dedicated to restoring rivers, helped secure funding through
the state Wildlife Conservation Board and Sierra
Nevada Conservancy and facilitated the handover of the land to
the tribe.
California may put oil companies on the financial hook to plug
and clean aging oil fields after lawmakers approved a measure
meant to prevent taxpayers from footing the bill for orphaned
wells. In a year that has been relatively quiet for climate
legislation, the passage of Assembly Bill 1167 on Thursday
night marked a win for environmentalists and communities mainly
around Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley facing methane
leaks from aging oil wells that require costly cleanup.
… Orphaned wells, as they’re called, risk harmful leaks
of oil, polluted water and methane often near residential
areas. According to the Geologic Energy Management Division,
known as CalGEM, California has plugged about 1,400 wells since
1977 at a cost of $29.5 million.
During three weeks in December and January, storms dumped 32
trillion gallons of rain and snow on California. With it came
unwelcome floods for many communities of color. The winter and
spring storms were a rare chance for drought-stricken
communities to collect rainwater, rather than have their farms,
homes and more overwhelmed by water. Much of the rain that fell
instead overflowed in lakes and streams, leading to disaster in
low-income Central Valley towns like Allensworth and
Planada. In the aftermath of the damage, community leaders
are reiterating a call to diversify water boards to give
marginalized groups more power. The California State Water
Resources Control Board, which oversees the distribution of
water in the state, has acknowledged that its workforce does
not reflect California’s racial composition.
Despite a record snowpack that has kept the South Fork of the
Tule River flowing at a steady clip, residents of the Tule
River Reservation – who get 60 percent of their supplies
directly from the river – were recently without water for eight
days. The problem, ironically, was too much water.
Specifically, from Hurricane Hilary. When the late summer storm
drenched dry, burn-scarred mountainsides, the runoff brought a
torrent of muck with it and fouled the reservation’s intake and
treatment system. But Hilary was just the tribe’s most recent
go-round with water problems from an outdated system built to
serve a fraction of the homes now on the reservation.
Medical experts in Central California are testing wastewater
and have seen a rise in COVID-19 cases. On Wednesday, the
California Department of Public Health encouraged all
California residents to vaccinate. Pharmacy retailer CVS also
announced its plan to offer COVID-19 booster shots in its
stores. Madera County Public Health Officer Simon Paul says
it’s important to stay vigilant.
Just as residents in rural East Orosi are getting some traction
on drinking water issues, they are dealing with what they call
abusive treatment over sewage services and they’ve had enough.
At a recent protest during the East Orosi Community Services
District meeting, about 40 residents laid out charges of
mistreatment. They alleged the district has overcharged them
and even threatened to call immigration services on some
residents. They laid the blame at the feet of a single district
employee and what they say is a dysfunctional board. The
problem is apparently tangled up with conjoined water issues
that have separate oversight authority – sewage and drinking
water.
The North San Joaquin Water Conservation District recently
received some help from the federal government to ensure its
ratepayers continue to receive water. The U.S. Department of
Agriculture announced Tuesday that the district has been
awarded a $1 million grant to make repairs and upgrades to its
irrigation system. The investment will help make critical
improvements to upstream level control, gates, and flow meters
to meet delivery needs and support effective, safe groundwater
management, the agency said. Jennifer Spaletta, the district’s
attorney, said the grant money will be used to build a lateral
off the south distribution system located near Handel Road.
The state approved funding for a range of floodplain projects
in the San Joaquin Valley, clearing the way for work to
potentially begin as soon as this week. The state budget
included $40 million for floodplain restoration projects in the
San Joaquin Valley, which would let rivers spread out over
large swaths of undeveloped land to slow the flow and absorb
the water. On August 24, the California Wildlife
Conservation Board voted to spend $21 million of the funding
which will be doled out to six on-the-ground projects and 10
planning projects, all overseen by the nonprofit River
Partners. The rest of the money will be voted on in November at
another board meeting and is proposed for two land
acquisitions.
Of all the places that unexpectedly flooded this past year,
there was one that unexpectedly did not – Lamont. Typically,
heavy rain years kick up water in the Caliente Creek and it
comes rushing east out of the Tehachapi Mountains, turns south
under Highway 58 into a wide wash and floods out Lamont. Years
ago, the water would have spread out like a sheet and continued
south toward Arvin. But farmers built a levee along Mountain
View Road and lined it with tamarisk trees. The structure is
easily spotted on satellite map views of the area.
