California Water Reallocation: Where'd You Get That?

Natural Resources Journal (University of New Mexico) | March 8th, 2017

When thirsty, Californians often avoid going to the market for more water. Instead, they might borrow some from their rich neighbors, they might sue them or more commonly

When thirsty, Californians often avoid going to the market for more water. Instead, they might borrow some from their rich neighbors, they might sue them or more commonly, they simply take more from users without much of a voice (e.g. the fish or future generations). These alternatives are often superior to using markets. Within markets, a surprising detail emerges – it is uncommon for farmers to fallow fields in order to sell water to another user. Rather, many water transfers are structured so sellers can have their cake and eat it too. While some of these transfers rightly bring about jealousy and criticism, they likely do facilitate efficient water use. In discussing these points, I provide a more holistic description of how water users reallocate water as well as a richer understanding of how California’s water market actually works.

California Water Resilience Portfolio

State of California | July 28th, 2020

California water seen as environment issue, not North vs. South

Christian Science Monitor | June 13th, 1984

Sooner or later southern Californians are going to get more water from the north. And yet the newest proposal to do it has rekindled the political rift over water policy

Sooner or later southern Californians are going to get more water from the north. And yet the newest proposal to do it has rekindled the political rift over water policy that makes compromise difficult. The new plan would expand channels feeding the main north-south aqueduct, and it raises issues tinged with sentiment that is typically Californian. Traditionally labeled a north-south rivalry, the water issue today is more correctly an illustration of a statewide credo often that gives equal weight to the often conflicting goals of environ-mentalism and economic prosperity. Gov. George Deukmejian's water plan - called the ''through-delta canal'' - would increase water flowing through the Sacramento-San

California Water Solutions Now

Environmental Water Caucus | January 1st, 2011

California is in the grip of a water crisis of our own making. Like all problems that humans create, we have the potential to use the crisis as an opportunity to make pos

California is in the grip of a water crisis of our own making. Like all problems that humans create, we have the potential to use the crisis as an opportunity to make positive and long-lasting changes in water management. The crisis is not a water shortage – California has already developed sufficient water supplies to take us well into this century – the real crisis is that this supply is not used efficiently or equitably for all Californians, nor is it used wisely to sustain the ecosystems that support us. The opportunity – and the basis for our positive vision – is that economically and technologically feasible measures are readily available to provide the water needed for our future. Our vision includes providing clean water for families to drink, providing water to improve the environmental health of our once-magnificent rivers, recovering our fisheries from the edges of extinction, fostering healthy commercial and recreational fisheries and a thriving agricultural industry, ensuring that all California communities have access to safe and affordable drinking water, and contributing significantly to the state’s largest industries: recreation and tourism. This report documents numerous analyses of water efficient technologies and approaches that can save or reduce water consumption in urban areas by as much as 5 million acre-feet a year by 2030 compared with current trends – enough water to support population growth of almost 30,000,000 people. According to the California Water Plan Update 2009 and Department of Finance projections, the state’s population can be expected to increase by 22,000,000 over the next 40 years if current population trends hold. Clearly, a well-managed future water supply to take us to 2050 is within reach with the current supplies and with an aggressive water conservation program. In addition, still larger savings can be expected from agricultural water efficiencies, and some of this saved water could be available for urban consumption. All of the water conservation strategies discussed in this report are much less expensive than the new surface storage and conveyance projects being contemplated by state and federal agencies.

California Water Supply And Demand: Technical Report

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) | February 10th, 2011

The California Water Supply and Demand Model (CWSD) examines the ways in which California’s water supply and demand are likely to be affected by climate change; its pur

The California Water Supply and Demand Model (CWSD) examines the ways in which California’s water supply and demand are likely to be affected by climate change; its purpose is to serve as a base for quantifying these impacts in economic terms. California’s water future is modeled under conditions of no adaptation to climate change, and under several projected water use adaptation scenarios taken from the literature; climate change adaptation scenarios include water used for energy, the urban or residential sector, and agriculture. The main CWSD compares key categories of water inputs and outputs on a month-by-month basis to capture seasonality in water availability. A supplementary model allows for the main model’s beginning surface reservoir storage to result from water supply and demand interactions over a stylized previous 100 years. Three areas of water use are both especially critical and vulnerable to climatic change: the energy, agriculture, and urban sectors. In the energy module, water demand is a based on different scenarios of coal, nuclear and renewable power use, conservation technology, state population trends, and projected temperatures. In the agriculture module, crop and animal water use by county is a function of projected summer temperatures by county. In the urban module, residential, industrial/commercial, and public water use are based on projected levels of socio-economic growth.

