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.
Even today, as California struggles with severe drought, global
warming has doubled the likelihood that weather conditions will
unleash a deluge as devastating as the Great Flood of 1862,
according to a UCLA study released Friday. In that inundation
160 years ago, 30 consecutive days of rain triggered monster
flooding that roared across much of the state and changed the
course of the Los Angeles River, relocating its mouth from
Venice to Long Beach. If a similar storm were to happen
today, the study says, up to 10 million people would be
displaced, major interstate freeways such as Interstates 5 and
80 would be shut down for months, and population centers
including Stockton, Fresno and parts of Los Angeles would be
submerged — a $1-trillion disaster larger than any in world
history.
Until the development of the major state and federal water
projects that began delivering surface water to the area in the
second half of the 20th century, the Central Valley relied
almost exclusively on groundwater. Heavy pumping of groundwater
has led to significant land subsidence throughout the valley,
causing major damage in some areas to canals, aqueducts, and
other infrastructure. This subsidence was particularly
pronounced in the valley’s southern half, which is known as the
San Joaquin Valley. By 1970, approximately half the San Joaquin
Valley, or roughly 5,200 sq mi, had subsided by at least 1 ft,
according to the website of the U.S. Geological Survey. Some
locations had subsided by as much as 28 ft.
Tulare Lake. Gone. Owens Lake. On a resuscitator but near
death. Mono Lake: Its life hangs in the balance. They —
and many more California lakes and rivers — were the victim of
defying Mother Nature and sucking massive amounts of water from
one basin to another. Bypassing a massive amount of water from
the Delta ecological system by tunneling under it — what could
possibly go wrong? It is why the recent latest reincarnation of
Los Angeles’ not-to-secret plan to destroy the Delta along with
their partners-in-crime on the western side of Kern County is
pure tunnel vision.
Before the Colorado River was tamed by dams and dikes it was a
free flowing, flooding river that often changed course,
sometimes dramatically. Though it typically flowed south to the
Gulf of California, in years of powerful floods it would flow
into the Salton Sea Basin, and fill it up to form what we call
Lake Cahuilla. Since about 612 B.C. Lake Cahuilla has filled up
seven times, the last time in 1733. The flooding Colorado would
create a huge lake that stretched from what’s now Palm Springs,
California in the north to well beyond Mexicali, Mexico in the
south. Thomas Rockwell is a geology professor at San Diego
State who examined charcoal and other organic matter to
determine when the lake filled and receded.
In a life flight that could change the course of one tribe’s
history, a helicopter delivered 20,000 endangered salmon eggs
to a remote area in Shasta County, in an effort to save the
winter-run Chinook species struggling to survive in
California’s warming river waters. … For Sisk and
members of her tribe, it was a monumental moment, personally
helping a new generation of winter-run Chinook towards the
McCloud River. The eggs will be among the first salmon to reach
these waters since Shasta Dam was built more than 80 years ago.
Tribal leaders stood proudly in front of a row
of flags from the 10 Indigenous communities whose
lands converge with the Colorado River. They spoke about their
status as equal players in the future of the Colorado and the
role they will play in the high-stakes negotiations to set
new management protocols for the river that more than
40 million people depend upon for their lives and livelihoods.
… They were part of tribal delegations
from throughout the Colorado River Basin gathered in Las
Vegas in December 2021 during the annual meeting of
the Colorado River Water Users Association.
Anthony Saracino … was a widely-recognized expert in
California water policy. He co-authored various publications on
groundwater management, reservoir reoperation, and integrating
storage in California’s changing water system. He was a
founding member of the board and past president of the
Groundwater Resources Association of California and
served on the board of the Water Education Foundation
for more than 15 years and helped the organization create its
first groundwater map.
Millions of people in the Western U.S. are at risk of seeing
reduced access to both water and power as two of the nation’s
biggest reservoirs continue to dry up inch by inch. The United
Nations issued a warning on Tuesday that the water levels in
Lake Mead and Lake Powell are at their lowest ever and are
getting perilously close to reaching “dead pool
status.” Such a status means that the water levels are so
low that water can’t flow downstream to power hydroelectric
stations. At Lake Mead, located in Nevada and
Arizona, the country’s largest artificial body of water, levels
have gotten so low that it’s essentially become a graveyard
– human remains, dried-out fish and a sunken
boat dating back to World War II …
For over 50 years, researchers with the UC Davis Tahoe
Environmental Research Center (TERC) have been carefully
observing the waters of Lake Tahoe. This week, the annual
“State of the Lake” report was released. According to UC Davis
TERC director Geoffrey Schladow, 2021 data shows some major
changes that hadn’t been observed to this point. One of
the most notable is a drop in the Mysis shrimp population. This
non-native plankton species was introduced into the lake in the
1960s.
