Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta

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A New Approach to Accounting for Environmental Water Insights from the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta
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A New Approach to Accounting for Environmental Water Insights from the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta
Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | November 9, 2017...
Summary
How water is apportioned to California’s cities, farms, and the environment can lead to conflict and competition in times of drought. Allocation of...
How water is apportioned to California’s cities, farms, and the environment can lead to conflict and competition in times of drought. Allocation of water to the environment in particular is poorly accounted for and poorly understood—shortcomings that can affect water policy, decision making, and public perception. This report reviews the state’s long-standing methods for defining and accounting for environmental water and proposes reforms to improve the timeliness, transparency, and detail in the accounting of environmental water allocation.

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A Review of the Use of Science and Adaptive Management in California’s Draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan
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A Review of the Use of Science and Adaptive Management in California’s Draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan
National Academies Press | May 5, 2011...
Summary
California’s draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan—a draft plan to conserve habitat for endangered and threatened species, while continuing to divert water to agriculture...
California’s draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan—a draft plan to conserve habitat for endangered and threatened species, while continuing to divert water to agriculture and domestic water users in central and southern California—is incomplete and contains critical scientific gaps. The Bay Delta is a large, complex ecosystem that supplies water from the state’s wetter northern regions to the drier southern regions, and also serves as habitat for many species. The Bay Delta Conservation Plan describes a proposal to construct a tunnel or canal to divert water from the northern Delta to the south, thus reducing the need to convey water through the Delta. This report reviews the use of science and adaptive management in the draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan and identifies opportunities to develop a more successful plan.

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Accounting for Water “Wasted to the Sea”
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Accounting for Water “Wasted to the Sea”
San Francisco Estuary & Watershed Science | April 19, 2018...
Summary
Freshwater outflow from the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta is a contentious management issue. Once mixed with salt water of San Francisco Bay, outflow is...
Freshwater outflow from the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta is a contentious management issue. Once mixed with salt water of San Francisco Bay, outflow is often characterized as having no value for urban and agricultural water supply, and thus “wasted to the sea.” In the July issue of San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science, Cloern et al. (2017) showed how outflow from the Delta provides multiple and diverse benefits to the San Francisco estuary. Rather than being “wasted,” this outflow improves ecosystem conditions and water quality, and reduces wastewater treatment costs. The Cloern et al. (2017) essay highlights the importance of considering the multiple benefits of water as it moves within and out of the Delta. To do this, however, California needs a better water accounting system. In this report, we present an alternative approach. For the period 1980–2016, we assign inflow to the Delta to four categories:

1. Water used for diversions,

2. Outflow needed to meet salinity standards for diversions,

3. Outflow to meet ecosystem regulations, and

4. Water that results in outflow because of a lack of capacity for diversion.

This approach highlights that much of the outflow from the Delta — particularly during dry periods — achieves multiple economic and environmental benefits and is hardly “wasted to the sea.”

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Adaptive Management and Science for the Delta Ecosystem
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Adaptive Management and Science for the Delta Ecosystem
San Francisco Estuary & Watershed Science | October 1, 2013...
Summary
Using science to adaptively guide management for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is widely talked about as good public policy. Almost every agency, stakeholder,...
Using science to adaptively guide management for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is widely talked about as good public policy. Almost every agency, stakeholder, and planning process professes support and has its own adaptive management and science efforts. But highly fragmented adaptive management and science cannot solve such urgent complex problems. California’s 2009 Delta Reform Act recognized that meeting the co-equal goals of a sustainable ecosystem and water supply reliability in the Delta required major changes in governance, planning, and management. Such changes also require major changes in how science is organized and employed in management. Here is a straw proposal for integrating the many parochial science and adaptive management programs for the Delta.

