Empirical and Experimental Analyses of Secondary Louver Efficiency at the Tracy Fish Collection Facility: March 1996 to November 1997

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | January 30th, 2004

Evaluation of Salinity Patterns and Effects of Tidal Flows and Temporary Barriers in South Delta Channels

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | September 15th, 2016

There are several important water issues in the south Delta related to the San Joaquin River (SJR) inflow, Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) expo

There are several important water issues in the south Delta related to the San Joaquin River (SJR) inflow, Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) export pumping, reverse flows in Old and Middle Rivers, tidal water elevations and corresponding tidal flows in south Delta channels, effects of the temporary rock barriers that are installed seasonally by DWR in various south Delta channels, as well as the sources and longitudinal patterns of salinity caused by the net inflows, outflows, and tidal movement of water in south Delta channels. This study investigated the likely inflow locations of higher salinity water (i.e., sources) measured in Old River between the head of Old River and the Delta-Mendota Canal (DMC); the electrical conductivity (EC) at the Old River at Tracy Boulevard EC monitoring station was often the highest EC measured in the south Delta channels and has frequently exceeded the D-1641 EC objectives.

Factors Affecting the Composition and Salinity of Exports from the South Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | February 24th, 2004

The goal of this report is to identify factors affecting the composition and salinity of exports from the south Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.  Composition is defined her

The goal of this report is to identify factors affecting the composition and salinity of exports from the south Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.  Composition is defined here as sources of salt such as rivers and seawater. The individual objectives are to Review south Delta export composition studies; Describe the salinity trends in cross-Delta flow and the San Joaquin River - the two immediate sources of water flowing to the SWP and CVP export sites in the south Delta; Identify factors determining the export of cross-Delta flow versus the San Joaquin River; and Describe long-term salinity trends in SWP exports from the south Delta and factors affecting them.  

Final Environmental Assessment Sacramento River Winter-Run Chinook Salmon Management Measures for Fisheries Managed under the Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) | March 1st, 2018

Final Environmental Impact Statement: Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project Central Valley Project, California

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | November 15th, 2024

The United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) prepared this environmental impact statement (EIS) for the 2021 Endangered Species Act R

The United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) prepared this environmental impact statement (EIS) for the 2021 Endangered Species Act Reinitiation of Section 7 Consultation on the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP). This EIS is meant to inform the public and decision makers on potential federal actions by examining a range of reasonable alternatives and the potential effect on the environment. Reclamation manages the CVP. The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) manages the SWP. Collectively, the operation of the CVP and SWP provides flood control and navigation; delivers water to 30 million people; supports 4 million acres of agriculture; maintains 19 wildlife refuges on the Pacific Flyway; protects numerous iconic and endemic species such as Chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, and smelt; generates 4.5 million megawatt hours of electricity; maintains water quality for beneficial uses in the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta); and supports recreation throughout Northern California. 

Final State Water Project Delivery Capability Report 2023

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | July 31st, 2024

This Delivery Capability Report presents California Department of Water Resources (DWR) analysis of the State Water Project (SWP) system and provides important planning i

This Delivery Capability Report presents California Department of Water Resources (DWR) analysis of the State Water Project (SWP) system and provides important planning information for users of SWP water. The analysis provides information about how changing climate, regulatory, and operational considerations impact SWP delivery capability.

Final Value Planning Study Report for Through Delta Facility, Sacramento, California

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | July 1st, 2007

Financing Delta Improvements and Environmental Mitigation

California Research Bureau (CRB) | September 1st, 2008

Resolution of the Delta’s water supply, water quality, and fish problems may involve building various structures, possibly including gates, pumps, canals, levees, and d

Resolution of the Delta’s water supply, water quality, and fish problems may involve building various structures, possibly including gates, pumps, canals, levees, and dams, and undertaking landscaping rearrangements to improve habitat for several species of flora and fauna. Resolution also involves changing water flow regimes in ways that would make more or less water, but probably less, available for human uses. This work and these changes will cost serious money. Cost estimates for many of these actions have not yet been developed. This paper explores approaches to financing these “improvements” and “mitigations.” While a little abstract, this is abstraction that matters. It will determine from whose pockets a good deal of money will come. California has a long history of financing water projects. The first section of this paper reviews this history, in hopes of identifying water-financing principles that might be adapted to Delta improvements and mitigation. Some deep-seated controversies about how Delta improvements should be financed have roots in this history, and it may be helpful to point them out. A core idea in California’s approach to financing water projects is that beneficiaries should pay for them. Decades ago, this was a straightforward proposition – people or water districts should pay for the necessary dams, canals, and pumps and the costs of operating them in proportion to the amount of water they received. In the current age of rising environmental sensitivity, it is a little muddier. An alternative formulation that applies, at least crudely, to housing developments and highway projects, is that project proponents should pay to mitigate at least some of the environmental harm that their project is likely to cause. The second section of this paper explores this controversial subject. It seems unlikely that any consensus can be reached about how to finance facilities in the Delta without reaching some agreement about how to deal with this matter. This paper was first issued in July, 2008. This version contains a few clarifications made in response to the Blue Ribbon Task Force’s reviewers. The author is grateful for their suggestions.

Fish Collections and Secondary Louver Efficiency at the Tracy Fish Collection Facility: October 1993 to September 1995

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | May 29th, 1998

Five Decades of Magical Thinking: How California's Water Policy is Founded on a Bankrupt 53-year-old Fantasy

California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) | May 5th, 2012

Recent revelations confirm that California's water policy is founded on a decades-old water deficit, one that will only be compounded by Jerry Brown's Twin Tunnels projec

Recent revelations confirm that California's water policy is founded on a decades-old water deficit, one that will only be compounded by Jerry Brown's Twin Tunnels project—a boondoggle scheme that would attempt to meet unsustainable contractual obligations by draining the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta of fresh water. The real issue here is not about how water is conveyed; it's about whether there is enough water for more conveyance or storage. When California officials built the State Water Project in 1960, they knew it would run out of water by 1981. To make up the shortfall, the state overappropriated water from the Delta. Operation of the Twin Tunnels is predicated on 1960 water availability estimates of anticipated diversions from north state rivers. These diversions from the Middle Fork Eel, the Mad and Van Duzen Rivers did not occur due to their ultimate state and federal designation as Wild and Scenic Rivers.