Sacramento River

The Sacramento River region includes the entire drainage of the Sacramento River and its tributaries, spanning from Chipps Island in Solano County northward to Goose Lake in Modoc County. The state’s two largest water systems, the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project, originate here. Agriculture is the main driver, with over 1.5 million acres irrigated on the valley floor. Top grossing crops include rice, walnuts, almonds, and tomatoes.

The three largest cities are Sacramento, Roseville, and Redding. Of the region’s 282 identified communities, 155 are designated as disadvantaged.
Main watersheds besides the Sacramento River include the American River, the Yuba River, the Feather River, and the Bear River.
The region does not import any water; instead, water is exported from this region. The region does receive supplies from the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project.
There are 88 recognized alluvial groundwater basins and subbasins; 67 of those are considered low or very-low priority basins. None are considered critically overdrafted. Groundwater typically meets 30% of the total water demand.
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board oversees this region.

Sacramento River

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“Should the Peripheral Canal be Built?”

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“Should the Peripheral Canal be Built?”
Transactions of the Commonwealth Club of California | July 1, 1975...
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“Water, Water, Everywhere”

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“Water, Water, Everywhere”
Scientific American | April 1, 1942...
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FROM sky-scraping Shasta Dam on the north to Bakersfield on the south, beneficiary of water to be carried by canals stretching like tentacles up and down California's great Central...
FROM sky-scraping Shasta Dam on the north to Bakersfield on the south, beneficiary of water to be carried by canals stretching like tentacles up and down California's great Central Valley a total distance of 898 miles, it's a case of "Water, water, everywhere."

The United States Bureau of Reclamation looks upon the Central Valley Project as holding greater potential benefit, both locally and nationally, than any conservation project attempted in its 88-year history . This undertaking is a multiple-purpose project, involving construction of two huge dams, Shasta and Friant, and five canals, which jointly will: Improve navigation on inland waterways, reduce floods in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River valleys, furnish water to irrigate 2 ,000,000 acres of highly productive agricultural lands, control saltwater encroachment in the delta region of the two rivers mentioned, improve domestic and industrial water supplies in central California, and develop hydro-electric power for municipal, agricultural, industrial, and project uses.

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“Good Luck Fixing the Problem”: Small Low-Income Community Participation in Collaborative Groundwater Governance and Implications for Drinking Water Source Protection

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“Good Luck Fixing the Problem”: Small Low-Income Community Participation in Collaborative Groundwater Governance and Implications for Drinking Water Source Protection
Society and Natural Resources, Routledge | June 10, 2020...
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There is increasing interest in the potential of source water protection to address chronic challenges with small systems and rural drinking water provision....
There is increasing interest in the potential of source water protection to address chronic challenges with small systems and rural drinking water provision. Such a planning and management approach to increasing safe drinking water access, however, will likely require leveraging multi-stakeholder collaborative governance venues to this effect. This paper investigates the prospects of doing so using the case of California’s groundwater reform process known as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act or SGMA. Interviews with drinking water stakeholders from small low-income communities in the San Joaquin Valley show how existing power and resource disparities limit the prospects of integrating rural drinking water priorities into regional planning. Long-term, more fundamental changes will be needed to meaningfully transform water management in this direction. Short-term state intervention is needed to protect equity and public good goals, raising potential contradictions between devolved water management and improved drinking water access that need to be addressed.

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2-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project

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2-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) | July 16, 2009...
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The 2-Gates Project proposes an alternative management strategy to achieve protection of the delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus). The Central Valley Project (CVP) and State...
The 2-Gates Project proposes an alternative management strategy to achieve protection of the delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus). The Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project

(SWP) operate under the OCAP and other water rights and water quality requirements (project background provided in Appendix A). These operations comply with the RPAs in the recent BOs for the OCAP from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS 2008) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS 2009). The RPAs include actions to limit reverse flows in Old and Middle Rivers to reduce entrainment of fish at the CVP and SWP export facilities.

The Project seeks to provide equal or improved protection to delta smelt (reduced entrainment at the export pumps) with higher than the minimum allowed water exports described in the OCAP BORPAs while operating within the other water management requirement (D-1641). In particular, the Project is intended to demonstrate that operable barriers, strategically placed in the central Delta and managed in conjunction with some restrictions on OMR negative flows, can provide equal or greater protection for delta smelt than restrictions on OMR negative flows alone. The proposed 2-Gates Project is designed as a demonstration project to test this premise and to improve understanding of the key physical and biological processes needed to restore a sustainable ecosystem.

The 2-Gates Project proposes to install and operate temporary, removable gates in two channels in the central Delta at Old River and Connection Slough (Figure 1). The gates will be used to manipulate flows and key water quality components of delta smelt habitat in order to reduce entrainment of delta smelt at the export facilities.

