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Topic: Water History

Overview April 24, 2014

Water History

California’s water history during the past two centuries is fraught with conflicts as agricultural, recreational, environmental and urban users have fought, and continue to fight, to secure finite water supplies for their ever-growing needs.

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Aquafornia news March 30, 2023 Colorado Sun

Colorado statewide snowpack tops 140%, reservoirs still low

Colorado is awash in white this spring, with statewide snowpack topping 140% of average this week, well above the reading a year ago, when it stood at just 97% of normal. … Like other Western states, mountain snowpacks in Colorado are closely monitored because as they melt in the spring and summer, their runoff delivers much of the state’s water. A drought considered to be the worst in at least 1,200 years has devastated water supplies across the West. While no one is suggesting the dry spell is over, Colorado water officials said 2023 will likely allow for a significant recovery in reservoirs and soil moisture.

Related articles: 

  • Eos: Urban water conservation success in the Colorado River basin
  • High Country News: Atmospheric rivers ease Western drought
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news March 30, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Opinion: Tulare Lake, restored by floods, haunts California yet again

Only two centuries ago, a shallow inland sea dominated California’s Central Valley. In a ring of impenetrable reeds, called tules, was Tulare Lake — then the largest body of freshwater west of the Mississippi River. At the end of the 19th century, newly arrived settlers began draining it to provide water for agriculture and growing cities and to defend against destructive floods. But during wet years, as 2023 has turned out to be, Tulare Lake seems to rise from the dead — with some labeling it a “phantom lake.” The reality is, Tulare Lake was never gone in the first place. Seasonal rains created an ebb and flow of the boundaries as the shoreline shifted. In drier years, Tulare was two lakes separated by a land bridge. In wetter years, these lakes connected and created an archipelago. In the driest years, the southern lake disappeared and the archipelago became a beach.
-Written by Trace Fleeman Garcia, an interdisciplinary researcher with the Oregon Institute for Creative Research in Portland. ​

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Aquafornia news March 30, 2023 Los Angeles Times

It’s official. Mammoth Mountain’s had its snowiest season ever — and by a lot

As yet another major storm brings more rain and snow to California, Mammoth Mountain has broken its historic snowfall record — by a lot. “With 28-30 [inches] of snow since yesterday afternoon, we just blew through our all-time season snowfall record of 668” inches, Mammoth Mountain said in an Instagram post. “We’ve received 695 [inches] of snowfall to date at Main Lodge, making the 22/23 season the biggest in our history!” Snowpack in the Southern Sierra is already at record levels, with the statewide record within reach. … Snowmelt will also be a concern as the weather warms up. In a worst-case scenario, massive snowmelt in the coming weeks could inundate towns along U.S. Highway 395, which winds along the base of snow-clad Sierra peaks that reach up to 14,000 feet.

Related articles: 

  • Forbes: 700 Inches Of Snow - Sierra Nevadas Face 2nd-Snowiest Season On Record—Stemming Brutal California Drought
  • Axios: This winter was wetter than usual from California to Minnesota
  • USA Today: Trillions of gallons have soaked California. Is this the state’s wettest winter ever?
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Aquafornia news March 28, 2023 Grist

The ghost of Tulare Lake returns, flooding California’s Central Valley

[A]s California closes out a historically wet winter, Tulare Lake has reappeared for the first time since 1997. As runoff from several rivers drains into the valley, the homes and streets and fields that sit on the lake bed, which covers 1,000 square miles, are being inundated once again. The flooding will only increase over the next few months as the state’s record snowpack melts, dousing the area with the equivalent of 60 inches of rain. Tulare Lake has always emerged during especially wet years, but the flooding will be worse this time: the region’s powerful agriculture industry has compounded flood risk around the lake by pumping enormous amounts of subterranean groundwater, turning the region into a giant bowl…..Even as flood risk has grown due to subsidence, local leaders have rejected the state’s attempts to finance new flood defenses.  

Related articles: 

  • Los Angeles Times: The ‘phantom’ Tulare Lake returns with a vengeance
  • Axios: California’s looming snowmelt to resurrect lost Tulare Lake
  • SJV Sun: Amid south Valley’s massive flooding, where’s Gavin?
  • KMPH: ‘It’s just a mess’ - California farmers growing concerned over lingering flood waters
  • Channel 23: After years of drought, the Kern River thunders through Bakersfield once more
  • Ag Info: High Water is Challenging Tree Nut Producers
  • Read more
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E-mail blast March 27, 2023

AQUAFORNIA MONDAY KICKOFF-Rules Eased But Calif. Drought Emergency Stands; Strong Storm Targets NorCal

In today’s Aquafornia scroll:

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Aquafornia news March 27, 2023 Los Angeles Times

‘We’ve lost the aqueduct’: How severe flooding threatens a Los Angeles water lifeline

For more than 100 years, the Los Angeles Aqueduct has endured earthquakes, flash floods and dozens of bomb attacks as it wends and weaves through the canyons and deserts of the eastern Sierra Nevada. But earlier this month, record storms accomplished the unthinkable when floodwaters undermined a 120-foot-long section of aqueduct in Owens Valley, causing its concrete walls to crumble. “We’ve lost the aqueduct!” a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power inspector told his superiors by cellphone. As he spoke, chocolate-colored runoff and debris undercut the aqueduct just west of Highway 395 and the community of Olancha. It was the first time in history that the 200-mile aqueduct had been breached by extreme weather, threatening water deliveries to 4 million ratepayers in Los Angeles.

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Aquafornia news March 27, 2023 SJV Water

Flooding out other farmers was “premeditated” by the powerful J.G. Boswell Company, one farmer asserts

By the time Erik Hansen had a moment to sit down in a Corcoran pizza parlor on a recent afternoon, the 5th generation farmer was tired, detached and a little defeated looking. He talked matter-of-factly of his family’s losses so far: At least 3,000 acres are under water, some orchards will die, his cousin’s house is destroyed and his own family had to evacuate to his dad’s place in Visalia. And more water is coming with the snow melt, he said. Based on his memories of the 1982-’83 flood, he anticipated water would remain on the land for possibly a year.

Related article: 

  • KVPR: California ramps up help as Tulare Lake floods farms, homes
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Aquafornia news March 27, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Snowpack in southern Sierra hits all-time record levels. How deep is that?

After years of extreme drought and dismal snowpack, California has had a remarkably wet winter and is now veering into record-setting territory for snowfall. As of Friday, the snowpack in the southern Sierra Nevada was at 286% of normal — the highest figure ever, easily eclipsing the region’s benchmark of 263% set in 1969. In a tweet, the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab said this year recently surpassed 1982-83 as the second-snowiest on record since measurements began in 1946.

Related articles: 

  • San Francisco Chronicle: Maps compare California’s snowfall this year with past winters
  • Sacramento Bee: Before and after - Dramatic photos show how California lake filled in just 3 months’ time​
  • Mercury News: Ski resorts in California got so much snow they’re going to stay open through June
  • San Francisco Chronicle: Satellite images show devastating impacts of flooding across California
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  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news March 24, 2023 Los Angeles Times

As Tulare Lake reappears, floodwaters raise tensions in San Joaquin Valley

For the first time in decades, Tulare Lake is reappearing in the [San Joaquin] valley, reclaiming the lowlands at its historic heart. Once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River, Tulare Lake was largely drained in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as the rivers that fed it were dammed and diverted for agriculture….Tulare Lake’s sudden reemergence has fueled conflict in one of California’s richest agricultural centers, as the spreading waters swallow fields and orchards and encroach on low-lying towns. In a region where the major agricultural landowners have a history of water disputes, the floods streaming into Tulare Lake Basin have reignited some long-standing tensions and brought accusations of foul play and mismanagement.

Related articles: 

  • SJV Water: Boswell-Poso Creek “stand off” continues as flood waters build
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Aquafornia news March 24, 2023 Salt Lake Tribune

191% of normal: Utah snowpack breaks 40-year-old record

Records keep piling up across Utah this winter. Snowpack reached a new high after Thursday night’s storms. The snow water equivalent in Utah, or the amount of water the snow will release when its melts, sits at 26 inches as of Friday morning. That ties with the previous known record of 26 inches set on April 13, 1983, according to Utah Snow Survey data. And with the snow still falling, Friday is likely a new snowpack record. Expect the record to keep rising — we still have 10 more days until snowpack reaches its typical peak, and there are plenty more storms in the forecast.