The Klamath Basin is one of the most iconic watersheds in North
America. It’s also one of the most troubled. The basin, which
spans 15,751 square miles along the remote California-Oregon
border, was once considered the “Everglades of the West” for
its network of more than 440,000 acres of
wetlands. … From a tribal lawyer laser-focused on
protecting her people’s salmon-fishing traditions to a
biologist doing everything he can to preserve the remnants of
the basin’s wetlands, these are the people fighting to return
the Klamath to its former glory. This is their river.
Will the fifth time be the charm for California’s decades-long
effort to replumb the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta so that more
Northern California water can be transported to Southern
California? Don’t count on it. Last week, the state Department
of Water Resources released a draft environmental impact report
on the latest iteration of the 57-year-long effort to change
the Delta’s role in water supply, a 45-mile-long tunnel
officially named the “Delta Conveyance.” The 3,000-page
document immediately drew the responses that have accompanied
past versions — big municipal and agricultural water agencies
were in favor of it because it would, they hope, increase water
deliveries south of the Delta, and environmentalists were
against it, saying it would further damage the Delta’s already
bruised ecosystem. -Written by Dan Walters, columnist for CalMatters.
Today, the L.A. River is at a pivot point. Development,
pollution, and poor management are significant threats to the
river’s health. Earlier this year the environmental group
American Rivers ranked the L.A. River as the 9th most
endangered river in the country. In its recent history,
the river has been abused by its urban setting, channelized and
tainted with industrial runoff. But along its northern reaches,
a restoration is taking shape. The L.A. River Master Plan,
which aims to improve the profile of the river over the next 25
years, was approved by Los Angeles County officials in May.
California’s Gold Rush is known for making many people rich and
inflating the population of the then-young state, but it also
resulted in the creation of the nation’s first environmental
law. As gold mining went from individuals with gold pans raking
the bottom of creek beds to industries using the latest
technologies to strip precious ores from California’s
hillsides, the impact on the surrounding environment became
more severe. Hydraulic mining was a growing form of industrial
mining, in which high-pressure water would blast out of water
cannons, known as monitors, into hillsides to wash away dirt
and rocks to uncover the gold beneath.
National Park Service (NPS) rangers found a third set of
human remains Monday afternoon in Lake Mead as the nation’s
largest reservoir continues to dry up amid a years-long extreme
drought. NPS said in a release that rangers had discovered the
remains at Swim Beach in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area
after receiving a witness report around 4:30 p.m. Monday.
… A 20-year megadrought has dried up Lake Mead, which
straddles Arizona and Nevada, plummeting its water levels to
historic lows.
As stakeholders negotiate the current crisis on the Colorado
River, we believe the representatives of the states of the
Upper Basin – our states – are making a dangerous argument.
Their premise is simple. With deep cutbacks needed, the Upper
Basin states argue that their part of the watershed already
routinely suffers water supply shortages in dry years. … Our
review of those data suggests that, on average, overall Upper
Basin use is slightly greater in dry years,
and less in wet years.
[T]he alkali flats that are emerging from [Mono] lake’s
surface, ghost white, aren’t just another nod to the uniqueness
of this ancient place. They’re a sign of trouble. Amid
a third year of drought, the sprawling lake on the
remote east side of the Sierra Nevada is sharply receding, and
the small towns and wildlife so closely tied to the water are
feeling the pinch. … The drought bearing down on Mono Lake
and the rest of California picks up on a two-decade run of
extreme warming and drying. It’s a product of the changing
climate that has begun to profoundly reshape the landscape of
the West and how people live within it.
[Aquafornia Editor's Note: The Los Angeles
Times story below wrongly states that Shasta Lake is part of
the State Water Project. It is part of the federal Central Valley Project.
We still believe this photo essay is worthy to share because of
the importance Shasta Lake plays in California.]
Shasta Lake, one of the state’s largest reservoirs, is
currently at 38% capacity, a startling number heading into the
hottest months of the year. Part of the State Water Project, a
roughly 700-mile lifeline that pumps and ferries water all the
way to Southern California, the reservoir is the driest it has
been at this time of year since record-keeping first began in
1976. California relies on storms and snowpack in the Sierra
Nevada to fill its reservoirs. The state received a hopeful
sign of a wet winter in late December when more than 17 feet of
snow fell in the Sierra Nevada. But the winter storms abruptly
ceased, ushering in the driest January, February and March ever
recorded.