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Age Determination of the Remaining Peat in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California, USA
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Age Determination of the Remaining Peat in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California, USA
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | October 9, 2007...
Summary
The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta of California was once a 1,400 square kilometer (km2) tidal marsh, which contained a vast layer of peat ranging...
The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta of California was once a 1,400 square kilometer (km2) tidal marsh, which contained a vast layer of peat ranging up to 15 meters (m) thick (Atwater and Belknap, 1980). Because of its favorable climate and highly fertile peat soils, the majority of the Delta was drained and reclaimed for agriculture during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Drainage of the peat soils changed the conditions in the surface layers of peat from anaerobic (having no free oxygen present) to aerobic (exposed to the atmosphere). This change in conditions greatly increased the decomposition rate of the peat, which consists largely of organic (plant) matter. Thus began the process of land-surface subsidence, which initially was a result of peat shrinkage and compaction, and later largely was a result of oxidation by which organic carbon in the peat essentially vaporized to carbon dioxide (Deverel and others, 1998; Ingebritsen and Ikehara, 1999).

Because of subsidence, the land-surface elevation on farmed islands in the Delta has decreased from a few meters to as much as 8 m below local mean sea level (California Department of Water Resources, 1995; Steve Deverel, Hydrofocus, Inc., written commun., 2007).

The USGS, in collaboration with the University of California at Davis, and Hydrofocus Inc. of Davis, California, has been studying the formation of the Delta and the impact of wetland reclamation on the peat column as part of a project called Rates and Evolution of Peat Accretion through Time (REPEAT). The purpose of this report is to provide results on the age of the remaining peat soils on four farmed islands in the Delta.

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An Introduction to High-Frequency Nutrient and Biogeochemical Monitoring for the Sacramento– San Joaquin Delta, Northern California
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An Introduction to High-Frequency Nutrient and Biogeochemical Monitoring for the Sacramento– San Joaquin Delta, Northern California
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Delta Regional Monitoring Program | July 11, 2017...
Summary
This report is the first in a series of three reports that provide information about high-frequency (HF) nutrient and biogeochemical monitoring in the...
This report is the first in a series of three reports that provide information about high-frequency (HF) nutrient and biogeochemical monitoring in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta of northern California (Delta). This first report provides an introduction to the reasons for and fundamental concepts behind collecting HF measurements, and describes the benefits associated with a real-time, continuous, HF, multi-parameter water quality monitoring station network that is co-located with flow stations. It then provides examples of how HF nutrient measurements have improved our understating of nutrient sources and cycling in aquatic systems worldwide, followed by specific examples from the Delta. These examples describe the ways in which HF instrumentation may be used for both fixed-station and spatial assessments. The overall intent of this document is to describe how HF measurements currently (2017) are being used in the Delta to examine the relationship between nutrient concentrations, nutrient cycling, and aquatic habitat conditions.

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Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan (Bay Delta Plan)
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Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan (Bay Delta Plan)
California State Water Resources Control Board | December 13, 2006...
Summary
"Bay Delta Plan" is short for the State Water Resources Control Board's (State Water Board) San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary Water Quality...
"Bay Delta Plan" is short for the State Water Resources Control Board's (State Water Board) San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary Water Quality Control Plan. The Bay-Delta Plan identifies the beneficial uses of the Bay-Delta, water quality objectives for the reasonable protection of those beneficial uses, and a program of implementation for achieving the objectives. The Bay-Delta Plan, when implemented, can determine the amount and timing of water entering and moving through the Delta.

The State Water Board holds dual responsibilities of allocating surface water rights and protecting water quality. The State Water Board allocates water through an administrative system that is intended to maximize the beneficial uses of water while protecting the public trust, serving the public interest, and preventing the waste and unreasonable use or method of diversion of water.

While most water quality control planning is done by the Regional Water Boards, the State Water Board has authority to adopt statewide water quality control plans. The State Water Board adopts the Bay-Delta Plan because of the Delta's importance as a major source of water supply for the state.

The Bay-Delta Plan protects water quality in the region and includes water quality objectives to protect fish and wildlife beneficial uses through inflows to the Delta from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and Delta outflows, in addition to objectives for salinity to protect agricultural beneficial uses.

The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) is in the process of a phased review and update of the 2006 Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta) (referred to as the 2006 Bay-Delta Plan).