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Aquafornia news March 24, 2023 Bay Area News Group

Cottage cheese injections and electric shocks: Emeryville attempts to reclaim toxic soil

Emeryville is still digging itself out from under its industrial past. For years, the city has cleaned up vast swaths of land contaminated by the scores of commercial warehouses that used to dominate the East Bay shoreline community. By the early 2000s, Emeryville earned a reputation as “one of the foulest industrial wastelands in the Bay Area,” according to one news outlet, which said the soil was “so toxic that anyone treading it had to wear a moon suit.” ….This week, city officials kicked off the complex task of cleaning up roughly 78,000 square-feet of contaminated soil on another city-owned property just across the railroad tracks from the popular Bay Street Emeryville shopping center — which was also excavated before construction.

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Aquafornia news March 24, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Scientists uncover high amounts of pure DDT off L.A. coast

First it was the eerie images of barrels leaking on the seafloor not far from Catalina Island. Then the shocking realization that the nation’s largest manufacturer of DDT had once used the ocean as a huge dumping ground — and that as many as half a million barrels of its acid waste had been poured straight into the water. Now, scientists have discovered that much of the DDT — which had been dumped largely in the 1940s and ’50s — never broke down. The chemical remains in its most potent form in startlingly high concentrations, spread across a wide swath of seafloor larger than the city of San Francisco. … With a $5.6-million research boost from Congress, at the urging of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), numerous federal, state and local agencies have since joined with scientists and environmental nonprofits to figure out the extent of the contamination lurking 3,000 feet underwater. 

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Aquafornia news March 24, 2023 Water Education Foundation

Announcement: Save the date! Our annual Open House is on May 4th

Join us May 4 for an open house and reception at our office near the Sacramento River to meet our team and learn more about what we do to educate and foster understanding of California’s most precious natural resource — water. At the open house, you can enjoy refreshments and chat with our team about our tours, conferences, maps, publications and training programs for teachers and up-and-coming water industry professionals. You’ll also be able to learn more about how you can support our work – and you’ll have a chance to win prizes! The open house will be held in the late afternoon on May 4. More details and a sign-up are coming soon!

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Aquafornia news March 23, 2023 High Country News

Tribal nations’ lasting victory in the Mojave Desert (A lasting victory)

The protest encampment was easily visible from Highway 40 going West from Needles, California — a cluster of olive-green Army tents that stood out from the low-lying creosote bushes and sagebrush that cover the expanse of Ward Valley. At its height, the camp held two kitchens (one vegetarian, one not), a security detail, bathroom facilities and a few hundred people — a coalition of five tribal nations, anti-nuclear activists, veterans, environmentalists and American Indian Movement supporters. They were there to resist a public-lands trade between the federal government and the state of California that would allow U.S. Ecology, a waste disposal company, to build a 1,000-acre, unlined nuclear waste dump that threatened both desert tortoises and groundwater.

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Aquafornia news March 23, 2023 CalMatters

Opinion: Solving water crisis will mean less for California farms

A modest proposal for western water: Turn off the spigot to the Imperial Valley and let the farms go fallow. In return, provide a water future for Arizona, Nevada and Southern California. Sure, there would be a price to pay. California’s Imperial Valley, which sits in the southeastern corner of the state, bordered by Arizona and Mexico, produces alfalfa, lettuce, corn and sugar beets, among other crops. It’s home to more than 300,000 head of cattle. Cutting off the water would end all of that, along with the livelihoods of the farmers and ranchers who produce it and the communities that depend on it. But let’s face it, the whole valley defies nature. It’s a desert that became an agricultural area when the All-American Canal was built just over 100 years ago.
-Written by Jim Newton, a veteran journalist, best-selling author and teacher.

Related articles: 

  • Farm Progress: Why California’s drought is not over
  • Forbes: Seedless Lemons Are The Next Big Bet From The Billionaires Behind Halos, Pom Wonderful And Fiji Water
  • Agri-Pulse Communications: With farms under water, a waterlogged California Ag Day endures
  • Read more
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Aquafornia news March 23, 2023 Newsweek

Photos shows Lake Mead’s water levels as senator issues dire warning

Senator Mark Kelly recently shared two photos of Lake Mead, Arizona, and the stark contrast between the two fueled concerns about the reservoir’s ability to recover from severe drought. Torrential rain on the West Coast has filled some California reservoirs to the point of overflow, and nearby states such as Utah also saw their reservoirs benefit from the excess rain. However, Lake Mead water levels remain relatively unchanged and still at nearly their lowest in the reservoir’s history. On Wednesday morning, Kelly tweeted photos of Lake Mead in 2000 compared to Lake Mead in 2022. The reservoir was visibly lower in the more recent photo.

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Aquafornia news March 22, 2023 Tahoe Weekly

Lake Tahoe fully mixes, records 115-foot clarity

On Feb. 27 or 28, Lake Tahoe flipped or, more correctly, it fully mixed vertically from top to bottom. Full mixing is an annual event in shallower lakes, however, for Tahoe and its 1,640-foot depth, it is a less common occurrence. Lake Tahoe last mixed during the 2018-19 winter. How do we know it flipped? UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) researchers are on the lake every week sampling the water quality, the phytoplankton and the overall health. Researchers also maintain instruments in the lake, which take measurements every few minutes. Typically mixing starts in the fall, with the surface layer of the lake cooling and gradually mixing deeper.

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Aquafornia news March 21, 2023 Associated Press

Drought in Spain’s northeast empties reservoirs

The medieval church of Sant Romà disappeared from view in the 1960s, when the town of Vilanova de Sau, an hour north of Barcelona, was flooded to create a reservoir. In the past three decades, its spectral belltower has broken the surface several times, serving as a punctual reminder of Spain’s fragile water resources. But today the church’s tower, its nave and the building’s foundations are all exposed. The bare, steep ridges of the Sau reservoir show how far its levels have receded, and the cracked earth around the remaining pool of water is trodden by tourists attracted by the ghost village’s reappearance. Drought in Spain’s northeast reached “exceptional” levels last month, menacing access to drinking water for 6 million people in the Barcelona metropolitan area.

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Aquafornia news March 21, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Supreme Court may keep Navajo Nation water rights claim alive

A divided Supreme Court confronted on Monday the question of whether the government must do more to provide water for the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona. And the answer, by the narrowest majority, appeared to be yes. Most of the justices said they were wary of even considering plans to take more water from the mainstream of the drought-stricken Colorado River. But five of them, led by Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Elena Kagan, mostly agreed with a lawyer who said there was a 150-year history of broken promises to the Navajo Nation. A treaty signed in 1868 promised a “permanent home” where Navajo Nation residents could farm and raise animals.

Related articles: 

  • The Associated Press: Supreme Court seems split in Navajo Nation water rights case
  • Grist: Supreme Court hears Navajo demands for Colorado River water rights
  • E&E News: Biden may prevail against Navajo in SCOTUS water battle
  • WBUR: Navajo Nation goes to Supreme Court for access to parched Colorado River
  • Courthouse News Service: Tribe’s fight for water in drought-plagued West divides Supreme Court
  • Roll Call: Supreme Court appears divided on Navajo water rights lawsuit
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
E-mail blast March 20, 2023

AQUAFORNIA MONDAY KICKOFF-12th Calif. Storm Adds To Flood Threat; First-Ever Microplastics Testing Looms

In today’s Aquafornia scroll:

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Aquafornia news March 20, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Supreme Court to weigh Navajo Nation water rights in Arizona

The Supreme Court will hear a major water rights dispute from Arizona on Monday to decide whether the federal government has broken its promises to the Navajo Nation for more than 150 years. Nearly a third of the Navajo households do not have running water and must rely on water that is trucked in. The Navajo Nation blames the U.S. government for having breached its duty of trust that came with an 1868 treaty that established their reservation in what is now northeast Arizona and smaller portions of southeastern Utah and northeastern New Mexico. That treaty “promised both land and water sufficient for the Navajos to return to a permanent home in their ancestral territory,” attorneys for the Navajo Nation told the court. “Broken promises. The Nation is still waiting for the water it needs.”

