North Coast

California Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Future: Restoring Aquatic Ecosystems in the Age of Climate Change

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) | January 20th, 2024

The infrastructure built generations ago in California continues to limit salmon migration, and some dams that remain on the landscape are well beyond their useful life.

The infrastructure built generations ago in California continues to limit salmon migration, and some dams that remain on the landscape are well beyond their useful life. In the Central Valley, large dams were built starting in the early 1900s on almost all major rivers. Those dams now block salmon access to over 90 percent of their historical spawning and rearing habitat higher in mountain streams.

California State Water Project 2006 Watershed Sanitary Survey Update

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | June 20th, 2007

The State Water Project (SWP) provides drinking water to approximately two-thirds of California’s population and is the nation’s largest state-built water development

The State Water Project (SWP) provides drinking water to approximately two-thirds of California’s population and is the nation’s largest state-built water development project. The SWP extends from the mountains of Plumas County in the Feather River watershed to Lake Perris in Riverside County. It is linked with the Central Valley Project (CVP) that extends from southern Oregon in the Sacramento River watershed to the Mendota Pool. The watershed of the SWP is vast; encompassing the 27,000-square-mile Sacramento River and 13,000-square-mile San Joaquin River watersheds and at times, the 13,000-square-mile Tulare Basin watershed. The contaminant sources in the SWP watersheds have been well documented in the three previous sanitary surveys. The California Department of Health Services (CDHS) requested that the 2006 Update address the Jones Tract levee failure and emergency response procedures, efforts to coordinate pathogen monitoring in response to the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2ESWTR), and a review of significant changes to the watersheds and their impacts on water quality.   A Technical Review Committee (TRC) was formed to guide development of the scope of work and provide technical expertise and review of the draft report. In addition to addressing the issues raised by CDHS, the TRC determined that the 2006 Update should focus on evaluating the sources of the water quality problems that the SWP Contractors face and recommending actions that the SWP Contractors can take that will lead to improvements in water quality over the next five years. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2 REGULATORY SETTING CHAPTER 3 WATER QUALITY IN THE WATERSHEDS AND THE STATE WATER PROJECT CHAPTER 4 KEY CONCERNS IN THE CENTRAL VALLEY WATERSHED AND THE DELTA CHAPTER 5 KEY CONCERNS WITH STATE WATER PROJECT FACILITIES CHAPTER 6 INCIDENTS AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE MEASURES CHAPTER 7 CONCERNS WITH SYSTEM OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE

California Water Plan 2013: Mountain Counties Regional Report

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | October 30th, 2014

As the State works to solve the water crisis in California, the potential for redirected impacts in the Mountain Counties Area is acute. It is critical that the State rec

As the State works to solve the water crisis in California, the potential for redirected impacts in the Mountain Counties Area is acute. It is critical that the State recognize the significance and importance of the Sierra Nevada mountain range to the local communities, the environment, the Delta, and all of California, now and for future generations. Water resource managers are working with elected officials, governmental agencies, businesses, farmers and conservationists on innovative programs for watershed management, water use efficiency, conservation, reuse, and recycling. Water managers and others in the region are actively balancing the water supplies that support both a vibrant economy and a healthy environment. They are also continually improving the management of surface and groundwater sources to sustain this important balance for this region and California. Statewide Significance Water is the number one resource exported from the Sierra Nevada, and the 16-county Mountain Counties Area is the primary source for most of that exported water. The Mountain Counties Area is over 15,700 square miles and represents 9.9 percent of the state. More than 40 percent of California’s developed water supply originates in the Mountain Counties area serving end users throughout the state. -The reservoirs in the region produce hydroelectricity to supply homes and businesses in the western United States. Mountain Counties has more hydroelectric generation facilities than any other region in California. - Agriculture in this region feeds the state and the world and is an economic driver for California’s economy. Recreation and tourism in the Sierra Nevada mountains help communities thrive economically as guests come from all over the world to hike, ski, fish, raft, and boat. Water stored behind designated reservoirs in the ten major watershed areas have dedicated in-stream flow releases designed to meet the many beneficial uses for the environment, agriculture, and urban users and provides storage to reduce the magnitude of flood flows.

