San Joaquin River

The Twin Tunnels: Ruinous to Ratepayers, Catastrophic for the Environment

California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) | January 1st, 2014

Water is California’s most essential resource. It is limited in availability—in some years, extremely limited, forcing devastating delivery cut-backs to cities, farms

Water is California’s most essential resource. It is limited in availability—in some years, extremely limited, forcing devastating delivery cut-backs to cities, farms and the environment. A recent paper in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment concludes that the average flow in the Sacramento River—the state’s major source for developed surface water—could decrease by 20 percent by 2050 largely due to climate change. By that same year, California’s population is expected to top 50 million, up from the current figure of 38 million. In other words, our water supplies will dwindle as our population burgeons. Meanwhile, the state’s water delivery policies are already demonstrably incapable of providing water to citizens, agriculture and commerce while simultaneously sustaining essential ecosystems. In response, Governor Jerry Brown and his allies in the state legislature and agribusiness are promoting the “Twin Tunnels” boondoggle: a massive conveyance system that will shunt water under the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta to the south state.

The Unaffordable and Unsustainable Twin Tunnels: Why the Santa Barbara Experience Matters

California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) | July 1st, 2016

PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT 1. Examine the deficiencies and cost impacts of Governor Brown's Twin Tunnels/CA WaterFix, illustrating the untenable financial burden these pro

PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT 1. Examine the deficiencies and cost impacts of Governor Brown's Twin Tunnels/CA WaterFix, illustrating the untenable financial burden these proposals place on local water agencies and ratepayers; 2. Highlight that the Tunnels/CA WaterFix will not provide more water when needed, i.e., during drought; 3. Explain the unintended consequences of participation in the State Water Project (SWP) utilizing the experience of Santa Barbara County as an example of the statewide problem; 4. Highlight the exorbitant cost and unreliability of importing water from the State Water Project (SWP) to the communities of Santa Barbara's South Coast.

The Untapped Potential of California’s Urban Water Supply: Water Efficiency, Water Reuse, and Stormwater Capture

Pacific Institute | April 12th, 2022

In this assessment, we quantify the potential for a range of water strategies in urbanized parts of California to both reduce inefficient and wasteful water uses and expa

In this assessment, we quantify the potential for a range of water strategies in urbanized parts of California to both reduce inefficient and wasteful water uses and expand local water supplies. This assessment finds that urban water-use efficiency improvements could reduce statewide urban water use by 2.0 million to 3.1 million acre-feet per year (AFY). The reuse potential of municipal wastewater is 1.8 million to 2.1 million AFY, and the stormwater capture potential is 580,000 AFY in a dry year to as much as 3.0 million AFY in a wet year. Previous assessments have shown that these efficiency and supply options are more cost effective than traditional – and increasingly hard to implement – options to expand supply. Programs to tap this potential would tremendously help solve California’s long-standing water problems.

The Use of Smolt Survival Estimates to Quantify the Effects of Habitat Changes on Salmonid Stocks in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Rivers, California

Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) | July 1st, 1989

The Vernalis Adaptive Management Program (VAMP): Report of the 2010 Review Panel

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | May 11th, 2010

Panel members were asked by the Delta Science Program to carry out an independent review of a 12-year VAMP (Vernalis Adaptive Management Plan) experimental program design

Panel members were asked by the Delta Science Program to carry out an independent review of a 12-year VAMP (Vernalis Adaptive Management Plan) experimental program designed to develop water management measures that would provide protection to juvenile Chinook salmon migrating through the San Joaquin River system and associated Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta) waterways. The Charge to the Panel was expressed as a series of three questions that the Panel was obligated to address: 1) Do the results to date from the VAMP study provide useful scientific information about the relationship between salmon survival and each of the following factors: Flows, Exports, and Barrier installation at the head of Old River? 2) How can the results from the VAMP to date be used to inform the State Water Resources Control Board's (SWRCB) current efforts to review and potentially revise the San Joaquin River flow objectives and their implementation? 3) How can the experiences to date from the VAMP study be used in a scientific manner to inform future monitoring and study efforts related to determining appropriate flow, operational, and water quality requirements to protect San Joaquin River fisheries (specifically Chinook salmon and steelhead)?

The Water Districts of California

Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) | April 1st, 1979

The Water Quality Control Plan (Basin Plan) for the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River Basins Fifth Edition

Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (CVRWQCB) | May 31st, 2018

The preparation and adoption of water quality control plans (Basin Plans) is required by the California Water Code (Section 13240) and supported by the Federal Clean Wat

