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Spatial Dependence of Floods Shaped by Spatiotemporal Variations in Meteorological and Land‐Surface Processes

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | June 9th, 2020

Summary

Floods often affect large regions and cause adverse societal impacts. Regional flood hazard and risk assessments therefore require a realistic representation of spa

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State Investments in Delta Levees: Key Issues For Updating Priorities

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | January 9th, 2015

Summary

This paper outlines 15 issues that will need to be considered as the Council updates the Delta Plan’s 36 provisions regarding State investment in the Delta’s levees.

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State of California Emergency Flood Fighting Methods

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | August 1st, 2018

Summary

The ‘Flood Fighting Methods’ outlined in this booklet have proven effective during many years of use by DWR, United States Army Corps of Engineers, and local agencies

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State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance

California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) | March 14th, 2018

Summary

The climate across California is changing, and the effects, such as rising average temperatures, shrinking mountain snowpack, more intense storms, and higher sea

The climate across California is changing, and the effects, such as rising average temperatures, shrinking mountain snowpack, more intense storms, and higher sea levels are expected to continue and worsen in the coming decades. Sea-level rise is caused by the thermal expansion of warming ocean water and melting of land ice as the Earth warms. It is one of the most obvious manifestations of the trend of climate change and is an immediate and real threat to lives, livelihoods, transportation, economies, and the environment in California. In April 2017, catalyzed by direction from Governor Brown and the need to ensure that best available science was informing sea-level rise planning decisions in California, a Working Group of the California Ocean Protection Council’s Science Advisory Team (OPC-SAT) released a report, entitled “Rising Seas in California: An Update on Sea-Level Rise.” The Rising Seas Report was prepared and peer-reviewed by some of the nation’s foremost experts in coastal processes, climate and sea-level rise science, observational and modeling science, the science of extremes, and decision-making under uncertainty. The report synthesized the current state of sea-level rise science, including advances in modeling and improved understanding of the processes that could drive extreme global sea-level rise as a result of ice loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. The report found that: Scientific understanding of sea-level rise is advancing at a rapid pace. The direction of sea-level change is clear; sea levels are rising. The rate of ice loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets is increasing, and California is particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise caused by ice loss from West Antarctica. New scientific evidence has highlighted the potential for extreme sea-level rise. Probabilities of specific sea-level increases can inform decisions. Current policy decisions are shaping our coastal future. Waiting for scientific certainty is neither a safe nor prudent option. The increased understanding of sea-level rise projections and polar ice sheet loss warranted an update to the State’s sea-level rise guidance document to ensure decisions were based on the best available science. Additionally, an increased policy focus requiring state and local governments to incorporate climate change into decision making merited an update to address the needs of both state and local audiences. This updated document, the “State of California Sea-Level Rise Guidance” (Guidance), provides a bold, science-based methodology for state and local governments to analyze and assess the risks associated with sea-level rise, and to incorporate sea-level rise into their planning, permitting, and investment decisions. This Guidance provides: 1. A synthesis of the best available science on sea- level rise projections and rates for California; 2. A step-by-step approach for state agencies and local governments to evaluate those projections and related hazard information in decision making; and 3. Preferred coastal adaptation approaches.

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State of the Estuary 2019 Update

San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) | October 22nd, 2019

Summary

The San Francisco Estuary is a large and diverse system. Hundreds of miles of coastline stretch from the wide valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers to the stee