To learn more about the Bay-Delta Plan, click here.

In 2009, the State Water Board began the process of reviewing and likely revising the 2006 Bay Delta Plan. At the time of the archiving of this document, that update process still continues. For the latest information, click here to visit the State Water Resources Control Board page for the Bay-Delta Plan Update..

RELATED DOCUMENT: Water Rights Decision 1641, the document that implements the 1995 Bay Delta Plan and is still in force.

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CALFED Staff Report: Summary Review of Prior Delta Conveyance Reports
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CALFED Staff Report: Summary Review of Prior Delta Conveyance Reports
CalFed | April 24, 2008...
Summary
Over the past 40 years, state, federal, and local agencies, as well as academics have conducted numerous studies about the best way to...
Over the past 40 years, state, federal, and local agencies, as well as academics have conducted numerous studies about the best way to move water through or around the Delta.

For this summary report, CALFED staff reviewed more than 100 reports — 30 of which specifically focused on various conveyance options—that dealt with Delta water conveyance and potential effects on water quality and ecosystem health and resilience.

Based on a review of these reports, it appears that most focus on the amount of water than can be moved and for what cost, but little work has been done to evaluate the effects on the Delta environment or the impacts of climate change and sea level rise.

We note, however, that several studies now underway are addressing these issues.

General conclusions based on this review suggest:

1. The operational criteria of a conveyance system is critical to determining if it will meet the environmental, water quality, and water supply reliability needs of the state.
2. Based on the reports we reviewed, none of the conveyance options stand out as a clear choice capable of fully meeting all the performance standards laid out by the Task Force. Some conveyance options do well in some areas, but not in others; some conveyance options do moderately well across all areas.
3. Few of the existing reports include operational criteria or specifically integrate much of the new and relevant scientific data about the Delta ecosystem.
4. Cost estimates developed were for the conceptual designs for particular studies. Most of the reports did not include cost estimates for operation, maintenance and mitigation. Cost estimates presented here are not current and are not comparable among reports.

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CalSim II Simulation of Historical SWP-CVP Operations Technical Memorandum Report
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CalSim II Simulation of Historical SWP-CVP Operations Technical Memorandum Report
California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | November 12, 2003...
Summary
CalSim is a generalized water resources planning tool developed jointly by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the US Bureau of Reclamation...
CalSim is a generalized water resources planning tool developed jointly by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the US Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region (Reclamation). CalSim II is the application of the CalSim software to model the State Water Project (SWP), the federal Central Valley Project (CVP) and areas tributary to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). The primary purpose of the CalSim II model is to evaluate the water supply reliability of the CVP and SWP, 1) at current or future levels of development, 2) with and without various assumed future facilities and, 3) with different modes of facilities operations.

The purpose of the Historical Operations Study is to evaluate the ability of CalSim-II to represent CVP and SWP operations, in general, and the delivery capability of the projects, in particular, through the monthly simulation of recent historical conditions. The Historical Operations Study is part of a larger CalSim II evaluation process. Other components of the evaluation include a survey of the water community to gather their views and opinions of the model, a model peer review by leading academics and practitioners, and a sensitivity analysis on model inputs.

It is hoped that this effort, to assess the quality and limitations of CalSim II, will lead to a wider debate about critical model issues, help direct model development in both the near and long term, and eventually lead to greater public confidence and acceptance of the model.

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Carriage Water
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Carriage Water
California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | September 26, 2001...
Summary
Carriage water is defined as marginal export costs, that is, the extra water needed to carry a unit of water across the Delta...
Carriage water is defined as marginal export costs, that is, the extra water needed to carry a unit of water across the Delta to the pumping plants while maintaining a constant salinity. Or more practically, when the exports are increased by one unit, the Sacramento flow is increased by one unit plus carriage water to maintain a constant Delta salinity.

It has been known for several years that the current method of estimating carriage water in DWRSIM, called the Minimum Delta Outflow (MDO) Routine, is not particularly accurate in individual years and a better method needed. The Delta is a complex system and past attempts at developing a useful method for measuring carriage water and ultimately an MDO replacement always had at least one major flaw.