California Water Plan 2013: North Coast Hydrologic Region Report

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | October 30th, 2016

The North Coast Hydrologic Region is a unique setting with an extreme diversity of land use and climate. Land use includes aquaculture and larger urban areas near the coa

The North Coast Hydrologic Region is a unique setting with an extreme diversity of land use and climate. Land use includes aquaculture and larger urban areas near the coast to large cattle operations and low populations in the high mountain deserts. Ranching, farming, rural residential, timber harvest, vineyards, marijuana cultivation, U.S. Forest Service, and park land uses are prevalent. Variation in climate is immense with high precipitation along the coastal mountains to desert conditions in the Modoc Plateau. This chapter begins with an overview of the region, describing the setting and conditions within the region. Topics include information on the watersheds and sub-watersheds in the region with emphasis on developed resources. The chapter continues with a review of activities concerning resource administration and laws affecting resource management. This chapter concludes with a discussion of suggested resource management strategies to help assist local water managers in planning for future water needs.

California Water Plan Update 2018, Supporting Documentation for Water Portfolios

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | April 15th, 2019

California Water Plan Update 2018 (Update 2018) supporting documentation for water portfolios includes descriptions and accountings of water uses and their supplies for t

California Water Plan Update 2018 (Update 2018) supporting documentation for water portfolios includes descriptions and accountings of water uses and their supplies for the state in Figures 1 and 5, and for 10 hydrologic regions in Figures 7 through 16. They include pictures of conditions in California, along with water balance data for Water Years (WYs) 2011–2015. Regional inflow and outflow Figures 17 and 18 provide a geographic overview of California and surface water inflows and outflows with adjoining states, between hydrologic regions, and to the Pacific Ocean, for a wet year between two drought sequences, and a critically dry year in a drought sequence. More extreme and variable hydrology seems to have become the new normal, and not just for California. California has been, and will continue to be, a useful example of extremes brought on by a wide variety of climates and terrains. To better understand these diversities, plan for future needs, and move toward water resources sustainability, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) analyzes water use and supply conditions for each water year at various spatial scales for the entire state. This accounting of water uses and supplies is the only statewide analysis that exists. The California Water Plan (Water Plan) water balance data is used by many in and out of the water community. Data and information requests come from other DWR programs, State and federal agencies, cities and counties, local water agencies and purveyors, research institutes, universities, non-governmental organizations, private sector companies, lawyers, elected officials, news media, documentaries, book writers, students, interested public, other states, and even other countries because California is recognized as a leader in integrated water resources management. The following excerpt is from Update 2018, Chapter 1, “California Water Today,” section on California’s Diverse Water Supplies and Uses.

California Water Plan Update 2023 (Final Version)

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | April 3rd, 2024

Updated every five years, the Water Plan is the State’s strategic plan for sustainably and equitably managing, developing, and stewarding water resources. Required by W

Updated every five years, the Water Plan is the State’s strategic plan for sustainably and equitably managing, developing, and stewarding water resources. Required by Water Code Section 10005, the plan presents the status and trends of California’s water-dependent natural resources; water supplies; and agricultural, urban, and environmental water demands for a range of plausible future scenarios.

California Water Plan Update 2023 Public Review Draft

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | September 20th, 2023

The California Water Plan (Water Plan), updated every five years, is the State’s strategic plan for sustainably and equitably managing, developing, and stewarding water

The California Water Plan (Water Plan), updated every five years, is the State’s strategic plan for sustainably and equitably managing, developing, and stewarding water resources. Required by Water Code Section 10005, the plan presents the status and trends of California’s water-dependent natural resources; water supplies; and agricultural, urban, and environmental water demands for a range of plausible future scenarios.

California Water Resilience Portfolio

State of California | July 28th, 2020

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's Fourth Climate Change Assessment Statewide Summary Report

Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) | August 27th, 2018

California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment (Fourth Assessment) advances actionable science that serves the growing needs of state and local-level decision-

California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment (Fourth Assessment) advances actionable science that serves the growing needs of state and local-level decision-makers from a variety of sectors. This cutting-edge research initiative is comprised of a wide-ranging body of technical reports, including rigorous, comprehensive climate change scenarios at a scale suitable for illuminating regional vulnerabilities and localized adaptation strategies in California; datasets and tools that improve integration of observed and projected knowledge about climate change into decision- making; and recommendations and information to directly inform vulnerability assessments and adaptation strategies for California’s energy sector, water resources and management, oceans and coasts, forests, wildfires, agriculture, biodiversity and habitat, and public health. In addition, these technical reports have been distilled into summary reports and a brochure, allowing the public and decision-makers to easily access relevant findings from the Fourth Assessment. Click here for key findings brochure