Water Facilities Including a Peripheral Canal [Proposition 9]

Department of Justice (DOJ) | June 9th, 1982

Water Facilities Including a Peripheral Canal Referendum Statute

State of California | June 1st, 1982

WATER FACILITIES INCLUDING A PERIPHERAL CANAL. REFERENDUM STATUTE. A "yes" vote approves, a "no" vote rejects, a law that will : Designate additional facilities and pr

WATER FACILITIES INCLUDING A PERIPHERAL CANAL. REFERENDUM STATUTE. A "yes" vote approves, a "no" vote rejects, a law that will : Designate additional facilities and programs, including a peripheral canal as units of Central Valley Project. Specify requirements regarding feasibility, environmental impacts, design construction, operation, financing, and protection and enhancement of fish and wildlife for project units. Require Water Resources Department to contract with named Delta agencies regarding users' rights, water quality, and benefit payments; and to immediately proceed with specified prerequisites to construction of peripheral canal . Required compliance with designated water quality standards and conditions . Specify other responsibilities and matters. Summary of Legislative Analyst's estimate of net state and local government fiscal impact: As Project has been planned and operated to be self-supporting, implementation under present policies would not require increase in state taxes or reduce funds for other state programs . Potential construction costs at 1981 prices are in excess of $3 .1 billion plus unknown additional costs, plus interest, to be financed by increased user charges.

Water Features of the Smith River Plain, Del Norte County, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | December 1st, 1957

Water Footprint Outcomes and Policy Relevance Change with Scale Considered: Evidence from California

Pacific Institute | September 1st, 2014

A new article by Julian Fulton, Heather Cooley, and Peter Gleick evaluates California’s water footprint, finding that California’s water footprint demonstrate a set o

A new article by Julian Fulton, Heather Cooley, and Peter Gleick evaluates California’s water footprint, finding that California’s water footprint demonstrate a set of vulnerabilities and policy options that do not emerge in national-level assessments. The article, published in Water Resources Management, demonstrates that water footprint assessments may find greater policy relevance when scaled to analytical units where water-related decision making occurs. Abstract: Methods and datasets necessary for evaluating water footprints have advanced in recent years, yet integration of water footprint information into policy has lagged. One reason for this, we propose, is that most studies have focused on national units of analysis, overlooking scales that may be more relevant to existing water management institutions. The authors of Water Footprint Outcomes and Policy Relevance Change with Scale Considered: Evidence from California illustrate this by building on a recent water footprint assessment of California, the third largest and most populous state in the United States. While California contains diverse hydrologic regions, it also has an overarching set of water institutions that address statewide water management, including ensuring sustainable supply and demand for the state’s population and economy. The water footprint sheds new light on sustainable use and, in California, is being considered with a suite of sustainability indicators for long-term state water planning. Key to this integration has been grounding the method in local data and highlighting the unique characteristics of California’s water footprint, presented here. Compared to the U.S., California’s water footprint was found to be roughly equivalent in per-capita volume (6 m3d-1) and constituent products, however two  policy-relevant differences stand out: (1) California’s water footprint is far more externalized than the U.S.’s, and (2) California depends more on “blue water” (surface and groundwater) than on “green water” (rainwater and soil moisture). These aspects of California’s water footprint suggest a set of vulnerabilities and policy options that do not emerge in national-level assessments. Such findings demonstrate that water footprint assessments may find more policy relevance when scaled to analytical units where water-related decision making occurs.

Water for a Growing Bay Area: How the region can grow without increasing water demand

Pacific Institute | October 21st, 2021

The San Francisco Bay Area is at a crossroads. The region, blessed with a beautiful natural setting, multiple shipping ports and world-class universities, is a driver of

The San Francisco Bay Area is at a crossroads. The region, blessed with a beautiful natural setting, multiple shipping ports and world-class universities, is a driver of global economic growth. But the region’s housing supply has not kept up with population growth. Many low-income households, disproportionately made up of people of color, have been forced into overcrowded and substandard housing or displaced from the urban center to new neighborhoods far from their jobs, friends and families. The most vulnerable have lost their homes entirely and are among the region’s 35,000 unhoused people. Over the next half-century, the Bay Area’s need to add housing will only grow more intense. The region is projected to add 2 million new jobs by 2070, which would attract as many as 6.8 million people, and needs to build at least 2.2 million new housing units just to prevent housing affordability from worsening. This represents 83% more people, 74% more housing units and 38% more jobs over the next 50 years.