An attempt was made to search for carriage water directly in the historical data, that is, to find a period of time when Net Delta Outflow (NDO) is fairly constant, but Sacramento flow and exports are increasing. If carriage water existed, salinity at interior Delta stations should increase. While there are a few times when this seems to be true (e.g. summer 1979 and 1994), the salinity increase could also be explained by antecedent conditions, that is, previous to the period of constant NDO, NDO was much higher, and the salinity increase could be simply due to the Delta gradually reaching new equilibrium. Thus it became apparent that only a model of the Delta could say anything about carriage water.

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Changing ecosystems: a brief ecological history of the Delta
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Changing ecosystems: a brief ecological history of the Delta
U.C. Davis Center for Watershed Sciences | February 15, 2010...
Summary
The San Francisco Estuary is a young estuary, about 6-10,000 years old in its present location. It became established during periods of high...
The San Francisco Estuary is a young estuary, about 6-10,000 years old in its present location. It became established during periods of high climatic variability (reflected in extreme floods and long droughts) compared to the relatively stable past 150 years. The Delta was formed as a huge freshwater marsh through the interaction of river inflow and the slow rise of sea level with the growth and decay of tules and other plants. This interaction resulted in the deposition of large amounts of organic matter, creating layers of peat that kept pace with sea level rise. These peat layers formed the soils of most of the present Delta ‘islands’, which were actually complex patches of floodable marsh.

The channels among the islands were historically shifting, winding distributaries of the entering rivers that moved inflowing water through the Delta, providing access to upstream areas for large runs of migratory fish. The movement and quality of water in these channels was strongly affected by tidal action. These attributes also created a complex of diverse and shifting habitats that supported a wide variety of functions for an ecological system in which there was no clear separation between aquatic and terrestrial components.

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Climate Change and the Delta: A Synthesis (Public Review Draft)

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Climate Change and the Delta: A Synthesis (Public Review Draft)
Delta Stewardship Council | March 23, 2018...
Summary
The Delta Reform Act of 2009 (Water Code Section 85066) requires that the Delta Stewardship Council adopt a Delta Plan (the Plan) to...
The Delta Reform Act of 2009 (Water Code Section 85066) requires that the Delta Stewardship Council adopt a Delta Plan (the Plan) to achieve the coequal goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem (Water Code Section 85000). In the time since the Plan was adopted in 2013, a significant shift in State planning for Delta ecosystem protection, restoration, and enhancement has occurred, prompting review of the Delta Plan to examine whether its strategies are still suited to achieve the ecological goals of the Delta Reform Act. As such, the Delta Stewardship Council (Council) is developing an amendment of the Plan’s Chapter 4, Protect, Restore, and Enhance the Delta Ecosystem.

Council staff are reviewing the best-available science to inform amendment of Chapter 4 of the Delta Plan. To support this effort, Council staff have developed three science synthesis papers. This paper focuses on the effects of climate change in the Delta and is accompanied by two other papers focused on the Delta ecosystem (terrestrial and aquatic resources) and restoration. Climate change is of interest for the Chapter 4 amendment given recent rapid advancements in research on climate change and its effects on the Delta ecosystem that have occurred since the Delta Plan was adopted in 2013 (Dettinger et al. 2016).

Climate change has the potential to significantly affect the Delta ecosystem by raising air and water temperatures, changing the timing and volume of flows into and through the Delta, increasing tidal inundation with sea-level rise (SLR), and increasing salinity intrusion into the Delta. Climate change is recognized as a global stressor in Chapter 4 of the 2013 Delta Plan, but the effects of climate change on Delta ecosystems are discussed only briefly and with limited consideration of management strategies that address the issue. Chapter 4 of the Delta Plan identifies five key stressors to the Delta ecosystem and core strategies for addressing each. Climate change has interrelated effects on all five core strategy areas: Delta flows, habitat, water quality, non-native 28 species, and hatcheries and harvest management.