A difference of $38 million dollars in taxes to those in the
Indian Wells Valley hung in the balance as the Indian Wells
Valley Groundwater Authority discussed funding options for the
imported water pipeline project at the IWVGA’s board meeting on
Aug. 23. The mood of the room reflected the gravity of the
decision. Conversation slowed, political rivalries cooled, and
board members asked the same clarifying questions from subject
matter experts for a third or fourth time. Ultimately, too many
questions remained on such an important decision, and so the
IWVGA board tabled it until their next meeting on Sept. 13. No
further delays will be possible; the IWVGA will need to make a
decision at their September meeting.
Global warming has focused concern on land and sky as soaring
temperatures intensify hurricanes, droughts and wildfires. But
another climate crisis is unfolding, underfoot and out of view.
Many of the aquifers that supply 90 percent of the nation’s
water systems, and which have transformed vast stretches of
America into some of the world’s most bountiful farmland, are
being severely depleted. These declines are threatening
irreversible harm to the American economy and society as a
whole. The New York Times conducted a months-long examination
… In California, an agricultural giant and, like
Arkansas, a major groundwater user, the aquifers in at least 76
basins last year were being pumped out faster than they could
be replenished by precipitation, a condition known as
“overdraft,” according to state numbers.
[W]hat makes the Killer Kern so dangerous? It’s a
combination of several factors, according to WX Research,
a weather and climate research group. One of the river’s
defining features is its swift currents, which often reach over
8,000 cubic feet per second. Spring and summer are the most
dangerous times, as snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains
adds speed and lowers the water temperature — sometimes to 38
F. Swimmers are at risk of hypothermia or drowning by
inhaling water in an instinctive gasp response to the cold.
They can also get trapped by underwater hazards or caught in
hydraulics, holes that form when the current turns back on
itself as it meets an obstacle.
It’s no mystery why the tiny community of Pond was flooded out
this last spring. All you had to do was drive four miles south
to see the massive pile of debris at the Highway 43 bridge to
know all that water churning through the normally dry Poso
Creek was going bust out and go somewhere. It did. And it
headed straight for Pond. For generations, the Poso has been an
intermittent problem child – bone dry most years, then swelling
beyond its banks about every six to 10 years, flooding towns,
vital roadways and thousands of acres of farmland northwest of
Wasco.
The state has assigned an engineering company to take control
of, and improve, the water system in the small Tulare County
town of Teviston. Teviston, a rural community of about 460
people, has been hard hit by water problems for years. The town
well broke down in the drought of 2021, leaving families
without water and many without any way to cool themselves in
soaring summer temperatures. Its water is also contaminated by
1,2,3, TCP, a dangerous carcinogen. The state Water
Resources Control Board gained the authority to appoint
administrators to water systems in 2018. Appointed
administrators take over struggling systems that can’t deal
with issues ranging from water quality to technical and
managerial challenges.
The Modesto City Council voted Tuesday evening to boost water
rates nearly 25% by 2027. The average residential bill will go
from $67.13 a month now to $83.66 in 2027, a staff report said.
Actual charges are much higher in the dry months and lower in
other times. Under state law, the proposal would have died if a
majority of the 75,584 customers filed protests. Only 144 did.
Turlock Irrigation District’s newly completed $10 million Ceres
Main Regulating Reservoir west of Keyes was unveiled Tuesday,
with the district’s board of directors touring the new
facility. Operational for nearly two weeks, the reservoir is
capable of holding 220 acre feet of water (about 220 football
fields each submerged in 1 foot of water) and is expected to
save some 10,000 acre feet of water each year. … The
reservoir will capture fluctuations in water flow from the
Ceres Main Canal and pump the stored excess water back into the
Ceres Main Canal to improve customer service downstream, lessen
the need for groundwater pumping, and reduce water loss from
the canal system.
Advancing the state’s commitment to securing safe drinking
water for all Californians as a human right, the State Water
Resources Control Board has appointed a water system
administrator to the Teviston Community Services District in
Tulare County to guide the system’s interim and long-term
solutions to its drinking water problems. Stantec, an
engineering consulting firm, will be the first water system
administrator for Teviston, a small, rural community contending
with system outages and groundwater contamination from 1,2,3
trichloropropane (TCP) since 2018. Since the pump failed on the
system’s only well in June 2021, the SAFER program has funded
hauled water delivery for residents through Self Help
Enterprises.
Decades of land subsidence caused by unregulated and continued
groundwater overdraft have caused the Friant-Kern Canal, which
is a 152-mile gravity fed canal, to sink as much as 14 feet in
the area between Porterville and Delano. This damage has
resulted in a 60% loss of carrying capacity along the canal.
This water supply impact has caused harm, not only to the farms
that make the economic engine in the San Joaquin Valley run,
but also to cities and communities, whose primary source of
drinking water is from the underground aquifer. Now a fix is
underway and progress is being made, says Friant Water CEO
Jason Phillips.