The preparation and adoption of water quality control plans (Basin Plans) is required by the California Water Code (Section 13240) and supported by the Federal Clean Water Act. Section 303 of the Clean Water Act requires states to adopt water quality standards which "consist of the designated uses of the navigable waters involved and the water quality criteria for such waters based upon such uses." According to Section 13050 of the California Water Code, Basin Plans consist of a designation or establishment for the waters within a specified area of beneficial uses to be protected, water quality objectives to protect those uses, and a program of implementation needed for achieving the objectives. State law also requires that Basin Plans conform to the policies set forth in the Water Code beginning with Section 13000 and any state policy for water quality control. Since beneficial uses, together with their corresponding water quality objectives, can be defined per federal regulations as water quality standards, the Basin Plans are regulatory references for meeting the state and federal requirements for water quality control (40 CFR 131.20). One significant difference between the state and federal programs is that California's basin plans establish standards for ground waters in addition to surface waters. Basin Plans are adopted and amended by Regional Water Boards under a structured process involving full public participation and state environmental review. Basin Plans and amendments thereto, do not become effective until approved by the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board). Regulatory provisions must be approved by the Office of Administrative Law. Adoption or revision of surface water standards are subject to the approval of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Basin Plans complement water quality control plans adopted by the State Water Board, such as the Water Quality Control Plans for Temperature Control and Ocean Waters. It is the intent of the State and Regional Water Boards to maintain the Basin Plans in an updated and readily available edition that reflects the current water quality control program. This Basin Plan covers the entire Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins. A separate Basin Plan covers the Tulare Lake Basin. The Basin Plan was first adopted in 1975. In 1989, a second edition was published. The second edition incorporated all the amendments which were adopted and approved since 1975, updated the Basin Plan to include new state policies and programs, restructured and edited the Basin Plan for clarity, and incorporated the results of triennial reviews conducted in 1984 and 1987. The Third Edition - 1994 incorporated all amendments approved between 1989 and 1994, included new state policies and programs, edited and restructured the Basin Plan to make it consistent with other regional and state plans, and substantively amended sections dealing with beneficial uses, objectives, and implementation programs. The current edition (Fourth Edition - 1998) incorporates two new amendments approved since 1994. One amendment deals with compliance schedules in permits and the other addresses agricultural subsurface drainage discharges. In this Basin Plan, "Regional Water Board" refers to the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board and "State Water Board" refers to the State Water Resources Control Board. Appendix Updates and amendments  are at the State Water Board "Basin Plan" page

The Well Fixer's Warning

The Atlantic | August 17th, 2021

The well fixer and I were standing at the edge of an almond orchard in the exhausted middle of California. It was late July, and so many wells on the farms of Madera Co

The well fixer and I were standing at the edge of an almond orchard in the exhausted middle of California. It was late July, and so many wells on the farms of Madera County were coming up dry that he was running out of parts to fix them. In this latest round of western drought, desperate voices were calling him at six in the morning and again at midnight. They were puzzled why their pumps were coughing up sand, the water’s flow to their orchards now a trickle.

The West Wide Drought Tracker: Drought Monitoring at Fine Spatial Scales

American Meteorological Society (AMS) | September 1st, 2017

 The western United States has seen increases in population and water use over the past century. Total water use has remained relatively unchanged over the past several

 The western United States has seen increases in population and water use over the past century. Total water use has remained relatively unchanged over the past several decades due to water conservation efforts. However, water scarcity has become more acute across much of this semiarid region during recent decades due to long-term declines in water storage juxtaposed with the region’s notable hydroclimatic variability. Observed declines in mountain snowpack and increases in atmospheric demands tied to long-term warming trends have further exacerbated water scarcity and increased the importance of monitoring efforts given the array of social, economic, and ecosystem sectors dependent upon the already stressed water supply. The recent severe drought in California and protracted drought across much of the southwestern United States over the past couple decades have prompted demand for accessible drought decision-making information at appropriate spatial scales across the western United States. 

Thermal performance in juvenile hatchery Oncorhynchus tshawytscha: aerobic scope tests over a range of environmental temperatures

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | March 15th, 2016

In heavily-altered ecosystems, anthropogenic factors coupled with global climate change have drastically changed available habitats for many native fishes (Cloe

In heavily-altered ecosystems, anthropogenic factors coupled with global climate change have drastically changed available habitats for many native fishes (Cloern and Jassby 2012, Moyle et al. 2013). Water projects such as large hydropower dams have altered flow and temperature regimes (Poff et al. 1997, Bunn and Arthington 2002, Marchetti and Moyle 2001), and reduced or degraded native spawning and rearing habitats (Sheer and Steel 2006, Pelicice and Agostinho 2008), while global climate change has resulted in warmer overall river temperatures (Cloern and Jassby, 2012). As ecologically relevant environmental variables like temperature have shifted, fish populations have subsequently declined (Cloern and Jassby, 2012; Hanak et al., 2015). Native California fishes have been disproportionately affected by these changes, and precipitous population declines have been observed for several species, some of which are listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (Moyle et al. 2013). Despite documented correlations between fish declines and changes in environmental variables such as temperatur e (Moyle and Leidy, 1992; Moyle et al. 2010; Quiñones and Moyle 2014), there has been a profound lack of data available on the actual physiological and/or behavioral mechanisms driving fish population declines. Physiological performance data, such as information on aerobic scope, may help provide mechanistic explanations for both how and why fish population declines are occurring. Furthermore, as populations decline and management becomes more crucial for population persistence, thermal limits, optimal thermal ranges, and data on how key physiological processes, such as metabolic rate, change in response to environmental variables becomes more important. Therefore, the objectives of our study were to quantify the aerobic scope of juvenile Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) acclimated to two different rearing temperatures (14 or 20 °C) and tested over a temperature range of 12-26°C.