The Delta Reform Act specifies consideration of “the future impact of climate change and sea-level rise” (Water Code Section 85066), and identifies a restoration timeline horizon of 2100 (Water Code Section 85302). More generally, Executive Order B-30-15, signed by Governor Brown in April 2015, requires that State agencies incorporate climate change into planning and investment decisions, and that they prioritize natural infrastructure and actions for climate preparedness.

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Comparing Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
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Comparing Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | July 16, 2008...
Summary
For over 50 years, California has been pumping water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for extensive urban and agricultural uses around the state....

For over 50 years, California has been pumping water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for extensive urban and agricultural uses around the state. Today, the Delta is ailing and in urgent need of a new management strategy. This report concludes that building a peripheral canal to carry water around the Delta is the most promising way to balance two critical policy goals: reviving a threatened ecosystem and ensuring a reliable, high-quality water supply for California.

More information can be found in the following supporting appendices:

Appendix A. Policy and Regulatory Challenges for the Delta of the Future

Appendix B. Levee Decisions and Sustainability for the Delta

Appendix C. Delta Hydrodynamics and Water Salinity with Future Conditions

Appendix D. The Future of the Delta Ecosystem and Its Fish

Appendix E. Expert Survey on the Viability of Delta Fish Populations

Appendix F. The Economic Costs and Adaptations for Alternative Delta Regulations

Appendix G. Peripheral Canal Design and Implementation Options

Appendix H. Delta Drinking Water Quality and Treatment Costs

Appendix I. The Economic Effects on Agriculture of Water Export Salinity South of the Delta

Appendix J. Decision Analysis of Delta Strategies

Interactive Map: Voting Patterns on Proposition 9 (Peripheral Canal), June 1982

Interactive Map: A Multi-Purpose, Eco-Friendly Delta

Interactive Feature: Delta Island Flooding (With Repairs)

Interactive Feature: Delta Island Flooding (No Repairs)

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Conservation Strategy for Restoration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley Regions
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Conservation Strategy for Restoration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley Regions
CalFed Ecosystem Restoration Program | May 15, 2014...
Summary
The Conservation Strategy describes ERP goals and conservation priorities for Stage 2 of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program (CALFED) and was developed by the...
The Conservation Strategy describes ERP goals and conservation priorities for Stage 2 of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program (CALFED) and was developed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) in coordination with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), collectively known as the ERP Implementing Agencies. This document serves as the conceptual framework that will guide future ERP environmental restoration, including development of conservation priorities and processes to identify and implement restoration opportunities, and monitoring to guide and improve its success in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta), and the Sacramento Valley and the San Joaquin Valley regions.

This Conservation Strategy builds on information presented in the Ecosystem Restoration Program Plan (ERPP) (CALFED 2000a), the Multi-species Conservation Strategy (MSCS) (CALFED 2000d), ERP Milestones Reports (CALFED 2001b) and Annual Reports (DFG 2011b), the best available science on current ecological conditions, related programs and planning efforts, and input from stakeholders and the general public. There are many different kinds of conservation planning currently underway for the Delta, Sacramento and San Joaquin Valley regions and restoration is very much a shared vision between and among the agencies, various resource users, and the public.

ERP Implementing Agencies will be using this ERP Stage 2 Conservation Strategy as a guide through the end of Stage 2 (2030). It provides a comprehensive ecosystem restoration strategy for ERP efforts in the Focus Area (Focus Area) (Figure 1), allowing flexibility in adapting responses accordingly to new scientific findings, changed circumstances and new or modified future conservation priorities.

This Conservation Strategy will serve as a guide to identify programmatic-level types and locations of potential restoration actions based on conservation priorities. It is not a prescription for restoration actions at any specific site. Within this strategy is a compilation of conservation priorities, articulated from lessons learned during Stage 1, which may be used to meet ERP goals. All agencies, groups, or individuals interested in resource conservation and management within the Focus Area are encouraged to use this document as a guide to help coordinate activities to address ERP conservation priorities.