Related article: 

  • NBC News: Supreme Court weighs Navajo Nation water rights dispute
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Aquafornia news March 17, 2023 Phys.org

Where did Earth’s water come from? Not melted meteorites, according to scientists

Water makes up 71% of Earth’s surface, but no one knows how or when such massive quantities of water arrived on Earth. A new study published in the journal Nature brings scientists one step closer to answering that question. Led by University of Maryland Assistant Professor of Geology Megan Newcombe, researchers analyzed melted meteorites that had been floating around in space since the solar system’s formation 4 1/2 billion years ago. They found that these meteorites had extremely low water content—in fact, they were among the driest extraterrestrial materials ever measured. These results, which let researchers rule them out as the primary source of Earth’s water, could have important implications for the search for water—and life—on other planets. It also helps researchers understand the unlikely conditions that aligned to make Earth a habitable planet.

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Aquafornia news March 17, 2023 Courthouse News Service

Western water wars at high court focus on Navajo Nation

The fight for water in the West heads to the Supreme Court next week where the justices will decide if the government has a duty to give a tribal nation a share of the region’s most precious resource.  For over a century, the Navajo Nation has been seeking recognition of get their water rights to the Colorado River. While states like New Mexico and Utah have come to settlements with the Navajo over water rights, Arizona has been a holdout in these negotiations. Now the Navajo want the federal government to step in on its behalf. … Sometimes called the American Nile, the Colorado River serves around 36 million people, starting in the central Rocky Mountains of Colorado and flowing for around 1,300 miles through Colorado, Utah and Arizona. The river also borders the Arizona-Nevada and Arizona-California borders and passes into Mexico. 

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Aquafornia news March 15, 2023 CalMatters

Opinion: How California’s winter rains will revive Tulare Lake

Spanish soldier and California explorer Pedro Fages was chasing deserters in 1772 when he came across a vast marshy lake and named it Los Tules for the reeds and rushes that lined its shore. Situated between the later cities of Fresno and Bakersfield, Tulare Lake, as it was named in English, was the nation’s largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. It spread out to as much as 1,000 square miles as snow in the Sierra melted each spring, feeding five rivers flowing into the lake. Its abundance of fish and other wildlife supported several Native American tribes, who built boats from the lake’s reeds to gather its bounty.
-Written by Dan Walters, a CalMatters columnist. 

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E-mail blast March 13, 2023

AQUAFORNIA MONDAY KICKOFF-Approaching Storm Renews Flood Concerns; Newsom Expedites Floodwater Capture

In today’s Aquafornia scroll:

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Aquafornia news March 13, 2023 Ducks Unlimited

Blog: Ducks Unlimited’s California projects show why wetlands can help with floods

Before Californians built a network of levees and dams to keep cities from flooding, the rivers that formed the Central Valley each winter would spill out of their channels. In the wettest years, they’d flood to form a massive inland sea that stretched hundreds of miles from Redding to Bakersfield. In wet winters such as this one, those rivers keep trying to form that massive seasonal wetland again, testing the strength of the levees that protect communities built on the state’s floodplains. Along two of the state’s most flood-prone rivers, Ducks Unlimited has been working to create wetlands that use those natural flood patterns to create vital habitat for waterbirds and wildlife. The projects highlight why Californians should look to wetland expansion as one of the solutions to help reduce the risks from future floods.

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Aquafornia news March 9, 2023 The New Republic

Navajo Nation is taking on three states and the federal government for the right to Colorado River water

…. On March 20 … the entire Colorado River will be looming over the [Supreme Court] justices when they hear oral arguments in Arizona v. Navajo Nation. The case, which dwells at the intersection of Native treaty rights and water rights, will mark the court’s latest foray into the byzantine rules and regulations that govern limited supplies of water in one of the driest parts of the country. For the Navajo Nation, the court’s decision on its 19th-century treaty rights could have serious consequences for its future.

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Aquafornia news March 6, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Monday Top of the Scroll: California’s snowpack is approaching an all-time record, with more on the way

A remarkably wet winter has resulted in some of the deepest snowpack California has ever recorded, providing considerable drought relief and a glimmer of hope for the state’s strained water supply. Statewide snowpack Friday measured 190% of normal, hovering just below a record set in the winter of 1982-83, officials with the Department of Water Resources said during the third snow survey of the season…. In the Southern Sierra, snowpack reached 231% of average for the date, nearing the region’s benchmark of 263% set in 1969 and trending ahead of the winter of 1983. With just one month remaining in the state’s traditional rainy season, officials are now voicing cautious optimism over the state’s hydrologic prospects.

Related articles: 

  • Sacramento Bee: Extreme storms have California near an all-time snowpack record set 40 years ago
  • Courthouse News Service: Huge storms leave California mountains buried in snow
  • Washington Post: California was hit with 12 feet of snow. Is it enough to ease the drought?
  • San Francisco Chronicle: California snowpack hits highest level this century for March, could soon become biggest ever
  • CA Department of Water Resources: California’s Snowpack Shows Huge Gains from Recent Storms
  • LAist: Some Of California Is Free Of Drought, But The Climate Crisis Is Changing What That Means
  • Associated Press: Mountain Roads Shut as Another Winter Storm Hits California
  • Fox 40 – Sacramento: ISS flyover shows Sierra Nevada snowpack after blizzard conditions
  • San Francisco Chronicle: Map shows which parts of California exceeded entire year’s worth of rain
  • Press Democrat: You say California’s drought is over? Not so fast, water managers say
  • KCRA: Incredible pictures of South Lake Tahoe as residents try to clear snow, roof ice dams before next storm
  • Fresno Bee: Fresno, Valley likely to lose ‘drought’ label by April. Does that mean it’s really over?
  • Read more
  • View Original Article
Aquafornia news March 6, 2023 Los Angeles Times

California’s antiquated water rights system faces new scrutiny

It’s an arcane system of water law that dates back to the birth of California — an era when 49ers used sluice boxes and water cannons to scour gold from Sierra Nevada foothills and when the state government promoted the extermination of Native people to make way for white settlers. Today, this antiquated system of water rights still governs the use of the state’s supplies, but it is now drawing scrutiny like never before. In the face of global warming and worsening cycles of drought, a growing number of water experts, lawmakers, environmental groups and tribes say the time has finally come for change. Some are pushing for a variety of reforms, while others are calling for the outright dismantling of California’s contentious water rights system.

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Aquafornia news March 2, 2023 San Francisco Chronicle

Opinion: How California’s Big Ag wants you to think about all this rain

Despite the continued heavy winter rain and snow throughout California, Gov. Gavin Newsom recently extended his executive orders from 2022 that declared a drought emergency statewide. He also asked the state water board to waive water flow regulations intended to protect salmon and other endangered fish species, as well as San Francisco Bay and Delta estuary overall. Some viewed these moves as pragmatic steps to avoid “wasting” the bounty of California’s rains out to sea. Others saw them as a declaration of war against the health of the bay.  In fact, a war against the bay has been going on for decades. Newsom’s order was merely the latest skirmish. The war’s primary aggressors are agricultural interests in the Central Valley.
-Written by Howard V. Hendrix, the author of six novels as well as many essays, poems and short stories. 

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Aquafornia news March 1, 2023 Fox Weather

On this day: The Hoover Dam completed 87 years ago

The Hoover Dam is one of the most impactful engineering feats in American history. Completed on March 1, 1936, the dam spent nearly a century harnessing the mighty Colorado River and transforming parts of the arid Southwest into fertile farmlands and bustling city centers. Here’s a look at the dam’s history and how it shaped the region. The history of Hoover Dam began in 1921, when a young Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover, proposed the construction of a dam on the Colorado River. At the time, the Colorado River, which ran uninterrupted from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California, was considered dangerous and unreliable. According to the National Park Service, the river would often flood, particularly in late spring and early summer, when snow melted from the Rocky Mountains would surge into the river.

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Aquafornia news March 1, 2023 The Washington Post

A California tunnel could save stormwater for millions. Why is it so divisive?