[R]ather than planning for dry conditions that, because of
climate change, are likely to become far more frequent and
deadly, Americans seem incapable of even remembering them.
Around the world, the landscape itself records our long history
of floods. Recent inundation is easy to see in high-water
marks, which trace the edges of the tide with soil and seed
deposits. Sometimes people memorialize these marks, carving
into stone and labeling the lines with dates, like a child’s
growth chart drawn on a door frame. … As John Steinbeck wrote
in the opening pages of East of Eden, “It never failed
that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich
years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry
years. It was always that way.”
California’s Chinook salmon haven’t been able to reach the
McCloud River since 1942, when the construction of Shasta Dam
blocked the fish from swimming upstream and sealed off their
spawning areas in the cold mountain waters near Mt. Shasta.
After 80 years, endangered winter-run Chinook are about to swim
in the river once again. State and federal wildlife officials
this week collected about 20,000 winter-run salmon eggs from
the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery near Redding and
drove them for three hours to a campground on the banks of the
McCloud River.
On July 11 the Winnemem Wintu Tribe danced, sang and prayed for
20,000 endangered salmon eggs as they were returned to the
McCloud River. The action is part of new collaboration with
government agencies and represented a watershed moment for the
Tribe. Hot Sacramento River temperatures threaten winter-run
Chinook, but government scientists hope acclimating the eggs to
the glacial waters of the McCloud River, their ancestral home,
will help them survive.
1795 had been a drought year, as were the years between 1807
and 1809. Drought returned in 1822-1823, followed by floods in
1825, and three years of little rain from 1827 to 1829 and
again in 1844-1846. Travel writer Emma Adams described the
“annual panic” in Los Angeles when winter rains were overdue
and “all classes of businessmen are at a white heat of
anxiety.”
It was once called the Salton Riviera and a miracle in the
desert. The Salton Sea is different now; dead fish, decaying
area, foul odor , and dangerous toxic fumes. It’s a
wasteland. Once California’s largest lake, now it’s on the
verge of extinction, many claiming it is beyond
repair. Rodney Smith PhD., Managing Partner of the Sea To
Sea Bi-National Canal Co., joined KUSI’s Logan Byrnes on “Good
Evening San Diego” to discuss how he will save the dying Salton
Sea.
Thanks to the 1974 fictionalized movie Chinatown, many
people know the infamous story of the Los Angeles
Aqueduct, built to capture runoff from the Sierra Nevada
in the Owens Valley for delivery to Los
Angeles. Construction of the aqueduct, started in
1908, compared in complexity to the building of the
Panama Canal. It required 3,900 workers at its peak
and involved the digging of 164 tunnels. At the time
it was the longest aqueduct in the world …
Dwindling water levels at Lake Powell, which is now at 28%
of its 24m acre-feet capacity, have put the Glen Canyon dam at
risk. In March, water levels fell below 3,525 feet –
considered a critical buffer to protect hydropower – for the
first time. If the lake drops just another 32ft, the dam will
no longer be able to generate power for the millions who rely
on it…. The Bureau of Reclamation… forecasts that
even with significant proposed cuts to water allowances there
is a 23% chance power production could halt at dam in
2024 due to low water levels and that it is within the realm of
possibility that it will happen as soon as July 2023.
When Shasta Reservoir levels drop 90 feet down from the top of
the dam remnants of the “head tower,” a structure used during
the dam’s construction in the early 1940s, becomes visible. To
locals and water wonks alike, it’s a reminder that it’s going
to be another dry year. … The lake’s historic lowest
level was in the summer of 1977 when it was down 230 feet below
the dam’s crest. Last year’s lake level was the second lowest
on record, and yes, the head tower was exposed — along with
roads, train tunnels, and car bridges.
2022 is California’s driest first half of any year on record,
according to a just released government summary. In data
released on Monday, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental
Information found that over the period from January through
June precipitation in the state was the lowest on record dating
to 1895. Elsewhere, Nevada had its second lowest precipitation
tally, Utah its third least and Arizona its ninth lowest over
the same period. Drought conditions had improved significantly
at the end of 2021 as California received record snowfall in
the Sierra. After a dry start to the year and now the dry
season in place, drought conditions have worsened yet again.
Historically, the relationship between the North San Joaquin
Water Conservation District and the East Bay Municipal
Utilities District has been tense at times, hindering the
opportunity to collaborate on regional projects. The tension,
NSJWCD attorney Jennifer Spaletta said, was over EBMUD building
the Camanche and Pardee reservoirs and ending up with senior
water rights along the Mokelumne River. But over the last two
decades, the two agencies have worked to resolve their issues,
and ultimately came to the mutual understanding that they
needed to work together in order to solve future water supply
challenges.