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Costs of Ecosystem Management Actions for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
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Costs of Ecosystem Management Actions for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | April 22, 2013...
Summary
California is at a critical juncture on policy for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. This report summarizes the results of a wide-ranging study of...

California is at a critical juncture on policy for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. This report summarizes the results of a wide-ranging study of cost-effective ways to improve the health of the Delta ecosystem. It highlights the need for science-based, integrated management of the many sources of ecosystem stress. The report also recommends improvements to the highly fragmented system of oversight that now involves dozens of federal, state, and local agencies.

Several companion reports contain related findings:

Aquatic Ecosystem Stressors in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Mount et al. 2012) summarizes the science of Delta ecosystem stressors for a policymaking audience.

Integrated Management of Delta Stressors: Institutional and Legal Options (Gray et al. 2013) lays out proposals for institutional reform of science, management, and regulation.

Scientist and Stakeholder Views on the Delta Ecosystem (Hanak et al. 2013) presents detailed results of the two surveys conducted by the report’s authors.

Stress Relief: Prescriptions for a Healthier Delta Ecosystem (Hanak et al. 2013) summarizes the overall research project and the recommendations it generated.

Where the Wild Things Aren’t: Making the Delta a Better Place for Native Species (Moyle et al. 2012) outlines a realistic long-term vision for achieving a healthier ecosystem.

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Delta Islands and Levees Feasibility Study, Draft Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement
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Delta Islands and Levees Feasibility Study, Draft Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) | April 10, 2014...
Summary
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the California Department of Water Resources propose to restore approximately 89.5 acres of lost or degraded...
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the California Department of Water Resources propose to restore approximately 89.5 acres of lost or degraded tidal marsh habitat in the west central portion of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The restoration work would involve transporting and placing dredged material into open water habitat to restore 80.3 acres and 9.2 acres of tidal marsh at Big Break and Little Franks Tract, respectively, in the Delta. The work would be conducted over 5 years as part of the annual operation and maintenance (O&M) dredging of the Stockton Deep Water Ship Channel. Previously stockpiled dredged material from existing dredged material storage sites would also be placed in conjunction with O&M.

The draft report describes the affected environment in the Big Break and Little Franks Tract area; evaluates the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects and the benefits of the tentatively selected plan and two alternative plans; and recommends avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures. Most potential adverse effects would either be short term and insignificant, or would be avoided or reduced to less than significance using best management practices. Beneficial effects on vegetation and wildlife, special status species, other resources, and the historic floodplain from the alternative plans are also discussed.

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Delta Levee Investment Strategy: Final Report
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Delta Levee Investment Strategy: Final Report
Delta Stewardship Council | August 4, 2017...
Summary
In the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta), levee failure could cause catastrophic flooding, potentially causing injury or loss of life, and possibly damaging...
In the California Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta), levee failure could cause catastrophic flooding, potentially causing injury or loss of life, and possibly damaging property, water supply, infrastructure, and environmental resources of importance to the entire State of California (State). Though levee maintenance and improvements over the past three decades have reduced the frequency of levee failures, the State has no comprehensive method to prioritize its investments in Delta levees operations, maintenance, and improvement projects.

The Delta Plan, adopted on May 16, 2013, recommends that the Delta Stewardship Council (Council), in consultation with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), the Central Valley Flood Protection Board (CVFPB), the Delta Protection Commission (DPC), local agencies, and the California Water Commission, implement California Water Code (CWC) section 85306 by developing a Delta Levees Investment Strategy (DLIS) to identify funding priorities for State investments in Delta levees.

The DLIS is an innovative approach for determining priorities for State funds for levee improvement in the Delta and Suisun Marsh. The DLIS, which considers the assets protected by levees, the threats to levees, and the multiple beneficiaries of levee investments, uses a risk analysis methodology to recommend priorities for State investments in levee operations, maintenance, and improvements.

This methodology was developed in close coordination with State agency partners, local and regional flood management and emergency response planning agencies, and other interested parties. In total, the Council worked with 113 different stakeholders and conducted 10 public meetings, 60 stakeholder outreach meetings, and 60 interagency coordination meetings. The Council also discussed DLIS issues at 38 Council meetings and workshops, which provided opportunities for public comment.