As drought-weary Californians watched trillions of gallons of runoff wash into the Pacific Ocean during recent storms, it underscored a nagging question: Why can’t we save more of that water for not-so-rainy days to come? But even the rare opportunity to stock up on the precious resource isn’t proving enough to unite a state divided on a contentious idea to siphon water from the north and tunnel it southward, an attempt to combat the Southwest’s worst drought in more than a millennium. The California Department of Water Resources said such a tunnel could have captured a year’s supply of water for more than 2 million people. The proposal from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration — one that would cost $16 billion to help 27 million water customers in central and southern California — is spurring fresh outrage from communities that have fended off similar plans over four decades, including suggestions to build other tunnels or a massive canal. 

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Aquafornia news February 28, 2023 Poynter

Blog: Chemical accidents happen more than once every two days in the US

According to the EPA, there are 150 serious chemical incidents a year in the U.S. But most of the 10 U.S. rail incidents involving the release of chemicals over the last two years happened at or near the facility that produces the chemical. … The Guardian searched EPA records and data from the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters and found: In the first seven weeks of 2023 alone, there were more than 30 incidents recorded by the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters, roughly one every day and a half. Last year the coalition recorded 188, up from 177 in 2021. The group has tallied more than 470 incidents since it started counting in April 2020.

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Aquafornia news February 23, 2023 Los Angeles Times

Southern California faces rare blizzard warning

Southern California has only gotten a taste of the powerful winter storm system that forecasters say will bring an extended period of cold temperatures, high winds and snow, prompting what officials called the region’s first blizzard warning since 1989. The blizzard warning, which is in effect Friday and Saturday for Southern California’s highest mountain ranges, is likely only the second on record for the Los Angeles area, according to the National Weather Service, Officials initially called this week’s warning the first on record, then later confirmed a blizzard warning was also issued in 1989, when a strong winter storm brought rare snowfall to Southern California, from Palm Springs to the hillsides of Malibu.

Related articles: 

  • Tahoe Daily Tribune: Storms taking aim at Lake Tahoe; Advisories in place through weekend
  • Newsweek: How the Winter Storm Could Impact California Reservoirs
  • Bloomberg: California’s Big Snowstorm Will Ease But Not End Historic Drought
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Aquafornia news February 23, 2023 WBUR

Future of the Salton Sea is tied to fate of imperiled Colorado River

A shortage on the Colorado River has put tremendous pressure on the water supply that serves more than 40-million people in the Western United States. But a punishing drought and the over allocation of the river have also created an urgent problem for California’s Salton Sea. The 340-square-mile lake was formed in 1905 when a canal carrying river water to farmers in the Imperial Valley ruptured. The flood created a desert oasis that lured tourists and migratory birds to its shore. A century later, the Salton Sea — California’s largest lake — is spiraling into an ecological disaster. At 223 feet below sea level, Bombay Beach occupies a low spot on the map. Many of the shoreline community’s trailer homes are rusting into the earth and tagged with graffiti. Artists have created large pieces of public sculpture, including a vintage phone booth that stands on the shoreline as a tribute to a bygone era.

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Aquafornia news February 22, 2023 Mono Lake Committee

Blog: DWP’s “new water war” even bigger than LA Times suggests

Yesterday’s Los Angeles Times article, “LA’s new water war: Keeping supply from Mono Lake flowing as critics want it cut off,” on the State Water Board’s Mono Lake workshop left readers and workshop attendees, well … wondering. Print space and attention spans are always tight, but the article missed information key to understanding the issue at Mono Lake, the diversity of voices calling Mono Lake protection, and the water supply solutions that are right at hand for Los Angeles. The State Water Board’s five-hour workshop was attended by 365 people, and 49 of the 53 public commenters spoke in support of raising Mono Lake. 

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Aquafornia news February 21, 2023 California WaterBlog

Blog: A guide for new California water wonks

Water is a universal foundation for every problem and opportunity in California.  Most people use it every day, yet even experts with decades of experience don’t know it all.   (Alas, too many advocates and pundits almost don’t know it at all.)  Welcome! Immense numbers of books and articles have been written on California water.  Here is a selection of some readings and websites useful for folks who want to become California water wonks as serious journalists, students, agency and NGO leaders or workers, consultants new to the area, professors and instructors, or just obsessed members of the public. 

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Aquafornia news February 21, 2023 Los Angeles Times

L.A.’s new water war: Keeping supply from Mono Lake flowing as critics want it cut off

With its haunting rock spires and salt-crusted shores, Mono Lake is a Hollywood vision of the apocalypse. To the city of Los Angeles, however, this Eastern Sierra basin represents the very source of L.A.’s prosperity — the right to free water. For decades, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has relied on long-standing water rights to divert from the streams that feed this ancient lake as part of the city’s far-flung water empire. But in the face of global warming, drought and lawsuits from environmentalists, the DWP is now facing the previously unthinkable prospect of ending its diversions there. In the coming months, the State Water Resources Control Board will decide whether Mono Lake’s declining water level — and the associated ecological impacts — constitute an emergency that outweighs L.A.’s right to divert up to 16,000 acre-feet of supplies each year.

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Western Water December 9, 2022 Nick Cahill Colorado River Basin Map WESTERN WATER-As Colorado River Flows Drop and Tensions Rise, Water Interests Struggle to Find Solutions That All Can Accept By Nick Cahill

As Colorado River Flows Drop and Tensions Rise, Water Interests Struggle to Find Solutions That All Can Accept
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Chorus of experts warn climate change has rendered old assumptions outdated about what the Colorado River can provide, leaving painful water cuts as the only way forward

Photo shows Hoover Dam’s intake towers protruding from the surface of Lake Mead near Las Vegas, where water levels have dropped to record lows amid a 22-year drought. When the Colorado River Compact was signed 100 years ago, the negotiators for seven Western states bet that the river they were dividing would have ample water to meet everyone’s needs – even those not seated around the table.

A century later, it’s clear the water they bet on is not there. More than two decades of drought, lake evaporation and overuse of water have nearly drained the river’s two anchor reservoirs, Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border and Lake Mead near Las Vegas. Climate change is rendering the basin drier, shrinking spring runoff that’s vital for river flows, farms, tribes and cities across the basin – and essential for refilling reservoirs.

The states that endorsed the Colorado River Compact in 1922 – and the tribes and nation of Mexico that were excluded from the table – are now straining to find, and perhaps more importantly accept, solutions on a river that may offer just half of the water that the Compact assumed would be available. And not only are solutions not coming easily, the relationships essential for compromise are getting more frayed.

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Tour November 2, 2022 - 7:30am - November 3, 2022 - 6:30pm Nick Gray

San Joaquin River Restoration Tour 2022
Field Trip - November 2-3

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
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Tour March 8, 2023 - 7:30am - March 10, 2023 - 6:30pm Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2023
Field Trip - March 8-10

This tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.

Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
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Tour March 16, 2022 - 7:30am - March 18, 2022 - 6:30pm Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2022
Field Trip - March 16-18

The lower Colorado River has virtually every drop allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.

Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
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Tour May 20, 2021 - 2:30pm - 5:30pm Nick Gray Learn About Infrastructure and Environmental Restoration During Lower Colorado River Tour

Lower Colorado River Tour 2021
A Virtual Journey - May 20

This event explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour. 

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Foundation Event April 22, 2021 - 12:30pm - 5:30pmApril 23, 2021 - 12:30pm - 5:30pm

Water 101 Workshop: The Basics and Beyond
Virtual Workshop Occurred Afternoons of April 22-23

Our Water 101 Workshop, one of our most popular events, offered attendees the opportunity to deepen their understanding of California’s water history, laws, geography and politics.

Taught by some of the leading policy and legal experts in the state, the workshop was held as an engaging online event on the afternoons of Thursday, April 22 and Friday, April 23.

  • Water 101 Workshop Agenda
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Foundation Event February 20, 2020 - February 21, 2020 University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law Jenn Bowles Nick Gray

Water 101 Workshop: The Basics and Beyond

The Water Education Foundation’s Water 101 Workshop, one of our most popular events, offered attendees the opportunity to deepen their understanding of California’s water history, laws, geography and politics.