The San Francisco Estuary is a large and diverse system. Hundreds of miles of coastline stretch from the wide valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers to the steep headlands of the Golden Gate, with vast agricultural fields in the Delta and urbanized shorelines in Silicon Valley and many of the region’s cities. The complexity and scale of this system means it can take years to detect and assess changes. This interim State of the Estuary Report checks in on a few indicators of health and explores where the assessment should head over time. In the four years since the 2015 State of the Estuary Report, two issues have emerged as critical to how we assess the health of the estuarine ecosystem at the heart of the Bay Area and the Delta. First, the health of the Estuary and of the people who live near it and depend on it are inextricably linked. We need a healthy Bay and Delta to protect our shorelines from sea level rise, help keep our waters clean, provide food and habitat for fish and wildlife, and give people a place to enjoy nature. We also need to think more about human communities as we assess the health of natural communities. This focus means addressing environmental injustices that are deeply embedded in our culture and patterns of development. The second critical issue to emerge is the need for a greater focus on landscape resilience—how well the Bay and the Delta are equipped to respond to change—so that people and wildlife can thrive as climate change progresses. Taking these two ideas together, this report focuses on the nexus of social and ecological resilience as we look toward the future. The first section of the Report updates indicators of ecological health that span the entire extent of the San Francisco Estuary (Bay and Delta). Recent data show continued progress along the trajectories of the past decade. Tidal marsh restoration is proceeding at a brisk pace in the Bay and gaining traction in the Delta, while urban water conservation continues to meet mandated benchmarks, even during the drought. On the other hand, flows through the Estuary and across its floodplains continue to be well below levels that could increase and restore ecosystem health. Freshwater flows are a lynchpin of ecosystem processes that sustain physical habitats, fuel the food web, and regulate water quality. Creative approaches to using and re-using fresh water for environmental purposes are needed. Long-term trend analysis shows that fish communities in the Bay are declining. This analysis scores an index of 10 attributes of a healthy fish community. The index focuses on fish in offshore areas, and may not capture benefits to fish from near-shore wetland restoration projects. Despite this slow decline, fish communities in the saltier parts of the Estuary remain in good condition, while those in the brackish and freshwater areas are in poor condition. The next section of the report discusses three emerging indicators of Estuary health, offering options for how to assess resilience in future reports. Here, for the first time, the resilience of the Estuary’s shores is evaluated through the lens of subsidence and nature-based features. Elevation relative to sea level is a basic currency that must be tracked as the Pacific Ocean rises into the Estuary. The potential for the Estuary shore to be resilient to climate change and continue to provide benefits to people is related to how much of the shore zone is nature-based. The final emerging indicator, urban green space, is a first attempt to assess how access to nature is distributed across more and less advantaged communities. More work is needed to finalize all these emerging indicators before they can be included in any future quantitative assessment of the State of the Estuary. These emerging and updated indicators will help focus efforts to restore the Estuary’s health. In addition to continuing the successful aspects of restoration and conservation that this report describes, we need more investment in creative ways to use and restore flows for environmental health, to expand and build resilient shorelines and to weave considerations of social equity more strongly into efforts to improve environmental health. - J. Letitia Grenier, Lead Scientist

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State of the Salmonids: Status of California’s Emblematic Fishes 2017

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | August 1st, 2017

Summary

California has, or had, 32 distinct kinds of salmonid fishes. They are either endemic to California or at the southern end of their ranges. Most are in serious decline:

California has, or had, 32 distinct kinds of salmonid fishes. They are either endemic to California or at the southern end of their ranges. Most are in serious decline: 45% and 74% of all salmonids will likely become extirpated from California in the next 50 and 100 years, respectively, if present trends continue. Our results suggest that California will lose more than half (52%) of its native anadromous salmonids and nearly a third (30%) of its inland taxa in just 50 years under current conditions. Climate change is a major overarching threat driving population declines throughout California and strongly affects the status of 84% of all salmonids reviewed. In addition, dams, agricultural operations, estuary alteration, non-native species, production hatcheries, and myriad other human-induced threats have contributed to declines. 81% of salmonids in California are now worse off than they were in 2007, when the previous version of this report was prepared. The changes in species status are the result of the 2012-2016 historic drought, improved data collection and review, and an improved understanding of climate change impacts. Returning these iconic species to sustainable levels requires access to productive and diverse habitats which promote the full range of life history diversity necessary to weather change. We recommend (i) protecting and investing in fully functioning watersheds such as the Smith River and Blue Creek, (ii) protecting and restoring source waters such as Sierra meadow systems, groundwater, and springs so that the impacts of climate change are reduced, (iii) restoring function and access to once productive and diverse habitats such as Central Valley floodplains, coastal lagoons, and estuaries, (iv) adopting reconciliation ecology as a basis for management in human dominated landscapes, (v) improving habitat connectivity and passage to historical spawning and rearing habitat, and (vi) improving salmonid genetic management throughout California.

