Tulare Lake

Interactions between urban water policy, residential irrigation, and plant & bird diversity in the Fresno-Clovis Metro Area

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | August 11th, 2011

Ecological theory has begun to incorporate humans as part of coupled socio-ecological systems. Modern urban development provides an excellent laboratory to examine the in

Ecological theory has begun to incorporate humans as part of coupled socio-ecological systems. Modern urban development provides an excellent laboratory to examine the interplay among socio-ecological relationships. Urban land and water management decisions result from dynamic interactions between institutional, individual and ecological factors. Landscaping and irrigation at any particular residence, for example, is a product of geography, hydrology, soil, and other local environmental conditions, the homeowners’ cultural preferences, socioeconomic status, identity construction, neighborhood dynamics, as well as zoning laws, market conditions, city policies, and county/state/federal government regulations. Since land and water management are key determinants of habitat for other species, urban biodiversity is strongly driven by the outcome of interactions between these variables. This study addresses the significance of water as a key variable in the Fresno-Clovis Metropolitan Area (FCMA), shaping current patterns of landscape and water use, at a time when the city of Fresno is installing meters as a regulatory tool to conserve water. We combine data from a citizen science bird monitoring project, field surveys of trees, and mail surveys of residents to address interactions among key components of the urban socioecological system.

Introducing Time-Limited Permits to California’s Riparianism

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | December 1st, 2023

Investigation on the Feasibility of Developing Uniformwater Recycling Criteria ror Direct Potable Reuse

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | December 1st, 2016

The population of California is projected to increase from 38 million to 50 million by the year 2049. This population increase will have a dramatic impact on the water ne

The population of California is projected to increase from 38 million to 50 million by the year 2049. This population increase will have a dramatic impact on the water needs of the State. To address this increased water need, the State will take a variety of actions as outlined in the Governor’s California Water Action Plan, first released in 2014 and recently updated in 2016 (CA Natural Resources Agency, 2016). One component of that plan is to increase the use of recycled water. The State Water Board has set a mandate of increasing the use of recycled water by 200,000 acre-foot per year (AFY) by 2020 and an additional 300,000 AFY by 2030. Although the use of recycled water for non-potable uses such as agricultural and landscape irrigation is already well established and has been regulated for decades in California, increasing the use of recycled water for both non-potable uses as well as a source of potable water (“potable reuse”) is important for the State to be able to meet this mandate. For example, groundwater replenishment (groundwater recharge), which is an indirect form of potable reuse, has the capacity to reuse 200,000 acre-feet of recycled water a year via just eight projects throughout California. Accordingly, the State Water Board revised and adopted uniform water recycling criteria for groundwater replenishment in 2014 and is in the process of establishing uniform water recycling criteria for the augmentation of surface water reservoirs used as a source of drinking water supply, which is another form of indirect potable reuse.

Irrigating Machinery on the Pacific Coast

Scientific American | December 17th, 1887

In offering the present paper to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the author does so with a tolerably complete knowledge of the very advanced practice in England

In offering the present paper to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the author does so with a tolerably complete knowledge of the very advanced practice in England in this class of machinery: and his purpose is mainly to explain the differences that have been called for by local circumstances in California. Character of the Country: The western or Pacific slope of the Sierra Nevada or coast range of mountains in California is very abrupt, the crests of the range being so near that the snow is visible from the coast during the whole year. Hundreds of streams cross this narrow country, falling either direct into the Pacific Ocean or into the great basin formed by the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. These two rivers. the largest in California, run in opposite directions nearly parallel with the coast and meet at the Bay of San Francisco forming ac ontinuous valley 400 miles long and from 50 to 100 miles wide. The small streams for the most part are fed by melting snow in the summer; and every gulch or canon has its rivulet or brook. They increase in volume until they pass into or through the hills at the foot of the mountain range; and there, unless of considerable size, they may wholly disappear in summer by percolation through the silt or by evaporation. Streams exposed to the torrid air which in summer sweeps across the sand deserts of Southern California are dried up with wonderful rapidity. The evaporation from Salt Lake, exposed to the same dry wind, is sometimes equal to half an inch per day. or 64 million tons of water. Not withstanding this great loss by evaporation, the quantity of water falling into the ocean on the coast of California has been estimated at 100 million cubic feet or 2 3/4 million tons per minute, enough, if distributed properly, to irrigate 25,000 square miles.