Taught by some of the leading policy and legal experts in the state, the one-day workshop held on Feb. 20, 2020 covered the latest on the most compelling issues in California water. 

McGeorge School of Law
3327 5th Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95817
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  • Workshop Draft Agenda
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  • Byron Buck - California's Natural Water Endowment
  • Jennifer Harder - Summary of California Water Rights Systems
  • Tina Cannon-Leahy - Current Issues in California Water Management
  • Rebecca Smith - Legal and Institutional Management Framework
  • Juliet Christian-Smith - Climate Change and Water Resources
  • Dennis O'Connor - Understanding and Working with the State Legislature
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Western Water May 23, 2019 Colorado River Bundle Gary Pitzer

150 Years After John Wesley Powell Ventured Down the Colorado River, How Should We Assess His Legacy in the West?
WESTERN WATER Q&A: University of Colorado’s Charles Wilkinson on Powell, Water and the American West

We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls ride over the river, we know not. Ah, well! We may conjecture many things.

~John Wesley Powell

Explorer John Wesley Powell and Paiute Chief Tau-Gu looking over the Virgin River in 1873.Powell scrawled those words in his journal as he and his expedition paddled their way into the deep walls of the Grand Canyon on a stretch of the Colorado River in August 1869. Three months earlier, the 10-man group had set out on their exploration of the iconic Southwest river by hauling their wooden boats into a major tributary of the Colorado, the Green River in Wyoming, for their trip into the “great unknown,” as Powell described it.

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Tour March 11, 2020 - 7:30am - March 13, 2020 - 6:30pm Nick Gray New Experience Announced for Lower Colorado River Tour: Topock Gorge Boat Trip Get a 'Hard Hat' Tour of Hoover Dam and Visit Lake Mead on Lower Colorado River Tour Take the Pulse of the ‘Lifeline of the Southwest’ on the Lower Colorado River Tour

Lower Colorado River Tour 2020
Field Trip - March 11-13

This tour explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs is the focus of this tour. 

Silverton Hotel
3333 Blue Diamond Road
Las Vegas, NV 89139
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  • Dan Bunk & Mike Bernardo Presentation
  • Seth Shanahan Presentation
  • Chuck Cullom Presentation
  • Vineetha Kartha Presentation
  • Tina Shields Presentation
  • Kevin Hempe Presentation
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Western Water December 7, 2018 California Water Map Water & the Shaping of California Gary Pitzer

No Longer a ‘Boys Club’: In the World of Water, Women Are Increasingly Claiming Center Stage
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Since late 2017, women have taken leading roles at Reclamation, DWR, Metropolitan Water District and other key water agencies

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 1992 election to the United States Senate was famously coined the “Year of the Woman” for the record number of women elected to the upper chamber.

In the water world, 2018 has been a similar banner year, with noteworthy appointments of women to top leadership posts in California — Karla Nemeth at the California Department of Water Resources and Gloria Gray at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

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Western Water November 16, 2018 California Water Map Layperson's Guide to the State Water Project Gary Pitzer

As He Steps Aside, Tim Quinn Talks About ‘Adversarialists,’ Collaboration and Hope For Solving the State’s Tough Water Issues
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Tim Quinn, retiring executive director of Association of California Water Agencies

ACWA Executive Director Tim Quinn  with a report produced by Association of California Water Agencies on  sustainable groundwater management.  (Source:  Association of California Water Agencies)In the universe of California water, Tim Quinn is a professor emeritus. Quinn has seen — and been a key player in — a lot of major California water issues since he began his water career 40 years ago as a young economist with the Rand Corporation, then later as deputy general manager with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and finally as executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. In December, the 66-year-old will retire from ACWA.

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Western Water October 19, 2018 Klamath River Watershed Map Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Gary Pitzer

California Leans Heavily on its Groundwater, But Will a Court Decision Tip the Scales Against More Pumping?
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Pumping near the Scott River in Siskiyou County sparks appellate court ruling extending public trust doctrine to groundwater connected to rivers

Scott River, in Siskiyou County. In 1983, a landmark California Supreme Court ruling extended the public trust doctrine to tributary creeks that feed Mono Lake, which is a navigable water body even though the creeks themselves were not. The ruling marked a dramatic shift in water law and forced Los Angeles to cut back its take of water from those creeks in the Eastern Sierra to preserve the lake.

Now, a state appellate court has for the first time extended that same public trust doctrine to groundwater that feeds a navigable river, in this case the Scott River flowing through a picturesque valley of farms and alfalfa in Siskiyou County in the northern reaches of California.

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Foundation Event February 7, 2019 University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard Roster of Speakers, Agenda Unveiled for Feb. 7 Water 101 Workshop Jenn Bowles Nick Gray

Water 101 Workshop: The Basics and Beyond
One-day workshop included optional groundwater tour

One of our most popular events, our annual Water 101 Workshop details the history, geography, legal and political facets of water in California as well as hot topics currently facing the state.

Taught by some of the leading policy and legal experts in the state, the one-day workshop on Feb. 7 gave attendees a deeper understanding of the state’s most precious natural resources.

 Optional Groundwater Tour

On Feb. 8, we jumped aboard a bus to explore groundwater, a key resource in California. Led by Foundation staff and groundwater experts Thomas Harter and Carl Hauge, retired DWR chief hydrogeologist, the tour visited cities and farms using groundwater, examined a subsidence measuring station and provided the latest updates on the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

McGeorge School of Law
3327 5th Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95817
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  • Workshop Agenda
  • Byron Buck - California's Natural Water Endowment
  • Jennifer Harder - Summary of California Water Rights Systems
  • Jay Lund - Current Issues in California Water Management
  • Kevin O'Brien - Groundwater - The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
  • Holly Roberson - Legal and Institutional Management Framework
  • Dennis O'Connor - Understanding and Working with the State Legislature
  • Groundwater Tour - Tim O'Halloran
  • Groundwater Tour - Bruce Houdesheldt
  • Groundwater Tour - Terrie Mitchell
  • Groundwater Tour - Kamyar Guivetchi
  • Groundwater Tour - Mike Wackman
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Western Water June 15, 2018 Jenn Bowles Colorado River Basin Map Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River Jennifer Bowles

Domino Effect: As Arizona Searches For a Unifying Voice, a Drought Plan for the Lower Colorado River Is Stalled
EDITOR'S NOTE: Finding solutions to the Colorado River — or any disputed river —may be the most important role anyone can play

Nowhere is the domino effect in Western water policy played out more than on the Colorado River, and specifically when it involves the Lower Basin states of California, Nevada and Arizona. We are seeing that play out now as the three states strive to forge a Drought Contingency Plan. Yet that plan can’t be finalized until Arizona finds a unifying voice between its major water players, an effort you can read more about in the latest in-depth article of Western Water.

Even then, there are some issues to resolve just within California.

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Western Water May 4, 2018 Truckee River Basin Map Water Education Foundation

ON THE ROAD: This Iconic High Sierra Lake Was Once Named…Bigler?
Lake Tahoe was a stop on our Headwaters Tour June 28-29

Lake TahoeLake Tahoe, the iconic high Sierra water body that straddles California and Nevada, has sat for more than 10,000 years at the heart of the Washoe tribe’s territory. In fact, the name Tahoe came from the tribal word dá’aw, meaning lake.

The lake’s English name was the source of debate for about 100 years after it was first “discovered” in 1844 by people of European descent when Gen. John C. Fremont’s expedition made its way into the region. Not long after, a man who carried mail on snowshoes from Placerville to Nevada City named it Lake Bigler in honor of John Bigler, who served as California’s third governor. But because Bigler was an ardent secessionist, the federal Interior Department during the Civil War introduced the name Tahoe in 1862. Meanwhile, California kept it as Lake Bigler and didn’t officially recognize the name as Lake Tahoe until 1945.

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Tour April 11, 2018 - April 13, 2018

Lower Colorado River Tour 2018

Lower Colorado River Tour participants at Hoover Dam.

We explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.