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State Plan of Flood Control Descriptive Document (2010)

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | January 15th, 2010

Summary

This report provides an inventory and description of the existing flood control works (facilities), lands, programs, plans, conditions, and mode of operations and mainten

This report provides an inventory and description of the existing flood control works (facilities), lands, programs, plans, conditions, and mode of operations and maintenance (O&M) for the State-Federal flood protection system in the Central Valley of California. This flood protection system is composed of federally authorized project levees and related facilities for which the State has provided assurances1 of cooperation to the federal government. These State-provided assurances are an important distinction for what constitutes the State-federal flood protection system since other flood protection facilities in the Central Valley are not covered by State assurances and are not part of the State-federal system. Collectively, the facilities, lands, programs, conditions, and mode of O&M for the State-Federal flood protection system in the Central Valley are referred to as the State Plan of Flood Control (SPFC). This SPFC Descriptive Document is the first time that an inventory of the SPFC has been compiled or referenced in a single document. Until now, much of the information on the SPFC has been individually maintained for each of the many flood protection projects that constitute State-federal flood protection along the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and tributaries. For example, much of the information contained in sections of this report originates in 118 individual project (unit-specific) O&M manuals. The O&M manuals provide key information about each project and how it should be operated and maintained (see reference digital versatile disc (DVD) at the back of this report). In addition, since the individual projects for the system were implemented over almost a century, some information may have been lost or never obtained. In those cases, gaps exist in the information presented in this report and further research is required. It is important to note that the SPFC is only a portion of the larger system that provides flood protection for the Central Valley. The SPFC relies on many other features that do not meet the definition of the SPFC. For example, non-SPFC reservoirs provide substantial regulation of flows to levels that SPFC facilities can mostly handle. Private levees, locally operated drainage systems, and other facilities work in conjunction with SPFC facilities. Management practices such as emergency response, floodplain management, and other practices are part of the overall flood protection system. All parts of the system, including the SPFC, depend on other parts of the system to operate as a unit. This report is structured as a reference document for the SPFC. It includes narrative descriptions, tables, and figures, especially maps, to help the reader find information for this complex flood management system. Some sections include summary sections for readers who only need an overview of the subject. RELATED DOCUMENT: State Plan of Flood Control Descriptive Document 2016 Update

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State Plan of Flood Control Descriptive Document 2016 Update

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | December 14th, 2016

Summary

The November 2016 State Plan of Flood Control (SPFC) Descriptive Document Update (2016 Update) is intended to serve as a reference for flood management planners and opera

The November 2016 State Plan of Flood Control (SPFC) Descriptive Document Update (2016 Update) is intended to serve as a reference for flood management planners and operators at the local, State, and federal levels. It is not a stand-alone document; rather, it works in conjunction with the November 2010 SPFC Descriptive Document, builds upon information presented in the original report, and documents changes to the SPFC that have occurred between November 2010 and July 2016. The 2016 Update documents the inventory of flood control projects and works (facilities), lands, programs, plans, conditions, and mode of operations and maintenance for the State-federal flood management system in the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River watersheds of California, as well as informs the 2017 Central Valley Flood Protection Plan Update. In 2006 and 2007, California voters approved the Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Bond Act of 2006 and the Central Valley Flood Protection Act of 2008 respectively. These acts defined the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River federal-State flood control projects as the SPFC, and required DWR to develop, and the Central Valley Flood Protection Board to adopt, a Central Valley Flood Protection Plan. The Central Valley Flood Protection Plan is broader than the SPFC, affecting the entire watersheds of the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. A complex system of dams and reservoirs, levees, weirs, bypasses, and other features constructed piecemeal over the last 100 years protects urban and rural areas against most flooding. This system has prevented billions of dollars in damage in its lifetime. A portion of this complex flood protection system includes State and federally authorized projects for which the Central Valley Flood Protection Board or DWR has provided assurances of cooperation to the federal government, known as the SPFC. These statutory authorizations include provisions regarding responsibility for operation and maintenance of the flood control facilities. The California Legislature has authorized funding for numerous flood control projects throughout the Sacramento and San Joaquin River watersheds. As the SPFC evolves, updates to the SPFC Descriptive Document will be useful in determining funding eligibility for funding for facility improvements. RELATED DOCUMENT: State Plan of Flood Control (2010)