Irrigation in California

Scientific American | January 5th, 1884

Irrigation Water Use in the Central Valley of California

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | January 1st, 1985

James Groundwater Sustainability Agency Groundwater Sustainability Plan

James Groundwater Sustainability Agency (JGSA) | December 12th, 2019

James Groundwater Sustainability Agency Groundwater Sustainability Plan (Revised)

James Groundwater Sustainability Agency (JGSA) | July 22nd, 2022

*Submitted to the Department of Water Resources on July 22, 2022. No date or signature accompany the seal from the preparer at Provost and Pritchard.

*Submitted to the Department of Water Resources on July 22, 2022. No date or signature accompany the seal from the preparer at Provost and Pritchard.

Jet stream dynamics, hydroclimate, and fire in California from 1600 CE to present

National Academy of Sciences (NAS) | March 4th, 2019

Moisture delivery in California is largely regulated by the strength and position of the North Pacific jet stream (NPJ), winter high-altitude winds that influence regiona

Moisture delivery in California is largely regulated by the strength and position of the North Pacific jet stream (NPJ), winter high-altitude winds that influence regional hydroclimate and forest fire during the following warm season. We use climate model simulations and paleoclimate data to reconstruct winter NPJ characteristics back to 1571 CE to identify the influence of NPJ behavior on moisture and forest fire extremes in California before and during the more recent period of fire suppression. Maximum zonal NPJ velocity is lower and northward shifted and has a larger latitudinal spread during presuppression dry and high-fire extremes. Conversely, maximum zonal NPJ is higher and southward shifted, with narrower latitudinal spread during wet and low-fire extremes. These NPJ, precipitation, and fire associations hold across pre–20th-century socioecological fire regimes, including Native American burning, postcontact disruption and native population decline, and intensification of forest use during the later 19th century. Precipitation extremes and NPJ behavior remain linked in the 20th and 21st centuries, but fire extremes become uncoupled due to fire suppression after 1900. Simulated future conditions in California include more wet-season moisture as rain (and less as snow), a longer fire season, and higher temperatures, leading to drier fire-season conditions independent of 21st-century precipitation changes. Assuming continuation of current fire management practices, thermodynamic warming is expected to override the dynamical influence of the NPJ on climate–fire relationships controlling fire extremes in California. Recent widespread fires in California in association with wet extremes may be early evidence of this change.

Kaweah Subbasin Probationary Hearing Draft Staff Report

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | May 2nd, 2024

The State Water Board recognizes that local public agencies in the Kaweah Subbasin have made significant efforts since the passage of SGMA to form three groundwater susta

The State Water Board recognizes that local public agencies in the Kaweah Subbasin have made significant efforts since the passage of SGMA to form three groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) and then develop detailed technical and other information supporting the adoption and implementation of three groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) for the subbasin. Despite those efforts, in January of 2020, DWR reviewed the three GSPs to determine if the GSPs met SGMA’s requirements and found the GSPs to be incomplete. Following revisions made by the GSAs in the subbasin, DWR reevaluated the GSPs in March of 2023, determined the GSPs to be inadequate, and referred the subbasin to the State Water Board, as required by SGMA. Consistent with SGMA, the State Water Board may now consider whether to designate the Kaweah Subbasin as a “probationary basin,” a term that is used in SGMA to describe a basin in the first stage of state intervention.  Click here for Water Board updates on hearings. A January 5, 2025 has been cancelled to allow more time to review updated groundwater sustainability plans.