Hampton Inn Tropicana
4975 Dean Martin Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89118
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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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Foundation Event February 22, 2018 University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law

Water 101 Workshop: The Basics and Beyond
Event included optional Delta Tour

One of our most popular events, Water 101 details the history, geography, legal and political facets of water in California as well as hot topics currently facing the state.

Taught by some of the leading policy and legal experts in the state, the one-day workshop gives attendees a deeper understanding of the state’s most precious natural resource.

McGeorge School of Law
3285 5th Ave, Classroom C
Sacramento, CA 95817
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  • Byron Buck's Presentation
  • Jennifer Harder's Presentation
  • Keith Coolidge's Presentation
  • John Andrew's Presentation
  • Peter Kiel's Presentation
  • Dennis O'Connor's Presentation
  • Michael George's Presentation
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Tour February 27, 2019 - 7:30am - March 1, 2019 - 6:30pm Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2019

This three-day, two-night tour explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs is the focus of this tour. 

Best Western McCarran Inn
4970 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, NV 89119
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  • Warren Turkett
  • Dan Bunk
  • Seth Shanahan
  • Deanna Ikeya
  • Doyle Wilson
  • Gerald Filipiak
  • Sarah Bartlett
  • Tina Shields
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Tour November 7, 2018 - November 8, 2018

San Joaquin River Restoration Tour 2018

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.

Fishery worker capturing a fish in the San Joaquin River.

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.

  • Don Portz
  • Bill Luce
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Announcement February 23, 2017

Forty Years Strong: Water Education Foundation Marks Anniversary Monday
Save the Date - Oct. 26 - for Our Anniversary Dinner & Water Leaders Reunion Reception

The Water Education Foundation is marking its 40th anniversary this year with a special celebration dinner Oct. 26 in Sacramento at the Sterling Hotel.

But this Monday (February 27th) is the actual anniversary of the Foundation’s articles of incorporation being filed in 1977, creating a nonprofit, nonpolitical, tax-exempt educational organization.

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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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Publication August 19, 2014

Memories of the Early Days of California Water Development

A written transcript of a 1992 interview with six major figures in the early development of California water whose work ranged from Shasta Dam to the Imperial Valley as they shaped the state’s water story beginning in the 1920s.

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Publication August 18, 2014

Water & the Shaping of California
Published 2000 - Paperback

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

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Publication August 18, 2014

Water & the Shaping of California
Published 2000 - hardbound

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

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Western Water Magazine May 1, 2002

Shaping the West: 100 Years of Reclamation Water
May/June 2002

The Reclamation Act of 1902, which could arguably be described as a progression of the credo, Manifest Destiny, transformed the West. This issue of Western Water provides a glimpse of the past 100 years of the Reclamation Act, from the early visionaries who sought to turn the arid West into productive farmland, to the modern day task of providing a limited amount of water to homes, farms and the environment. Included are discussions of various Bureau projects and what the next century may bring in terms of challenges and success.

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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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Western Water Magazine March 1, 2010

Whose Water Is It? Area of Origin Water Rights
March/April 2010

This printed issue of Western Water examines the area of origin laws, what they mean to those who claim their protections and the possible implications of the Tehama Colusa Canal Authority’s lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation.

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Western Water Magazine May 1, 2012

Levees and Flood Protection: A Shared Responsibility
May/June 2012

This printed issue of Western Water discusses several flood-related issues, including the proposed Central Valley Flood Protection Plan, the FEMA remapping process and the dispute between the state and the Corps regarding the levee vegetation policy.

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Western Water Magazine November 1, 2013

An Era of New Partnerships on the Colorado River
November/December 2013

This printed issue of Western Water examines how the various stakeholders have begun working together to meet the planning challenges for the Colorado River Basin, including agreements with Mexico, increased use of conservation and water marketing, and the goal of accomplishing binational environmental restoration and water-sharing programs.

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Western Water Magazine November 1, 1998

Cutting Colorado River Use: The California Plan
November/December 1998

This issue updates progress on crafting and implementing California’s 4.4 plan to reduce its use of Colorado River water by 800,000 acre-feet. The state has used as much as 5.2 million acre-feet of Colorado River water annually, but under pressure from Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and the other six states that share this resource, California’s Colorado River parties have been trying to close the gap between demand and supply.

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Western Water Magazine November 1, 1999

Managing the Colorado River
November/December 1999

Drawn from a special stakeholder symposium held in September 1999 in Keystone, Colorado, this issue explores how we got to where we are today on the Colorado River; an era in which the traditional water development of the past has given way to a more collaborative approach that tries to protect the environment while stretching available water supplies.

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Product May 29, 2014

Colorado River Compact 75th Anniversary Symposium Proceedings

In 1997, the Foundation sponsored a three-day, invitation-only symposium at Bishop’s Lodge, New Mexico, site of the 1922 Colorado River Compact signing, to discuss the historical implications of that agreement, current Colorado River issues and future challenges. The 204-page proceedings features the panel discussions and presentations on such issues as the Law of the River, water marketing and environmental restoration.

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Video May 27, 2014

The Klamath Basin: A Restoration for the Ages (20 min. DVD)

20-minute version of the 2012 documentary The Klamath Basin: A Restoration for the Ages. This DVD is ideal for showing at community forums and speaking engagements to help the public understand the complex issues related to complex water management disputes in the Klamath River Basin. Narrated by actress Frances Fisher.

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Video May 27, 2014

The Klamath Basin: A Restoration for the Ages (60 min. DVD)

For over a century, the Klamath River Basin along the Oregon and California border has faced complex water management disputes. As relayed in this 2012, 60-minute public television documentary narrated by actress Frances Fisher, the water interests range from the Tribes near the river, to energy producer PacifiCorp, farmers, municipalities, commercial fishermen, environmentalists – all bearing legitimate arguments for how to manage the water. After years of fighting, a groundbreaking compromise may soon settle the battles with two epic agreements that hold the promise of peace and fish for the watershed. View an excerpt from the documentary here.

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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 27, 2014

Drinking Water: Quenching the Public Thirst (60-minute DVD)

Many Californians don’t realize that when they turn on the faucet, the water that flows out could come from a source close to home or one hundreds of miles away. Most people take their water for granted; not thinking about the elaborate systems and testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to households throughout the state. Where drinking water comes from, how it’s treated, and what people can do to protect its quality are highlighted in this 2007 PBS documentary narrated by actress Wendie Malick. 

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Video May 27, 2014

Drinking Water: Quenching the Public Thirst (30-minute DVD)

A 30-minute version of the 2007 PBS documentary Drinking Water: Quenching the Public Thirst. This DVD is ideal for showing at community forums and speaking engagements to help the public understand the complex issues surrounding the elaborate systems and testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to households throughout the state.

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Video May 22, 2014

Delta Warning

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

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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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Video May 21, 2014

Water on the Edge (60-minute DVD)

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

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

San Joaquin River Restoration Map
Published 2012

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

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

Klamath River Watershed Map
Published 2011

This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, displays the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas and Indian reservations within the Klamath River Watershed. The map text explains the many issues facing this vast, 15,000-square-mile watershed, including fish restoration; agricultural water use; and wetlands. Also included are descriptions of the separate, but linked, Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Agreement, and the next steps associated with those agreements. Development of the map was funded by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

Carson River Basin Map
Published 2006

A companion to the Truckee River Basin Map poster, this 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, explores the Carson River, and its link to the Truckee River. The map includes Lahontan Dam and Reservoir, the Carson Sink, and the farming areas in the basin. Map text discusses the region’s hydrology and geography, the Newlands Project, land and water use within the basin and wetlands. Development of the map was funded by a grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region, Lahontan Basin Area Office.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

Truckee River Basin Map
Published 2005

This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, displays the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas and Indian reservations within the Truckee River Basin, including the Newlands Project, Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. Map text explains the issues surrounding the use of the Truckee-Carson rivers, Lake Tahoe water quality improvement efforts, fishery restoration and the effort to reach compromise solutions to many of these issues. 