A fire threatening hundreds of ancient sequoias in Yosemite
National Park continued to spread Sunday as firefighters braced
for more difficult conditions this week with warmer and drier
weather approaching. The Washburn fire had grown to at
least 2,044 acres by Sunday evening and was burning on the
southern end of the park near the historic Mariposa Grove, home
to about 500 giant sequoias, officials said. The blaze is also
threatening the community of Wawona and prompted officials to
close Highway 41 near the south entrance to Henness Ridge Road.
With a megadrought draining water reserves in the West, states
are looking for alternatives to handle water rights, many of
which were set more than 100 years ago when water supplies were
far more abundant. Back then, just posting a sign next to a
water diversion was enough to be considered a right, one which
could still be honored now. But the climate crisis is now
straining those rights. There just isn’t enough water in
California to satisfy what’s been allotted on paper.
In the 1960s, Hollywood flocked to its shores. Frank Sinatra,
Jerry Lewis and the Beach Boys partied at the lake. But by
1985, the tourist industry was over and the heyday of Old
Hollywood was gone. Just a short drive south of Palm
Springs, you’ll find California’s largest lake, the Salton Sea.
Back in its heyday, hundreds of thousands of people visited the
area, attracting more visitors than Yosemite Park at the time.
Fishing, water-skiing and boat-racing reigned on high, earning
the lake the nickname “the fastest body of water.”
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation Wednesday that will
provide $1.2 billion over three years to boost long-term water
supplies for the desert state and implement conservation
efforts that will see more immediate effects. The legislation
that was hammered out over months during the just-completed
legislative session is viewed as the most significant since the
state implemented a groundwater protection plan in
1980. Climate change and a nearly 30-year drought forced
the move, which comes as Arizona faces cutbacks in its Colorado
River water supply and more loom.
The Great Salt Lake has hit a new historic low for the second
time in less than a year, a dire milestone as the US west
continues to weather a historic mega-drought. The Utah
department of natural resources said in a news release on
Monday that the Great Salt Lake dipped over the weekend to
4,190.1ft (1,277.1 meters). … The giant lake near Salt
Lake City is the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi.
Its dwindling water levels have put millions of migrating birds
at risk and threaten a lake-based economy that is worth an
estimated $1.3bn in mineral extraction, brine shrimp and
recreation.
Travel along the San Joaquin River to learn firsthand about one
of the nation’s largest and most expensive river restoration
projects.
The San Joaquin River was the focus of one of the most
contentious legal battles in California water history,
ending in a 2006 settlement between the federal government,
Friant Water Users Authority and a coalition of environmental
groups.
The 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
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Lake
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.
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
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.
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
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
Participants of this tour snaked along the San Joaquin River to
learn firsthand about one of the nation’s largest and most
expensive river restoration projects.
The San Joaquin River was the focus of one of the most
contentious legal battles in California water history,
ending in a 2006 settlement between the federal government,
Friant Water Users Authority and a coalition of environmental
groups.
The 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This 30-minute documentary-style DVD on the history and current
state of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program includes an
overview of the geography and history of the river, historical
and current water delivery and uses, the genesis and timeline of
the 1988 lawsuit, how the settlement was reached and what was
agreed to.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
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.
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.
15-minute DVD that graphically portrays the potential disaster
should a major earthquake hit the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
“Delta Warning” depicts what would happen in the event of an
earthquake registering 6.5 on the Richter scale: 30 levee breaks,
16 flooded islands and a 300 billion gallon intrusion of salt
water from the Bay – the “big gulp” – which would shut down the
State Water Project and Central Valley Project pumping plants.
30-minute DVD that traces the history of the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation and its role in the development of the West. Includes
extensive historic footage of farming and the construction of
dams and other water projects, and discusses historic and modern
day issues.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to
Flood Management explains the physical flood control system,
including levees; discusses previous flood events (including the
1997 flooding); explores issues of floodplain management and
development; provides an overview of flood forecasting; and
outlines ongoing flood control projects.
The 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.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to California Water provides an
excellent overview of the history of water development and use in
California. It includes sections on flood management; the state,
federal and Colorado River delivery systems; Delta issues; water
rights; environmental issues; water quality; and options for
stretching the water supply such as water marketing and
conjunctive use. New in this 10th edition of the guide is a
section on the human need for water.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Central Valley Project
explores the history and development of the federal Central
Valley Project (CVP), California’s largest surface water delivery
system. In addition to the project’s history, the guide describes
the various CVP facilities, CVP operations, the benefits the CVP
brought to the state and the CVP Improvement Act (CVPIA).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lester 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
