San Joaquin River

Drought Contingency Planning (DCP) Negotiation #142, Attachment 1

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | April 30th, 2020

This white paper describes current understanding of how the Department of Water Resources (DWR) would account for and administer the Delta Conveyance Facility (DCF) Bene

This white paper describes current understanding of how the Department of Water Resources (DWR) would account for and administer the Delta Conveyance Facility (DCF) Benefits. DWR will include information regarding the accounting and administration of water attributable to DCF in relevant Notice(s) to State Water Project Contractors consistent with prior practice. No legally binding obligations are created by this white paper. This white paper may be updated from time to time by DWR, in consultation with the Public Water Agencies (PWAs), in response to factors including, but not limited to, changes in laws, regulations or permits applicable to DWR and/or the State Water Project (SWP). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the DCF Agreement in Principle (AIP).

Drought impacts to water footprints and virtual water transfers of the Central Valley of California

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | June 23rd, 2017

Drought less predictable under declining future snowpack

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | April 20th, 2020

Mountain snowpack serves as an immense natural water reservoir, and knowledge of snow conditions helps predict seasonal water availability and offers critical ear

Mountain snowpack serves as an immense natural water reservoir, and knowledge of snow conditions helps predict seasonal water availability and offers critical early warning of hydrologic drought. This paradigm faces an impending challenge given consensus that a smaller fraction of future precipitation will fall as snow. Here, we apply downscaled hydrologic simulations from 28 climate model projections to show that by mid-century (2036–2065), 69% of historically snowmelt-dominated areas of the western United States see a decline in the ability of snow to predict seasonal drought, increasing to 83% by late century (2070–2099). Reduced predictability arises when peak snowpack approaches zero or because of decreased warm-season runoff efficiency. Changes in drought prediction skill show significant (P < 0.01) elevation dependence, with lower-elevation coastal areas most impacted by warming. Ancillary predictive information can only partially mitigate snow-based predictability losses to 65% of areas, underscoring the importance of declining future snowpack.

Drought Management and Climate Adaptation of Small, Self-Sufficient Drinking Water Systems in California

California Energy Commission (CEC) | August 15th, 2018

Examining human impacts, responses, and challenges to extreme climatic events can give insight into needed directions for climate adaptation to reduce future risks. This

Examining human impacts, responses, and challenges to extreme climatic events can give insight into needed directions for climate adaptation to reduce future risks. This study focuses on the 2012-2016 Drought in California, documenting how small self-sufficient drinking water systems were affected and challenged by, and responded to the extreme event.

Drought Resilience Interagency and Partners Collaborative Progress Report (2026)

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | March 16th, 2026

This report summarizes the 2025 activities and progress of the Drought Resilience Interagency and Partners (DRIP) Collaborative.

This report summarizes the 2025 activities and progress of the Drought Resilience Interagency and Partners (DRIP) Collaborative.

Drought, Water Law, and the Origins of California's Central Valley Project

University of Nevada Press | October 27th, 2016

This book is an account of how water rights were designed as a key part of the state’s largest public water system, the Central Valley Project. Along sixty miles of the

This book is an account of how water rights were designed as a key part of the state’s largest public water system, the Central Valley Project. Along sixty miles of the San Joaquin River, from Gustine to Mendota, four corporate entities called “exchange contractors” retain paramount water rights to the river. Their rights descend from the days of the Miller & Lux Cattle Company, which amassed an empire of land and water from the 1850s through the 1920s and protected these assets through business deals and prolific litigation. Miller & Lux’s dominance of the river relied on what many in the San Joaquin Valley regarded as wasteful irrigation practices and unreasonable water usage. Economic and political power in California’s present water system was born of this monopoly on water control. Stroshane tells how drought and legal conflict shaped statewide economic development and how the grand bargain of a San Joaquin River water exchange was struck from this monopoly legacy, setting the stage for future water wars. His analysis will appeal to readers interested in environmental studies and public policy.

Droughts in California

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | April 1st, 2021

Dry groundwater wells in the western United States

Environmental Research Letters (IOP) | July 28th, 2017

Declining groundwater levels are common in parts of the western US, but their impact on the ability of wells to pump groundwater is not known. Here we collate groundwater

Declining groundwater levels are common in parts of the western US, but their impact on the ability of wells to pump groundwater is not known. Here we collate groundwater well records for the western United States and present the recorded locations, depths, and purposes of more than two million groundwater wells constructed between 1950 and 2015. We then use the well records to estimate the percentage of wells that were dry during the years 2013–2015. During the two-year period, dry wells were concentrated in rural areas with high agricultural productivity, such as parts of the California Central Valley and the High Plains. Our results support anecdotal evidence that wells used for domestic purposes are more susceptible to drying than wells used for agricultural purposes throughout California’s Central Valley because the former tend to be shallower. However, this is not the case in all regions. Our findings suggest that declining groundwater levels are threatening drinking water reliability and agricultural productivity, and consequently, have key implications for both domestic and agricultural water security. Ongoing reductions to groundwater storage are drying groundwater wells in the western US, and this manifestation of water scarcity warrants innovative groundwater management transcending status quos.

Dry Me a River: Ecological Effects of Drought in the Upper San Francisco Estuary

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | May 24th, 2024

Early Reclamation and Abandonment of the Central Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Sacramento Historical Society | September 15th, 2006