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

Nevada Water Map
Published 2004

This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, illustrates the water resources available for Nevada cities, agriculture and the environment. It features natural and manmade water resources throughout the state, including the Truckee and Carson rivers, Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake and the course of the Colorado River that forms the state’s eastern boundary.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014 Colorado River Bundle

Colorado River Basin Map
Redesigned in 2017

Redesigned in 2017, this beautiful map depicts the seven Western states that share the Colorado River with Mexico. The Colorado River supplies water to nearly 40 million people in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and the country of Mexico. Text on this beautiful, 24×36-inch map, which is suitable for framing, explains the river’s apportionment, history and the need to adapt its management for urban growth and expected climate change impacts.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law
Updated 2020

The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law, recognized as the most thorough explanation of California water rights law available to non-lawyers, traces the authority for water flowing in a stream or reservoir, from a faucet or into an irrigation ditch through the complex web of California water rights.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Water Recycling
Updated 2013

As the state’s population continues to grow and traditional water supplies grow tighter, there is increased interest in reusing treated wastewater for a variety of activities, including irrigation of crops, parks and golf courses, groundwater recharge and industrial uses.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Water Marketing
Updated 2005

The 20-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Marketing provides background information on water rights, types of transfers and critical policy issues surrounding this topic. First published in 1996, the 2005 version offers expanded information on groundwater banking and conjunctive use, Colorado River transfers and the role of private companies in California’s developing water market. 

Order in bulk (25 or more copies of the same guide) for a reduced fee. Contact the Foundation, 916-444-6240, for details.

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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 Nevada Water
Published 2006

The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Nevada Water provides an overview of the history of water development and use in Nevada. It includes sections on Nevada’s water rights laws, the history of the Truckee and Carson rivers, water supplies for the Las Vegas area, groundwater, water quality, environmental issues and today’s water supply challenges.

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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 Colorado River Basin Map

Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River
Updated 2018

Cover page for the Layperson's Guide to the Colorado River .

The Colorado River provides water to 40 million people and 4 million acres of farmland in a region encompassing some 246,000 square miles in the southwestern United States. The 32-page Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River covers the history of the river’s development; negotiations over division of its water; the items that comprise the Law of the River; and a chronology of significant Colorado River events.

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Publication May 20, 2014 California Water Map

Layperson’s Guide to California Water
Updated 2021

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

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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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Aquapedia background February 14, 2014

Francis C. Carr

Francis C. CarrFrancis C. Carr (1875-1944) and his descendants played a prominent role in the development of the federal Central Valley Project, including Shasta Dam, and the creation of the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.

In the Northern California community of Redding, he was a justice of peace, a renowned water rights attorney in the law firm of Carr and Kennedy and helped form the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District. He was often in the nation’s Capitol in Washington, D.C., advocating for funds from Congress to get this visionary project built for the benefit of all of California. In his honor, the Judge Francis Carr Powerplant was named after him.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 Interested in applying for the next California Water Leaders class? IN MEMORIAM: William R. Gianelli

William R. “Bill” Gianelli

William R. “Bill” Gianelli (1919-2020) was a civil engineer who served not only as director of the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) from 1967-1973 during Gov. Ronald Reagan’s administration, but worked as a civil servant under Govs. Earl Warren, Goodwin Knight and Edmund G. “Pat” Brown during all phases of the California State Water Project (SWP): its design, planning and construction.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

William Hammond Hall

William Hammond Hall (1846-1934) is credited with the first proposal of an integrated flood control system with levees, weirs and bypass channels for the Sacramento Valley after his appointment as the first California state engineer.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

William Mulholland

William Mulholland (1855-1935), an immigrant from Ireland, is infamous in the history of California water and the state’s water wars for both his far-sightedness and no-holds-barred approach to delivering a controversial water supply to Southern California. He is a love-hate character with a story that has many tellings, including in the 1974 fictional movie, Chinatown.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

William E. “Bill” Warne

William E. “Bill” Warne (1905-1996) had a career for the record books that prominently featured water issues at state, federal and international levels.

He served under Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown as the second director of the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) from 1961-1967 along with also being the first Resources Agency secretary from 1961-1963 at the beginning of the construction of the California State Water Project.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Thomas J. “Tom” Graff

Thomas J. “Tom” Graff (1944-2009) opened up the California office of the Environmental Defense Fund in 1971 and was its regional director for more than 35 years.

Throughout his life, he was committed to the environment and the mentorship of environmental leaders. He was revered as an influential environmental lawyer on the state and federal water circuits and public forums and used strategic acumen to build partnerships to solve water problems with long-lasting solutions.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt (1858-1919) was the 26th president of the United States who established the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and created the U.S. Forest Service.

During his term of office from 1901-1909, he is credited for his efforts on conservation, increasing the number of national forests, protecting land for the public and promoting irrigation projects. For Roosevelt, water was instrumental to developing the Western states.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Stephen K. Hall

Stephen K. Hall (1951-2010) led the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) as its executive director from 1993 until retiring in 2007 from the effects of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Hall continued to stay current on water issues and to advocate for legislation on ALS at the state Capitol until he died.

His motto became “As much as I can for as long as I can.”

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Ron Stork

Ron Stork, the award-winning policy director of the Friends of the River, joined the statewide California river conservation group in 1987 as its associate conservation director. Previously he was executive director of the Merced Canyon Committee, where he directed the successful effort to obtain the National Wild and Scenic River designation for the Merced River.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Robert “Bob” M. Hagan

Robert “Bob” M. Hagan, Ph.D. (1917-2002), internationally renowned for his expertise in the relationships between plants, water, soil and water use efficiency — specifically in the area of agricultural water use — was a professor of water science, an irrigationist in the California Agricultural Experiment Station and a statewide extension specialist in the California Agricultural Extension Service during a 50-year career with the University of California, Davis.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Ronald B. Robie

Ronald B. Robie, an associate justice on the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, has made his mark on state water issues during a career in public service that has spanned all three branches of government.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Robert A. Skinner

Robert A. Skinner (1895-1986) was the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California general manager from 1962-1967. An engineer, he was instrumental in negotiating the district’s contract with the California Department of Water Resources for delivery of water from Northern California. Both Lake Skinner and a treatment plant in southwestern Riverside County were named in his honor.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson (1907-1964) authored Silent Spring, a book published in 1962 about the impacts of pesticides on the ecosystem and credited with beginning the modern environmental movement.

Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, renamed the Fish and Wildlife Service, from 1935-1952 as a biologist and then editor-in-chief of publications.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Marc Reisner

Marc Reisner (1948-2000), an environmental writer who became a celebrity in the water world, was the author of Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water (1986), a best-seller about Western water history and politics and a full-blown critique of 20th century water development, especially in California and the West. “Based on 10 years of research, Cadillac Desert is a stunning expose and a dramatic, provocative history of the creation of an Eden — an Eden that may be only a mirage,” according to the book’s back flap.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Lester A. Snow

Lester SnowLester A. Snow, the mastermind behind countless water resources management projects, has been involved in water issues in two states, both the public and private sectors and on regional, state and federal levels of government.

In a timeline of his career, Snow served from 1988-1995 as the general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority after leaving the Arizona Department of Water Resources. From 1995-1999, he was the executive director of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, which included a team of both federal and state agencies.

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Aquapedia background February 10, 2014

Julian B. Hinds

Julian B. Hinds (1881-1977) was Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s general manager and chief engineer from 1941-1951, but began work on the Colorado River Aqueduct in 1929 soon after the district was organized.

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Aquapedia background February 10, 2014

John Wesley Powell

John Wesley Powell (1834-1902) was historic and heroic for being first to lead an expedition down the Colorado River in 1869. A major who lost an arm in the Civil War Battle of Shiloh, he was an explorer, geologist, geographer and ethnologist.

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Aquapedia background February 10, 2014

John R. Teerink

John R. Teerink (1921-1992) was the director of the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) from 1973-1975 during Governor Ronald Reagan’s administration.He had various lead roles in the implementation of the State Water Project during his 29-year career at DWR. He progressed through the ranks as junior engineer, assistant chief engineer and then deputy director until his appointment to head the department.

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Aquapedia background February 10, 2014

John Muir

John Muir (1838-1914) was a famous and influential naturalist and conservationist who founded the Sierra Club in 1892 and was its president until he died. Throughout his life, this man from Scotland was also a farmer, inventor, sheepherder, explorer and writer.

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Aquapedia background February 10, 2014

Joan Didion

Joan Didion (1934-2021) was a native California author and playwright whose famous writings have featured California water issues.