Technically — and legally — Manteca households can’t revert to
watering landscaping until Oct. 19. That’s because the
municipal ordinance approved unanimously by the City Council
Tuesday to make that happen under state law requires a second
vote and then a 30-day period before it goes into effect. In
the meanwhile, City Manager Toni Lundgren Thursday said
municipal staff will not cite anyone that waters a third day.
… An unless three of the council members flip their vote
on the second reading of the ordinance likely to take place
Sept. 19, it will be legal to water three days a week starting
Oct. 19.
A new underground mapping technology
that reveals the best spots for storing surplus water in
California’s Central Valley is providing a big boost to the
state’s most groundwater-dependent communities.
The maps provided by the California Department of Water Resources
for the first time pinpoint paleo valleys and similar prime
underground storage zones traditionally found with some guesswork
by drilling exploratory wells and other more time-consuming
manual methods. The new maps are drawn from data on the
composition of underlying rock and soil gathered by low-flying
helicopters towing giant magnets.
The unique peeks below ground are saving water agencies’
resources and allowing them to accurately devise ways to capture
water from extreme storms and soak or inject the surplus
underground for use during the next drought.
“Understanding where you’re putting and taking water from really
helps, versus trying to make multimillion-dollar decisions based
on a thumb and which way the wind is blowing,” said Aaron Fukuda,
general manager of the Tulare Irrigation District, an early
adopter of the airborne electromagnetic or
AEM technology in California.
It was exactly the sort of deluge
California groundwater agencies have been counting on to
replenish their overworked aquifers.
The start of 2023 brought a parade of torrential Pacific storms
to bone dry California. Snow piled up across the Sierra Nevada at
a near-record pace while runoff from the foothills gushed into
the Central Valley, swelling rivers over their banks and filling
seasonal creeks for the first time in half a decade.
Suddenly, water managers and farmers toiling in one of the
state’s most groundwater-depleted regions had an opportunity to
capture stormwater and bank it underground. Enterprising agencies
diverted water from rushing rivers and creeks into manmade
recharge basins or intentionally flooded orchards and farmland.
Others snagged temporary permits from the state to pull from
streams they ordinarily couldn’t touch.
This tour traveled along the San Joaquin River to learn firsthand
about one of the nation’s largest and most expensive river
restoration projects.
The San Joaquin River was the focus of one of the most
contentious legal battles in California water history,
ending in a 2006 settlement between the federal government,
Friant Water Users Authority and a coalition of environmental
groups.
Hampton Inn & Suites Fresno
327 E Fir Ave
Fresno, CA 93720
This tour ventured through California’s Central Valley, known as the nation’s breadbasket thanks to an imported supply of surface water and local groundwater. Covering about 20,000 square miles through the heart of the state, the valley provides 25 percent of the nation’s food, including 40 percent of all fruits, nuts and vegetables consumed throughout the country.
Across a sprawling corner of southern Tulare County snug against the Sierra Nevada, a bounty of navel oranges, grapes, pistachios, hay and other crops sprout from the loam and clay of the San Joaquin Valley. Groundwater helps keep these orchards, vineyards and fields vibrant and supports a multibillion-dollar agricultural economy across the valley. But that bounty has come at a price. Overpumping of groundwater has depleted aquifers, dried up household wells and degraded ecosystems.
Innovative efforts to accelerate
restoration of headwater forests and to improve a river for the
benefit of both farmers and fish. Hard-earned lessons for water
agencies from a string of devastating California wildfires.
Efforts to drought-proof a chronically water-short region of
California. And a broad debate surrounding how best to address
persistent challenges facing the Colorado River.
These were among the issues Western Water explored in
2019, and are still worth taking a look at in case you missed
them.
To survive the next drought and meet
the looming demands of the state’s groundwater sustainability
law, California is going to have to put more water back in the
ground. But as other Western states have found, recharging
overpumped aquifers is no easy task.
Successfully recharging aquifers could bring multiple benefits
for farms and wildlife and help restore the vital interconnection
between groundwater and rivers or streams. As local areas around
California draft their groundwater sustainability plans, though,
landowners in the hardest hit regions of the state know they will
have to reduce pumping to address the chronic overdraft in which
millions of acre-feet more are withdrawn than are naturally
recharged.
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.
Groundwater helped make Kern County
the king of California agricultural production, with a $7 billion
annual array of crops that help feed the nation. That success has
come at a price, however. Decades of unchecked groundwater
pumping in the county and elsewhere across the state have left
some aquifers severely depleted. Now, the county’s water managers
have less than a year left to devise a plan that manages and
protects groundwater for the long term, yet ensures that Kern
County’s economy can continue to thrive, even with less water.
