Sacramento River

SacPAS Fish Model: A model for emergence, migration and survival of Sacramento River salmon

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | November 1st, 2017

Sacramento and San Joaquin Basins Climate Impact Assessment

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | September 8th, 2014

Through West-Wide Climate Risk Assessments (WWCRAs) conducted under that program, Reclamation is conducting reconnaissance-level assessments of risks to water supplies an

Through West-Wide Climate Risk Assessments (WWCRAs) conducted under that program, Reclamation is conducting reconnaissance-level assessments of risks to water supplies and related resources in eight major Reclamation river basins in the Western United States. This report presents the results of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Climate Impact Assessment (SSJIA), which addresses impacts in two of these major basins in California. The SSJIA also includes the Tulare Lake Basin in the southern part of the Central Valley of California; part of the Trinity River watershed from which some water is diverted into the Central Valley; and a portion of California’s central coast region where Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) water supplies are delivered. The water supplies and demands analyzed in the SSJIA include CVP water users, SWP water users, and the other non-project water users in the study area. Included in the report is an overview of the current climate and hydrology of California’s Central Valley (Sacramento, San Joaquin and Tulare Lake Basins), an analysis of observed trends in temperature and precipitation over historical record, and a comparison of these trends to future water operation projections not considering climate change. The report then presents hydrologic projections developed from global climate models to evaluate the ways that projected climatic and hydrologic changes could impact water availability and management and water demands within the Sacramento, San Joaquin and Tulare Lake basins. The SSJIA analyzes potential impacts of climate change under a current trends projection of future urban growth considering the conversion of agricultural to urban land use and assuming the continuation of current crop types in the Central Valley. Finally, the SSJIA assesses risks to the eight major resource categories identified in the SWA by looking at a range of climate futures and attempting to book-end future uncertainties.

Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins Comprehensive Study Technical Studies Documentation: Reservoir Operations Modeling - Existing Design Operations and Re-operation Analyses

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) | December 1st, 2002

In response to extensive flooding and damages experienced in 1997, the United States Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District (USACE) to

In response to extensive flooding and damages experienced in 1997, the United States Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District (USACE) to provide a comprehensive analysis of the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basin flood management systems and to partner with the State of California to develop master plans for flood damage reduction. The USACE and the State Reclamation Board of California are leading this Comprehensive Study to improve flood management and integrate ecosystem restoration in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins. The authorization for the Comprehensive Study directed the development of hydrologic and hydraulic models for both river basins that will allow systematic evaluation. These models incorporate reservoir operations and flow along the major river systems to evaluate the performance of the flood management systems. The models can be used to assess the performance of the current systems or modified systems under a wide range of hydrologic conditions. This report documents the work conducted for the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins Comprehensive Study to develop reservoir operation models, specifically Phase II – Model Refinement and Simulation of both existing operational conditions and evaluation of flood management alternatives. The main product components of this effort include: HEC-5 Reservoir Operation Models for the Sacramento and San Joaquin River basins, which will include headwater and major flood management reservoirs. The first part of this document is limited to the use of reservoir models to identify and describe baseline conditions. It does not include the formulation or evaluation of flood management alternatives. The performance of modified flood management strategies is addressed within subsequent sections of this document. Future work will continue to use these models in the analysis of alternatives for reducing flood damages in California’s Central Valley.

Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers Basin Study: Technical Report

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | March 8th, 2016

This Technical Report supplements the Sacramento and San Joaquin Basins Study Report (Summary Report) by providing greater detail on the technical approach employed in th

This Technical Report supplements the Sacramento and San Joaquin Basins Study Report (Summary Report) by providing greater detail on the technical approach employed in this analysis, including assumptions, methodologies and results not included in this Report. See the Summary Report for a discussion of the Basin Study program context (Section 1), basin settings (Section 2), and historic and projected climate (Section 2). Figure P-1 shows the geographic area included in the study. The Central Valley and regions that depend on the Sierra Nevada and Coast Range mountains for water have been facing rising demands for water from rapidly increasing populations, changes in land use, and growing urban, agricultural and environmental demands. These demands already exceed the capacity of the existing water management system to supply adequate water—especially in droughts like the one California is now experiencing. Future climate changes are likely to increase the challenges that have already occurred in the 20th century. This Basins Study builds on previous climate impact assessments and addresses both the potential impacts of climate and socioeconomic changes and explores how these challenges might be addressed (see Section 1. Introduction of the Summary Report).

Sacramento County | Making Room for Recharge: Cosumnes River Levee Removal and Floodplain Restoration

Nature Conservancy | June 12th, 2014

Reconnecting rivers to floodplains can facilitate groundwater recharge. A recent project along the Cosumnes River is one of the first to intentionally demonstra

Reconnecting rivers to floodplains can facilitate groundwater recharge. A recent project along the Cosumnes River is one of the first to intentionally demonstrate this recharge benefit. While this project was expensive and more complex than many forms of recharge, public funding paid for the project and a partnership with UC Davis is improving the understanding of groundwater-surface water interactions and basin groundwater conditions. In 2014, The Nature Conservancy piloted this concept by selectively removing portions of a private levee system along the Cosumnes River to enhance floodplain processes and restore approximately 500 acres of riparian habitat. The levee removal project offers multiple environmental benefits, including increased groundwater recharge in the floodplain.