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2014 Clear Creek Technical Team Report for the Coordinated Long-Term Operation Biological Opinions Integrated Annual Review October 3, 2014

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2014 Clear Creek Technical Team Report for the Coordinated Long-Term Operation Biological Opinions Integrated Annual Review October 3, 2014
Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) | October 3, 2014...
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2015 Urban Water Management Plan

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2015 Urban Water Management Plan
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) | June 1, 2016...
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Metropolitan’s 2015 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) has been prepared in compliance with Water Code Section 10608.36 of SB X7-7, which was enacted...

Metropolitan’s 2015 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) has been prepared in compliance with Water Code Section 10608.36 of SB X7-7, which was enacted in 2009, and Sections 10610 through 10656 of the Urban Water Management Planning Act (Act), which were added by Statute 1983, Chapter 1009, and became effective on January 1, 1984. This Act requires that every urban water supplier providing water for municipal purposes to more than 3,000 customers or supplying more than 3,000 acre-feet of water annually prepare and adopt, in accordance with prescribed requirements, an urban water management plan.

The Act requires urban water suppliers to describe and evaluate sources of water supply, efficient uses of water, demand management measures, implementation strategy and schedule, and other relevant information and programs. Urban water suppliers are required by the Act to update their UWMP and submit a complete plan to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) every five years. An UWMP is required in order for a water supplier to be eligible for DWR administered state grants and loans and drought assistance.

As with Metropolitan’s previous plans, the 2015 UWMP does not explicitly discuss specific activities undertaken by its member agencies unless they relate to one of Metropolitan’s water demand or supply management programs. Presumably, each member agency will discuss these activities in its UWMP.

The information included in the 2015 UWMP represents the most current and available planning projections of supply capability and demand developed through a collaborative process with the member agencies. Metropolitan’s Board recently adopted the 2015 Integrated Water Resources Plan, Water Tomorrow (2015 IRP Update), which represents Metropolitan’s comprehensive planning process and will serve as Metropolitan’s blueprint for long-term water reliability, including key supply development and water use efficiency goals.

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2016 Technical Memorandum Regarding the Accounting of San Joaquin River Spring-run Chinook Salmon at the Central Valley Project and State Water Project Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Fish Collection Facilities

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2016 Technical Memorandum Regarding the Accounting of San Joaquin River Spring-run Chinook Salmon at the Central Valley Project and State Water Project Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Fish Collection Facilities
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) | January 15, 2016...
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2017 Flood System Status Report
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2017 Flood System Status Report
California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | August 10, 2017...
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This report is intended to assist flood management planners and engineers in characterizing facilities within the State Plan of Flood Control (SPFC) and...
This report is intended to assist flood management planners and engineers in characterizing facilities within the State Plan of Flood Control (SPFC) and to inform the 2017 Central Valley Flood Protection Plan Update (2017 CVFPP Update). The 2017 FSSR provides a concise repository of the status of SPFC Facilities as noted in related DWR evaluation and inspection efforts, along with the efforts of our local and federal partners. The 2012 CVFPP laid the foundation necessary for compliance with the Central Valley Flood Protection Act of 2008 and a new approach to flood management in the Central Valley.

As a supporting and informational document to the 2017 CVFPP Update, the 2017 FSSR includes information about inspecting and evaluating SPFC facilities. It also details and quantifies major components of existing flood risk within the Sacramento and San Joaquin river watersheds, and the factors that influence flood risk in relation to the various flood control structures within the SPFC. Additionally, the 2017 FSSR informs and details the current conditions of levees and channels within the SPFC, and includes finalized project information from DWR’s Levee Evaluations Program. Through updating the status of SPFC facilities, the State of California can continue to make informed decisions related to flood risk management.

This document is a collaborative effort by DWR, local, and federal partners, signifying a step forward in gaining deeper understanding of the flood system’s current status and condition in the Central Valley.

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2017 SGMA Annual Report South American Subbasin (5-021.65) Sacramento Central Groundwater Authority
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2017 SGMA Annual Report South American Subbasin (5-021.65) Sacramento Central Groundwater Authority
Sacramento Central Groundwater Authority, GEI Consultants Inc. | April 1, 2018...
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The Sacramento Central Groundwater Authority (SCGA) has prepared an Annual Report describing groundwater conditions in the South American Subbasin for the 2017 Water...

The Sacramento Central Groundwater Authority (SCGA) has prepared an Annual Report describing groundwater conditions in the South American Subbasin for the 2017 Water Year (i.e., inclusive of months October 2016 to September 2017) in support of their pending Alternative Submittal. The Annual Report is intended for conveying monitoring and water use data to the State DWR on an annual basis to gauge performance of the groundwater subbasin relative to the sustainability goal set forth in a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) or, for SCGA, the Alternative Submittal. As such, SCGA is including sufficient information to provide interested parties with sufficient background and supporting details to serve as a public communications document for subbasin management and to take the place of historic biennial reporting available on the SCGA website.

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2017/2018 Salmonid and Green Sturgeon Incidental Take and Monitoring Report

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2017/2018 Salmonid and Green Sturgeon Incidental Take and Monitoring Report
California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | October 19, 2018...
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