Born and reared in Sacramento, she wrote extensively and personally about her feelings on the subject of water. In her memoir, Where I Was From, she told not only the story about her pioneering family’s roots in the Sacramento area but also of the seasonal flooding, the water politics and controversies, and the California State Water Project (SWP) and federal Central Valley Project (CVP).

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Aquapedia background February 10, 2014

Jean Auer

Jean Auer (1937-2005) was the first woman to serve on the California State Water Resources Control Board and a pioneer for women aspiring to be leaders in the water world.

She is described as a “woman of great spirit who made large contributions to improve the waters of California.” She was appointed as the State Water Board’s public member by then-Governor Ronald Reagan and served from 1972-1977 during a time period that included the passage of the federal Clean Water Act. She became part of the growing movement for water quality regulations to stop water pollution.

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Aquapedia background February 10, 2014

Ira J. “Jack” Chrisman

Ira J. “Jack” Chrisman (1910-1988) became a well-known force in California’s water history beginning back in 1955 after his family home was flooded in the San Joaquin Valley town of Visalia.

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Aquapedia background February 4, 2014

Hiram W. Wadsworth

Hiram W. Wadsworth (1862-1939) is known as the father of Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. As the mayor of Pasadena, he called for a regional partnership of municipalities to bring water to Southern California. After initiating the Colorado River Aqueduct Association and being elected its president, he directed the campaign from 1924-1929 that led to the establishment of the district. The pumping plant at Diamond Valley Lake, located 90 miles southeast of Los Angeles in Riverside County, was named the Hiram W. Wadsworth Pumping/Hydro-generating Facility in his honor.

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Aquapedia background February 4, 2014

Harvey O. Banks

Harvey O. Banks (1910-1996), a lifelong civil engineer, played an integral role in the development of water projects in California.

He became the first director of the state Department of Water Resources, appointed by Governor Goodwin J. Knight on July 5, 1956 — the date the department was officially established. He continued as director under Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown. During Banks’ tenure as director from 1956-1961, he was key in the planning and the initial construction of the California State Water Project (SWP).

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Aquapedia background February 3, 2014

Gordon Cologne

Gordon Cologne served for 10 years in the California Legislature during the 1960s and early 1970s while the California State Water Project was being built.

His interest in water issues began from his early life in the Coachella Valley desert. An attorney, he worked in both the public sector in Washington, D.C, and then in private practice in California. He also served his local community as a member of the city of Indio City Council, including as mayor, before his decision to run for election to fill an open seat in the Assembly.

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Aquapedia background February 3, 2014

Elwood Mead

Elwood Mead (1858-1936) was the commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation during the era of the development of Hoover Dam on the Colorado River between Arizona and Nevada, Grand Coulee Dam in Washington and Owyhee Dam in Oregon, among other large water projects.

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Aquapedia background February 3, 2014

Edward Hyatt Jr.

Edward Hyatt Jr. (1888-1954) was the state engineer of California from 1927-1950. In a 1928 report he wrote titled “Water is the Life Blood of California — The Division of Engineering and Irrigation of the State Department of Public Works; What it Does and How it Operates,” he called the department the “building organization of California’s state government” and described successes, challenges and responsibilities of his position.

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Aquapedia background February 3, 2014

Don McCrea

Don McCrea was one of the founding members of the Water Education Foundation and signed its original Articles of Incorporation in 1977.

His background was in power and energy issues, including hydrology and the state’s hydrologic system, from a career at the Pacific Gas & Electric Company in San Francisco. He was involved in the development of the State Water Project as a proponent of the value of hydroelectricity.

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Aquapedia background February 3, 2014

David N. Kennedy

David N. Kennedy (1936-2007) was at the helm as the director of the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) for 15 years, the longest serving director to date, and a champion of the State Water Project (SWP).

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Aquapedia background February 3, 2014

David A. Gaines

David A. Gaines (1947-1988) is known for founding the Mono Lake Committee in 1978 with the goal of preserving its ecosystem and leading a grassroots effort to “Save Mono Lake.” The result would be an environmental cause célèbre. As a synopsis of the Mono Lake litigation, in 1979 a lawsuit was filed against the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) to stop diversions to Southern California — citing the public trust values at Mono Lake.

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  • Mono Lake Committee
Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Clair A. Hill

Clair A. Hill (1909-1998), a self-made engineer nicknamed “California’s Mr. Water,” built from the ground up an engineering firm that would merge to form the global consulting firm of CH2M HILL.

In 1938 in his hometown of Redding along the Upper Sacramento River in Northern California, he founded Clair A. Hill & Associates. Before merging with CH2M in 1971, the two firms had collaborated on many projects together, including the Lake Tahoe Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility — the first of its kind in the world.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Carley V. Porter

Carley V. Porter (1906-1972) was the longtime chairman of the California Legislature’s Assembly Committee on Water who has two historical and important water laws named after him. He was a Democrat from Compton in Los Angeles County and a teacher before being elected to the Assembly.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

California Water Timeline

1769 First permanent Spanish settlements established. Water rights established by Spanish law.

1848 Gold discovered on the American River. Treaty of Guadalupe signed, California ceded from Mexico, California republic established.

1850 California admitted to Union. Construction begins on Delta levees and channels.

1860 Legislature authorizes the formation of levee and reclamation districts.

1862  Major flood in Sacramento Valley inundates new city.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

California Gold Rush and Today’s Water

More than 100 years ago, California’s Gold Rush left a toxic legacy that continues to cause problems in Northern California watersheds.

The discovery of gold in John Sutter’s millrace at Coloma in the 1840s drew people from around the globe.

Over the course of decades, intense efforts were focused on washing and prying gold from the hills of the Sierra Nevada.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

C.W. “Bill” Jones

C.W. “Bill” Jones (1918-2003) was an historical water figure known for his pioneering efforts in bringing water deliveries to the agricultural land in the San Joaquin Valley.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Bernice Frederic “B.F.” “Bernie” Sisk

Bernice Frederic “B.F.” “Bernie” Sisk (1910-1995) represented the San Joaquin Valley in the U.S. Congress for nearly a quarter of a century from 1955-1978.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Arthur D. Edmonston

Arthur D. Edmonston directed the early planning of the Central Valley Project, State Water Project and State Water Plan.

He served as California state engineer and chief of the Division of Water Resources (predecessor to the Department of Water Resources) from 1950-1955, a time of rapid population, agricultural and industry growth California. Water shortages were common, and groundwater supplies were being overdrafted.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014 Anne J. Schneider Fund Lecture Series

Anne J. Schneider

Anne J. Schneider (1947-2010) is acknowledged as one of the first women to become well-known and well-respected in the field of California and Western water law. “Anne was an amazing person — an accomplished college athlete, mountain climber, skier, marathon runner, velodrome and long-distance cyclist; a devoted mother; a dedicated conservationist,” said Justice Ronald B. Robie in the Inaugural Anne J. Schneider Memorial Lecture in May 2012.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Alex Hildebrand

Alex Hildebrand (1913-2012) had an understanding and knowledge of California’s South Delta and San Joaquin River bar none. After retiring early from a career as an engineer for Standard Oil of California, he moved his family to the San Joaquin Valley where he farmed for nearly 50 years while active in water issues and as an advocate for the area.

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Aquapedia background January 30, 2014

Adolph Moskovitz

Adolph Moskovitz (1923-1996) is remembered as one of the leading water resources attorneys in the country and has been described as “brilliant” by his many peers in the legal profession.

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Western Water Excerpt January 1, 1997 Sue McClurgRita Schmidt Sudman

20 Years of H2O
Jan/Feb 1997

We were pleased to receive the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s highest award in the area of water conservation recently. The Foundation was recognized for being a long-term industry leader for conservation in California and the West. With receipt of this award and the contents of this latest Western Water, I’ve been reflecting on the more than 17 years I have spent at the Foundation. As Sue McClurg chronicles in her article, a series of talented people have worked both as staff and volunteers through our 20 years. Certainly the Foundation owes much of its success to these people.

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Water Academy

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  • Leaders and Experts
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  • Water Quality
  • Water Supply and Management
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