The DLIS team developed a Decision Support Tool (DST) to enable the Council and stakeholders to review and update the data and analysis that form the basis of the risk evaluation. The DST supports deliberations by summarizing information about baseline and future risks, aggregating and displaying risks, and then identifying portfolios of investments that have the potential to reduce risk to State interests. The data components in the DST are designed to be updated as new information is collected or identified.

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Delta Levee Investment Strategy: Risk Analysis Methodology
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Delta Levee Investment Strategy: Risk Analysis Methodology
Delta Stewardship Council | July 20, 2016...
Summary
Levees in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) reduce flood risk to people, property, natural resources, and infrastructure systems of statewide importance. Levee failure...
Levees in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) reduce flood risk to people, property, natural resources, and infrastructure systems of statewide importance. Levee failure (such as a levee breach) could cause devastating flooding, potentially resulting in injury or loss of life, damage to property and infrastructure, disruption of water supply, and harm to environmental resources of statewide significance.

Currently, the State of California (State) does not have a long-term strategy to guide future investments of its limited funding for Delta levees. The 2009 Delta Reform Act directed the Delta Stewardship Council (Council) to lead the effort to develop and recommend priorities for State investments in Delta levees to reduce flood risks and to advance the coequal goals of water supply reliability and restoring the Delta ecosystem. Working closely with other agencies and the public, the Council is developing a Delta Levees Investment Strategy (DLIS) to establish priorities for State investments in the Delta levee system.

Risk, the potential for an unwanted outcome, is a principal factor in establishing priorities for State investments in levees. Specifically, risk is the probability that an adverse event (such as a flood or earthquake) will occur multiplied by the consequences of that event: Risk = Probability x Consequences

As presented in this report, the DLIS is based on a comprehensive methodology that quantifies risk by considering the threats to Delta levees and the assets protected by Delta levees. The DLIS also considers the multiple beneficiaries of Delta levee investments. Building on the results of previous Delta levee planning efforts, the DLIS collects and uses the best available existing data and information from numerous sources to evaluate risks to State interests in the Delta as defined by risk to public safety; property and infrastructure; water supply reliability; the Delta ecosystem; and the unique attributes of the Delta as an evolving place. The DLIS evaluates those risks under current and potential future conditions.

In early 2015, the DLIS team prepared an Interim Progress Report summarizing the work conducted during the first 9 months of the DLIS project. The report focused primarily on the methodologies planned for implementing the DLIS project to facilitate a “mid-course” review by an independent science panel, which completed its work in July 2015. Panel members offered comments for improvement and concluded that the “overall methodology of using existing data, identifying important metrics, aggregating results, and making comparisons across islands is conceptually sound” (Mitchell et al. 2015).

The DLIS project includes outreach to State and local agencies, concerned stakeholders in the Delta, knowledgeable technical resources, owners and operators of Delta infrastructure, and Delta leaders and residents. The final methodologies employed in the DLIS project are reported herein and incorporate the input from the independent science panel as well as feedback and comments resulting from the outreach efforts.

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Delta Levees Investment Strategy: Sea Level Rise Methodology

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Delta Levees Investment Strategy: Sea Level Rise Methodology
Delta Stewardship Council | August 21, 2015...
Summary
This memorandum describes the methodology used to account for the impact of potential future sea level rise on the Delta Levees Investment Strategy...
This memorandum describes the methodology used to account for the impact of potential future sea level rise on the Delta Levees Investment Strategy (DLIS) metrics and how those impacts are incorporated into the DLIS planning tool. A description of the approach used to account for the spatial variation of tide effects in the Delta and Suisun Marsh and prediction uncertainties are also included in this memorandum.