California Wetland and Riparian Area Protection Policy Technical Memorandum No. 5: Stream Definition

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | April 20th, 2016

With this memorandum, the Technical Advisory Team (TAT) recommends a definition of California streams to the Policy Development Team (PDT) of the State Water Quality Cont

With this memorandum, the Technical Advisory Team (TAT) recommends a definition of California streams to the Policy Development Team (PDT) of the State Water Quality Control Board (State Water Board) for its Wetland and Riparian Area Protection Policy (WRAPP). This memorandum does not recommend any process or procedure for identifying, delineating, or classifying streams, nor are such recommendations being planned by the TAT at this time. However, the TAT recommends that such processes and procedures should be developed in the future to support the WRAPP. The California Wetland Monitoring Workgroup (CWMW) is preparing recommendations for stream mapping as part of the recommending methodology of the California Aquatic Resource Inventory (CARI). 

California Winter Precipitation Change under Global Warming in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 Ensemble

American Meteorological Society (AMS) | August 23rd, 2013

Projections of possible precipitation change in California under global warming have been subject to considerable uncertainty because California lies between the

Projections of possible precipitation change in California under global warming have been subject to considerable uncertainty because California lies between the region anticipated to undergo increases in precipitation at mid-to-high latitudes and regions of anticipated decrease in the subtropics. Evaluation of the large-scale model experiments for phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) suggests a greater degree of agreement on the sign of the winter (December–February) precipitation change than in the previous such intercomparison, indicating a greater portion of California falling within the increased precipitation zone. While the resolution of global models should not be relied on for accurate depiction of topographic rainfall distribution within California, the precipitation changes depend substantially on large- scale shifts in the storm tracks arriving at the coast. Significant precipitation increases in the region arriving at the California coast are associated with an eastward extension of the region of strong Pacific jet stream, which appears to be a robust feature of the large-scale simulated changes. This suggests that effects of this jet extension in steering storm tracks toward the California coast constitute an important factor that should be assessed for impacts on incoming storm properties for high-resolution regional model assessments.

California's Area of Origin Laws

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | April 8th, 2013

California’s Area of Origin Laws have long been in the background of the State’s major water issues. They were enacted 50-80 years ago, are written very generally, an

California’s Area of Origin Laws have long been in the background of the State’s major water issues. They were enacted 50-80 years ago, are written very generally, and have not been subject to a lot of interpretation by the courts. However, they remain a potential linchpin to resolving many of California’s most vexing water disputes. For that reason alone, the Area of Origin Laws are worthy of attention. It is the purpose of this report to: provide a brief description of the Area of Origin Laws, to discuss recent court cases that have discussed them, and to summarize the major principles embodied in the laws.

California's Central Valley Groundwater Wells Run Dry During Recent Drought

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | February 27th, 2020

Declining water tables are causing wells to run dry in California, but the prevalence and spatial distribution of wells that have run dry are not known beyond anecdotal a

Declining water tables are causing wells to run dry in California, but the prevalence and spatial distribution of wells that have run dry are not known beyond anecdotal and voluntary reports. Here, we apply a new, simple, and measurement‐driven method to calculate a localized water table; we show, for the first time using observations, that up to one‐in‐five wells now runs dry in California's Central Valley. The spatial distribution of wells identified as having dried up replicates hot spots of wells identified as having run dry in a voluntary reporting system, while also capturing impacts on groundwater wells that have not reportedly run dry. We assess the rates of drilling throughout the Central Valley and find, surprisingly, that domestic wells are being drilled deeper at a rate that exceeds agricultural wells across much of the central Central Valley. Because new groundwater wells are costly (i.e., $10,000 to $100,000), we suggest explicitly considering dry wells in groundwater sustainability planning to protect homes and farms from the loss of access to reliable water supplies in the future.

California's Flood Future: Recommendations for Managing the State's Flood Risk (Highlights)

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | November 14th, 2013