Sacramento Flood System Weirs and Bypasses

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | April 8th, 2011

An explanatory document on the Sacramento River's flood system weirs and bypasses.

An explanatory document on the Sacramento River's flood system weirs and bypasses.

Sacramento River Delta 3D Mapping Project Technical Report

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | May 1st, 2018

This technical report is in response to item five in the Delta Stewardship Council project #6276. The data collection and analysis were completed by Freshwater Map of Big

This technical report is in response to item five in the Delta Stewardship Council project #6276. The data collection and analysis were completed by Freshwater Map of Bigfork, Montana. The objective of this phase-1 project was to demonstrate, to a broad audience, how our high-resolution, hydro-acoustic, river-mapping services could help people working toward water resource solutions for the delta. The overarching goal for the State of California is to balance human needs for freshwater with an ecological healthy river-delta system under the “co-equal goals” legislation. The fundamental question being addressed by all stakeholders is: how much water can be drawn from the delta and still maintain a healthy delta wide ecosystem? However, there is no agreement yet on how much the ecosystem needs or how a multitude of uses and flow regulation impacts both humans and the ecosystem. A suite of computer models has been developed and refined over the past two decades to address this fundamental question (Fig. 1). These models were developed to help guide resource decision agreement on how to manage freshwater that flows to and through the delta. The data that we collect can help initialize, validate and greatly enhance many of these models (Fig. 1). The data analysis presented in this technical report is a first pass summary of how the depth and flow data coupled to the sonar imagery can be used to help reach delta-wide agreement over water resource management .

Sacramento River Flood Control Project Weirs and Flood Relief Structures

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | April 8th, 2011

This fact sheet from the Department of Water Resources describes the features of the weirs and flood control infrastructure along the Sacramento River.

This fact sheet from the Department of Water Resources describes the features of the weirs and flood control infrastructure along the Sacramento River.

Sacramento River Flood Control Project Weirs and Flood Relief Structures

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | April 8th, 2011

Sacramento Valley has a history of floods and management of floods that goes back as long as people have populated the region. Prior to flood management, the valley floor

Sacramento Valley has a history of floods and management of floods that goes back as long as people have populated the region. Prior to flood management, the valley floor would be blanketed by seasonal runoff nearly every year; the Sacramento Valley was once nicknamed the “inland sea.” This tendency to flood results from the geography of the region as well as the weather. The occasionally large amounts of rain that fall in the surrounding Coastal ranges and the relatively steep Sierra Nevada mountain ranges produce rapid surface water runoff to the Sacramento River. The amount of this surface water runoff can be quite large, depending on the amount of rainfall, snow melt, and soil moisture of the watershed. Fast water flowing from the mountains is blunted by the relatively shallow grade of the Sacramento River south of the city of Red Bluff, and would often overtop the river banks. In addition, The Sacramento River would begin depositing sediment in the more shallow grades that would often alter its direction of flow. In order to control these storm flows that would otherwise flood farmland and cities, the Sacramento River Flood Control Project (the Project) was created. The Project was designed with the understanding that runoff from many of the storm events experienced in the Sacramento River watershed cannot be contained within the banks of the river. Nor could this flow be fully contained within a levee system without periodically flooding adjacent property. Thus, the Project was designed to occasionally spill through a system of weirs and flood relief structures into adjacent basins. These basins are designed to contain flood waters and channel them downstream, to eventually be conveyed back into the Sacramento River near Knights Landing and Rio Vista. Dry weather flows are contained within levees near the river banks and land within the flood basins is then used for agricultural purposes.

Sacramento River Hydrologic Region Groundwater Update

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | April 1st, 2015

The primary goal of the Sacramento River Hydrologic Region (Sacramento River region) groundwater update is to expand information about region-specific groundwater conditi

The primary goal of the Sacramento River Hydrologic Region (Sacramento River region) groundwater update is to expand information about region-specific groundwater conditions for California Water Plan Update 2013 and to guide more informed groundwater management actions and policies. A second goal is to steadily improve the quality of groundwater information in future California Water Plan (CWP) updates to a level that will enable regional water management groups (RWMGs) to accurately evaluate their groundwater resources and implement management strategies that can meet local and regional water resource objectives within the context of broader statewide objectives. The final goal is to identify data gaps and groundwater management challenges that will serve as a guide to prioritizing future data collection and funding opportunities relevant to the region. This regional groundwater update is not intended to provide a comprehensive and detailed examination of local groundwater conditions, or a substitute for local studies and analysis. Nonetheless, where information is readily available, this update does report some aspects of regional groundwater conditions in greater detail.