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Delta Narratives: Saving the Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
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Delta Narratives: Saving the Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Delta Protection Commission | August 1, 2015...
Summary
From August 2014 through July 2015, the Delta Narratives project, on contract to the Delta Protection Commission, addressed two questions. First, in what...
From August 2014 through July 2015, the Delta Narratives project, on contract to the Delta Protection Commission, addressed two questions. First, in what ways does the historical experience of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta contribute to an understanding of key themes in regional and American history? Second, how might Delta stories gain wider appreciation within the region, throughout Northern California, and among people in the rest of California and beyond?

Scholars on the project team documented ways the history of the Delta illustrates trends in land management and reclamation, technological shifts in transportation and agriculture, the impact of ethnicity and labor specialization on community building, and finally, the shifting visioning of America's promise and fall from grace by artists and writers in response to the intense cultivation of the Delta and the conditions which workers there endured. Their essays testify to the intrinsic value of Delta stories and to the additional perspectives they bring to regional and national history.

With these essays in hand, the project team investigated the current infrastructure for the preservation and dissemination of historical and cultural information in the Delta. It created a directory of institutions committed to promoting Delta stories. In order to stimulate conversations between these stakeholders, the team organized two workshops at which the scholars and archivists shared insights and invited commentary and conversation.

Subsequently, with the support of the Center for California Studies at Sacramento State University, a conference entitled “More than H2O: Saving the History and Culture of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta” presented findings and discussed strategies with an audience of state and local stakeholders. Delta Narratives culminated with a conference organized around an American Assembly model. The conference generated a list of suggestions for further action regarding the recognition, preservation, and dissemination of Delta stories.

High on the list of initiatives were adequate mapping of historically significant locations, an organization that would draw together the many cultural and historical groups in the Delta toward common action, the initiation of annual Delta Days to celebrate the region, and the creation of educational materials including web applications (apps), and a website devoted to the region.

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A New Approach to Accounting for Environmental Water Insights from the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta

A New Approach to Accounting for Environmental Water Insights from the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta

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A Review of the Use of Science and Adaptive Management in California’s Draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan

A Review of the Use of Science and Adaptive Management in California’s Draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan

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Accounting for Water “Wasted to the Sea”

Accounting for Water “Wasted to the Sea”

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Adaptive Management and Science for the Delta Ecosystem

Adaptive Management and Science for the Delta Ecosystem

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Age Determination of the Remaining Peat in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California, USA

Age Determination of the Remaining Peat in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California, USA

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An Introduction to High-Frequency Nutrient and Biogeochemical Monitoring for the Sacramento– San Joaquin Delta, Northern California

An Introduction to High-Frequency Nutrient and Biogeochemical Monitoring for the Sacramento– San Joaquin Delta, Northern California

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Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan (Bay Delta Plan)

Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan (Bay Delta Plan)

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CALFED Staff Report: Summary Review of Prior Delta Conveyance Reports

CALFED Staff Report: Summary Review of Prior Delta Conveyance Reports

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CalSim II Simulation of Historical SWP-CVP Operations Technical Memorandum Report

CalSim II Simulation of Historical SWP-CVP Operations Technical Memorandum Report

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Carriage Water

Carriage Water

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Changing ecosystems: a brief ecological history of the Delta

Changing ecosystems: a brief ecological history of the Delta

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Climate Change and the Delta: A Synthesis (Public Review Draft)

Climate Change and the Delta: A Synthesis (Public Review Draft)

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Comparing Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Comparing Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

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Conservation Strategy for Restoration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley Regions

Conservation Strategy for Restoration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley Regions

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Costs of Ecosystem Management Actions for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Costs of Ecosystem Management Actions for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

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Delta Islands and Levees Feasibility Study, Draft Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement

Delta Islands and Levees Feasibility Study, Draft Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement

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Delta Levee Investment Strategy: Final Report

Delta Levee Investment Strategy: Final Report

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Delta Levee Investment Strategy: Risk Analysis Methodology

Delta Levee Investment Strategy: Risk Analysis Methodology

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Delta Levees Investment Strategy: Sea Level Rise Methodology

Delta Levees Investment Strategy: Sea Level Rise Methodology

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Delta Narratives: Saving the Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Delta Narratives: Saving the Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

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