The whims of political fate decided
in 2018 that state bond money would not be forthcoming to help
repair the subsidence-damaged parts of Friant-Kern Canal, the
152-mile conduit that conveys water from the San Joaquin River to
farms that fuel a multibillion-dollar agricultural economy along
the east side of the fertile San Joaquin Valley.
There’s going to be a new governor
in California next year – and a host of challenges both old and
new involving the state’s most vital natural resource, water.
So what should be the next governor’s water priorities?
That was one of the questions put to more than 150 participants
during a wrap-up session at the end of the Water Education
Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento.
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.
More than a decade in the making, an
ambitious plan to deal with the vexing problem of salt and
nitrates in the soils that seep into key groundwater basins of
the Central Valley is moving toward implementation. But its
authors are not who you might expect.
An unusual collaboration of agricultural interests, cities, water
agencies and environmental justice advocates collaborated for
years to find common ground to address a set of problems that
have rendered family wells undrinkable and some soil virtually
unusable for farming.
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.
California voters may experience a sense of déjà vu this year when they are asked twice in the same year to consider water bonds — one in June, the other headed to the November ballot.
Both tackle a variety of water issues, from helping disadvantaged communities get clean drinking water to making flood management improvements. But they avoid more controversial proposals, such as new surface storage, and they propose to do some very different things to appeal to different constituencies.
Get a unique view of the San Joaquin Valley’s key dams and
reservoirs that store and transport water on our March Central
Valley Tour.
Our Central Valley
Tour, March 14-16, offers a broad view of water issues
in the San Joaquin Valley. In addition to the farms, orchards,
critical habitat for threatened bird populations, flood bypasses
and a national wildlife refuge, we visit some of California’s
major water infrastructure projects.
Participants of this tour snaked along the San Joaquin River to
learn firsthand about one of the nation’s largest and most
expensive river restoration projects.
The San Joaquin River was the focus of one of the most
contentious legal battles in California water history,
ending in a 2006 settlement between the federal government,
Friant Water Users Authority and a coalition of environmental
groups.
The 2-day, 1-night tour traveled along the river from Friant
Dam near Fresno to the confluence of the Merced River. As it
weaved across an historic farming region, participants learn
about the status of the river’s restoration and how the
challenges of the plan are being worked out.
A few tickets are still available for our Nov. 1-2 San Joaquin River
Restoration Tour, a once-a-year educational opportunity to
see the program’s progress first-hand. The tour begins and ends
in Fresno with an overnight stay in Los Banos.
Explore more than 100 miles of Central California’s longest river
while learning about one of the nation’s largest and costliest
river restorations. Our San Joaquin River
Restoration Tour on Nov. 1-2 will feature speakers from key
governmental agencies and stakeholder groups who will explain the
restoration program’s goals and progress.
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.
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.
Our water tours give a behind-the-scenes look at major water
issues in California. On our Central Valley Tour, March
8-10, you will visit wildlife habitat areas – some of which are
closed to the public – and learn directly from the experts who
manage them, in addition to seeing farms, large dams and other
infrastructure.
The recent deluge has led to changes in drought conditions in
some areas of California and even public scrutiny of the
possibility that the drought is over. Many eyes are focused on
the San Joaquin Valley, one of the areas hardest hit by reduced
surface water supplies. On our Central Valley Tour, March
8-10, we will visit key water delivery and storage sites in the
San Joaquin Valley, including Friant Dam and Millerton Lake
on the San Joaquin River.
ARkStorm stands for an atmospheric
river (“AR”) that carries precipitation levels expected to occur
once every 1,000 years (“k”). The concept was presented in a 2011
report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) intended to elevate
the visibility of the very real threats to human life, property
and ecosystems posed by extreme storms on the West Coast.
Contaminants exist in water supplies from both natural and
manmade sources. Even those chemicals present without human
intervention can be mobilized from introduction of certain
pollutants from both
point and nonpoint sources.
Both the drought and high nitrate levels in shallow groundwater have necessitated deeper
drilling of new wells in the San Joaquin Valley, only to expose
water with heightened
arsenic levels. Arsenic usually exists in water as arsenate
or arsenite, the latter of which is more frequent in deep lake
sediments or groundwater with little oxygen and is both
more harmful and difficult to remove.
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.
A new era of groundwater management
began in 2014 with the passage of the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act (SGMA), which aims for local and regional agencies
to develop and implement sustainable groundwater management
plans with the state as the backstop.
SGMA defines “sustainable groundwater management” as the
“management and use of groundwater in a manner that can be
maintained during the planning and implementation horizon without
causing undesirable results.”