Water for Growth: California’s New Frontier

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | July 25th, 2005

California’s population is expected to add another 14 million people by 2030, reaching a total of 48 million. One of the most serious concerns of policymakers is wh

California’s population is expected to add another 14 million people by 2030, reaching a total of 48 million. One of the most serious concerns of policymakers is whether the state will be able to supply the water needed to sustain such a population. Although many large water projects in the past were undertaken with state and federal leadership, most current options are local or regional in scope. The frontline agencies responsible for water supply are the hundreds of municipal utilities serving the state’s residential and commercial customers. In this report, the author examines how well California is faring in meeting the water supply challenges of growth throughout the state and the extent to which local governments are integrating water supply concerns into their land-use planning. The report also evaluates progress in implementing the new “show me the water” laws, SB 610 and SB 221, which require up-front screening of water availability for large development projects.

Water Forward 2024 Plan Report - Austin's 100 Year Plan

City of Austin | December 6th, 2024

Water Forward 2024 is Austin’s 100-year integrated water resource plan. The purpose of Water Forward is to develop and implement diverse and environmentally conscious w

Water Forward 2024 is Austin’s 100-year integrated water resource plan. The purpose of Water Forward is to develop and implement diverse and environmentally conscious water management strategies to adapt to growth, drought, and climate change and ensure a sustainable, resilient, equitable, and affordable water future for our community for the next 100 years. Austin Water has developed this plan to address near- and long-term water needs through a collaborative process in alignment with guiding principles crafted to reflect the Austin community’s values. 

Water from the Colorado River

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) | July 1st, 1931

It is the purpose of this booklet to outline the Boulder Canyon Dam project on the Colorado River and the Metropolitan Aqueduct. Furthermore, it seems pertinent to indica

It is the purpose of this booklet to outline the Boulder Canyon Dam project on the Colorado River and the Metropolitan Aqueduct. Furthermore, it seems pertinent to indicate the extent of the population, industrial and agricultural resources of the Metropolitan area, which stand behind and urgently require Colorado River development.

Water Heist: How Corporations are Cashing in on California’s Water

Public Citizen | December 1st, 2003

In 1994, the largest contractors with the California State Water Project (SWP)—the state’s largest water delivery system—called the Department of Water Resources (D

In 1994, the largest contractors with the California State Water Project (SWP)—the state’s largest water delivery system—called the Department of Water Resources (DWR) into a closed meeting. The agreements that the SWP contractors and the state reached in that meeting led to a document known as the Monterey Amendments, named after the city where the meetings took place. These “amendments” to the SWP contracts included denying that the SWP delivers half of what the contractors say it does and effectively deregulating the SWP so that the contractors can sell contracts for precisely the half of the water that doesn’t exist. Sound confusing? It is. Welcome to the world of “paper water.” In the same Monterey meetings, the state also agreed to give away an underground water storage facility that DWR spent $74 million purchasing and developing.

Water institutional reforms: theory and practice

International Water Association (IWA) Publishing | February 1st, 2005

This paper aims to set the stage with an outline of the conceptual, analytical and theoretical aspects of water institutional reforms and a synthesis of the main findings

This paper aims to set the stage with an outline of the conceptual, analytical and theoretical aspects of water institutional reforms and a synthesis of the main findings from the reform experiences of six countries: Australia, Chile, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Utilizing the latest developments in the literature on the subject, this paper presents the analytics of unbundling water institutions to show their endogenous and exogenous linkages, the transaction cost approach as a diagnostic framework for understanding the role of factors affecting water institutions, and a stage-based perspective to provide insights into the internal mechanics and dynamics evident in the process of water institutional change. Using this analytical framework and theoretical approach, this paper also identifies a few practically relevant principles for reform design and implementation. Based on a review of country reform experiences, the paper also synthesizes reform theories with actual practices by providing anecdotal evidence for various theoretical postulates and practical reform principles.