CV-SALTS Turlock Management Zone Implementation Plan

Valley Water Collaborative | September 5th, 2023

The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Central Valley Water Board) adopted amendments to the Water Quality Control Plan for the Sacramento River and San

The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (Central Valley Water Board) adopted amendments to the Water Quality Control Plan for the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River Basins and the Water Quality Control Plan for the Tulare Lake Basin (BasinPlans) to incorporate a Salt and Nitrate Control Program. The Nitrate Control Program is designed to achieve the following three management goals in the Central Valley Region: • Goal 1 – Ensure a safe drinking water supply; • Goal 2 – Reduce salt and nitrate loading so that ongoing discharges neither threaten to degrade high quality waters absent appropriate findings by the Central Valley Water Board nor cause or contribute to exceedances of water quality objectives; and, • Goal 3 – Implement long-term, managed restoration of impaired water bodies. Click here for an index of CV-SALTS Management Zone publications

Decadal Shifts in Groundwater Age Detected by Environmental Tracers Across California

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | March 23rd, 2026

Groundwater age tells us how long water has been underground since it last infiltrated the land surface. Monitoring changes in groundwater age helps identify aquifer stre

Groundwater age tells us how long water has been underground since it last infiltrated the land surface. Monitoring changes in groundwater age helps identify aquifer stress from pumping or shifts toward new hydrologic conditions—key factors for sustainable water management. In this study, changes in groundwater age were tested by comparing chemical tracer data collected about 10 years apart from hundreds of wells across California. Chemical tracers are dissolved substances with known historical records and decay rates that can be used to infer groundwater age. Using models that estimate expected tracer concentrations under steady-age conditions, this study found that nearly one-third of the wells showed significant changes in groundwater age over time. These changes were most common in areas with heavy agricultural use, where pumping and irrigation have altered how water moves underground. These shifts in age can also affect water quality, especially when younger water carries contaminants like nitrate. By using a statistical modeling approach, this study shows how changes in groundwater age can help identify aquifers under stress and support efforts to manage groundwater sustainably.

Deepening water scarcity in breadbasket nations

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | January 28th, 2025

Water is crucial for meeting sustainability targets, but its unsustainable use threatens human wellbeing and the environment. Past assessments of water scarcity (i.e., wa

Water is crucial for meeting sustainability targets, but its unsustainable use threatens human wellbeing and the environment. Past assessments of water scarcity (i.e., water demand in exceedance of availability) have often been spatially coarse and temporally limited, reducing their utility for targeting interventions. Here we perform a detailed monthly sub-basin assessment of the evolution of blue (i.e., surface and ground) water scarcity (years 1980-2015) for the world’s three most populous countries – China, India, and the USA. Disaggregating by specific crops and sectors, we find that blue water demand rose by 60% (China), 71% (India), and 27% (USA), dominated by irrigation for a few key crops (alfalfa, maize, rice, wheat). We also find that unsustainable demand during peak months of use has increased by 101% (China), 82% (India), and 49% (USA) and that 32% (China), 61% (India), and 27% (US) of sub-basins experience at least 4 months of scarcity. These findings demonstrate that rising water demands are disproportionately being met by water resources in already stressed regions and provide a basis for targeting potential solutions that better balance the water needs of humanity and nature.

Delano Earlimart Irrigation District Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Delano Earlimart Irrigation District | January 27th, 2020

Delta Adapts: Creating a Climate Resilient Future

Delta Stewardship Council (DSC) | June 25th, 2025

The Delta Stewardship Council (Council) was established, in part, to provide sustainable management for the Delta ecosystem, and climate adaptation is a critical consider

The Delta Stewardship Council (Council) was established, in part, to provide sustainable management for the Delta ecosystem, and climate adaptation is a critical consideration to achieve that mission in future decades. To respond to the challenge of climate adaptation,the Council developed this initiative, Delta Adapts: Creating a Climate Resilient Future (Delta Adapts). Climate change must be considered to attain the state’s coequal goals, as established by the 2009 Delta Reform Act: securing a reliable water supply for California, protecting and restoring the ecosystem and wildlife it supports, and enhancing the Delta as a unique place, with its community, tribal, and agricultural heritage. The Council adopted the Delta Plan, which has regulatory policies that protect land for restoration and agriculture, help manage flood risk, and improve water supply reliability. The Delta Plan directs the Council to guide and regulate actions of the 200+ state and local agencies in the Delta to ensure they support statewide water supply reliability and Delta ecosystem restoration.