This issue examines the impacts of California’s epic
drought, especially related to water supplies for San Joaquin
Valley rural communities and farmland.
This handbook provides crucial
background information on the Sustainable Groundwater Management
Act, signed into law in 2014 by Gov. Jerry Brown. The handbook
also includes a section on options for new governance.
This 3-day, 2-night tour, which we do every spring,
travels the length of the San Joaquin Valley, giving participants
a clear understanding of the State Water Project and Central
Valley Project.
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.
Salt. In a small amount, it’s a gift from nature. But any doctor
will tell you, if you take in too much salt, you’ll start to have
health problems. The same negative effect is happening to land in
the Central Valley. The problem scientists call “salinity” poses
a growing threat to our food supply, our drinking water quality
and our way of life. The problem of salt buildup and potential –
but costly – solutions are highlighted in this 2008 public
television documentary narrated by comedian Paul Rodriguez.
A 20-minute version of the 2008 public television documentary
Salt of the Earth: Salinity in California’s Central Valley. This
DVD is ideal for showing at community forums and speaking
engagements to help the public understand the complex issues
surrounding the problem of salt build up in the Central Valley
potential – but costly – solutions. Narrated by comedian Paul
Rodriquez.
This 3-day, 2-night tour travels the length of the San Joaquin
Valley, giving participants a clear understanding of the State
Water Project and Central Valley Project.
15-minute DVD that graphically portrays the potential disaster
should a major earthquake hit the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
“Delta Warning” depicts what would happen in the event of an
earthquake registering 6.5 on the Richter scale: 30 levee breaks,
16 flooded islands and a 300 billion gallon intrusion of salt
water from the Bay – the “big gulp” – which would shut down the
State Water Project and Central Valley Project pumping plants.
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.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, features
a map of the San Joaquin River. The map text focuses on the San
Joaquin River Restoration Program, which aims to restore flows
and populations of Chinook salmon to the river below Friant Dam
to its confluence with the Merced River. The text discusses the
history of the program, its goals and ongoing challenges with
implementation.
Fashioned after the popular California Water Map, this 24×36 inch
poster was extensively re-designed in 2017 to better illustrate
the value and use of groundwater in California, the main types of
aquifers, and the connection between groundwater and surface
water.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to Integrated Regional Water
Management (IRWM) is an in-depth, easy-to-understand publication
that provides background information on the principles of IRWM,
its funding history and how it differs from the traditional water
management approach.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Groundwater is an in-depth,
easy-to-understand publication that provides background and
perspective on groundwater. The guide explains what groundwater
is – not an underground network of rivers and lakes! – and the
history of its use in California.
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).
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.
Located in the middle of California, the San Joaquin Valley is
bracketed on both sides by mountain ranges. Long and flat, the
valley’s hot, dry summers are followed by cool, foggy winters
that make it one of the most productive agricultural regions in
the world.
The valley stretches from across mid-California between coastal
ranges in west and the Sierras on the east. The region includes
large cities such as Fresno and Bakersfield, national parks such
as Yosemite and Kings, millions of people, and fertile farmland.
Flowing 366 miles from the Sierra
Nevada to Suisun Bay, the San Joaquin River provides irrigation
water to thousands of acres of San Joaquin Valley farms and
drinking water to some of the valley’s cities. It also is the
focal point for one of the nation’s most ambitious river
restoration projects to revive salmon populations.
The Pacific Flyway is one of four
major North American migration routes for birds, especially
waterfowl, and extends from Alaska and Canada, through
California, to Mexico and South America. Each year, birds follow
ancestral patterns as they travel the flyway on their annual
north-south migration. Along the way, they need stopover sites
such as wetlands with suitable habitat and food supplies. In
California, 90 percent of historic wetlands have been lost.
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 features a
roundtable discussion with Anthony Saracino, a water resources
consultant; Martha Davis, executive manager of policy development
with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and senior policy advisor
to the Delta Stewardship Council; Stuart Leavenworth, editorial
page editor of The Sacramento Bee and Ellen Hanak, co-director of
research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of
California.
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 examines
groundwater banking, a water management strategy with appreciable
benefits but not without challenges and controversy.
This printed copy of Western Water examines the challenges facing
small water systems, including drought preparedness, limited
operating expenses and the hurdles of complying with costlier
regulations. Much of the article is based on presentations at the
November 2007 Small Systems Conference sponsored by the Water
Education Foundation and the California Department of Water
Resources.
This Western Water looks at proposed new measures to deal with
the century-old problem of salinity with a special focus on San
Joaquin Valley farms and cities.