Delta Vision Strategic Plan

State of California | October 17th, 2008

When it was created by Governor Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order S-17-06 in 2006, the charge of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force (Task Force) was nothing less th

When it was created by Governor Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order S-17-06 in 2006, the charge of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force (Task Force) was nothing less than to create a vision to repair the ecological damage to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta), and then prepare a strategic plan which would sustain the Delta in future decades while ensuring a reliable water supply for the two-thirds of California’s population who depend in whole or in part on water from the Delta.

Delta Vision Strategic Plan -- from Phil Isenberg, 1939-2023

State of California | October 17th, 2008

When it was created by Governor Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order S-17-06 in 2006, the charge of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force (Task Force) was nothing less th

When it was created by Governor Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order S-17-06 in 2006, the charge of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force (Task Force) was nothing less than to create a vision to repair the ecological damage to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta), and then prepare a strategic plan which would sustain the Delta in future decades while ensuring a reliable water supply for the two-thirds of California’s population who depend in whole or in part on water from the Delta.

Delta Working Landscapes Program Final Report

Delta Protection Commission (DPC) | October 14th, 2013

The Delta Working Landscapes Program (Program) is a group of projects which demonstrate how farmers can integrate habitat restoration into farming practices. The objectiv

The Delta Working Landscapes Program (Program) is a group of projects which demonstrate how farmers can integrate habitat restoration into farming practices. The objectives of the Program are to improve the environmental quality of existing landscapes in the Delta; coordinate programs with local farmers; understand the social, economic, environmental and governmental policy hurdles and/or incentives to perform conservation practices; and communicate to farmers the advantages of implementing wildlife friendly agricultural practices. The Delta Protection Commission was awarded a three year grant to construct the program through the California Bay-Delta Program in 2005. Program partners included California Department of Fish and Wildlife Ecosystem Restoration Program, Hart Restoration (Hart) and Ducks Unlimited (DU). Hart established vegetative buffers along irrigation ditch banks and hedgerow grass plantings. These plantings were designed to provide habitat for wildlife, improve water quality by reducing runoff of pesticides and sediment, enhance levee stability, and retard levee erosion. DU coordinated restoration enhancement projects which included creating seasonal and permanent wetlands on marginal farmlands. These projects provide waterfowl brooding habitat, a food source, and additional habitat sites which promote healthier waterfowl flocks. These projects total 312 acres of seasonal and permanent wetlands and 6.5 miles enhanced levees and waterways. Project areas established native plant life, have been repopulated by wildlife, and filter agricultural drainage which improves water quality and enhances levee stability. Multiple species of waterfowl are using the restoration habitat for brooding and feeding as well as staying later into the season. No easements, MOUs, fee purchases, or eminent domain were used. Challenges to Working Landscapes projects include prior long term use of pesticides and herbicides which have created a hostile environment for native plants and wildlife. Additionally, some cultural practices are not conducive to habitat creation such as practices which rely on herbicides instead of tillage. Furthermore, economic costs are affiliated with physical land alterations, and in some cases permit requirements are cumbersome. Despite these challenges, successful public/private partnerships are possible. Working Landscapes projects can be expanded through better communication between policy and regulatory agencies and publicizing successful projects.

Desalination Demonstration Report for Buena Vista Water Storage District

Buena Vista Water Storage District | December 1st, 2003

Saline agricultural drainage water within the Buena Vista Water Storage District is accumulating in shallow aquifers located below productive farmland. This saline water

Saline agricultural drainage water within the Buena Vista Water Storage District is accumulating in shallow aquifers located below productive farmland. This saline water has risen to elevations where it increases the soil salinity in crop root zones resulting in reduced crop productivity and in some areas of the District, lands have been taken out of production because of the high saline groundwater table. A reverse osmosis pilot plant was constructed to demonstrate the feasibility of desalting saline irrigation drainage water for use as a water supply for agricultural or municipal use. The demonstration plant was constructed in the Buena Vista Water Storage District northwest of Bakersfield, California. The plant operated during the irrigation seasons of 2000 and 2002.

Developing agricultural pest management strategies with reduced-risks to surface water: An economic case study of California's Central Coast region

Elsevier | May 4th, 2024