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State Plan of Flood Control Descriptive Document Update (2017)

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | August 10th, 2017

Summary

The State Plan of Flood Control (SPFC) Descriptive Document, November 2010, provided the first inventory and description of the flood management projects and features (fa

The State Plan of Flood Control (SPFC) Descriptive Document, November 2010, provided the first inventory and description of the flood management projects and features (facilities), lands, programs, plans, conditions, and mode of operations and maintenance for the State-federal flood management system in the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River watersheds of California. The 2010 Descriptive Document was prepared in response to Proposition 1E (Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Act of 2006), which required that information on the SPFC “…. be updated and compiled into a single document entitled, ‘The State Plan of Flood Control.’” Similar information is required to be a part of the CVFPP pursuant to the Central Valley Flood Protection Act of 2008. Legislation relevant to this document can be found in Appendix A. While much of the information contained in the 2010 Descriptive Document has not changed, it was anticipated that future updates would be necessary to keep the SPFC description current as new or ongoing projects were completed. Also, updates to the SPFC would be appropriate to reflect any additional or new documentation discovered on existing projects that would meet the requirements of the SPFC. The purpose of this update to the 2010 Descriptive Document is to describe changes that have occurred to the SPFC since the 2010 Descriptive Document due to project implementation and other related changes. This document also supports the data and analysis of the 2017 Central Valley Flood Protection Plan Update (CVFPP) and the 2017 Flood System Status Report (FSSR). The SPFC Descriptive Document Update (Update) is structured as a reference document and should be used in conjunction with the 2010 Descriptive Document to represent the SPFC as of June 30, 2016. It includes narrative descriptions, tables, figures, web links, and maps, to help the reader find information for this complex flood management system. Figure G-1 shows a geographic overview of the SPFC. Consistent with the 2010 Descriptive Document level of detail, this report describes changes to the major elements of the SPFC, but only to a level of detail necessary to orient the reader to the SPFC and reference where more information can be found. For example, a given reach of levee may have many encroachments such as pipes that cross under, through, or over the levee. In addition, a given river reach may have associated bridges, stream gages, drainage facilities, etc. No attempt was made to itemize all these encroachments and associated facilities in this Update. Because of the volume of available information, a reference digital versatile disc (DVD) was provided in the pocket at the end of the 2010 Descriptive Document. The DVD provided more details than could be contained in the text of the 2010 report. The contents of the 2010 Reference DVD, excluding the SPFC Mapbook and O&M manual database, is located on the 2012 CVFPP webpage at http://www.water.ca.gov/cvfmp/2012-cvfpp-docs.cfm.

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Storm rainfall conditions for floods and debris flows from recently burned areas in southwestern Colorado and southern California

Geomorphology (Elsevier) | April 15th, 2008

Summary

Debris flows generated during rain storms on recently burned areas have destroyed lives and property throughout the Western U.S. Field evidence indicate that unli

Debris flows generated during rain storms on recently burned areas have destroyed lives and property throughout the Western U.S. Field evidence indicate that unlike landslide-triggered debris flows, these events have no identifiable initiation source and can occur with little or no antecedent moisture. Using rain gage and response data from five fires in Colorado and southern California, we document the rainfall conditions that have triggered post-fire debris flows and develop empirical rainfall intensity–duration thresholds for the occurrence of debris flows and floods following wildfires in these settings. This information can provide guidance for warning systems and planning for emergency response in similar settings. Debris flows were produced from 25 recently burned basins in Colorado in response to 13 short-duration, high-intensity convective storms. Debris flows were triggered after as little as six to 10 min of storm rainfall. About 80% of the storms that generated debris flows lasted less than 3 h, with most of the rain falling in less than 1 h. The storms triggering debris flows ranged in average intensity between 1.0 and 32.0 mm/h, and had recurrence intervals of two years or less. Threshold rainfall conditions for floods and debris flows sufficiently large to pose threats to life and property from recently burned areas in south-central, and southwestern, Colorado are defined by: I = 6.5D− 0.7 and I = 9.5D− 0.7, respectively, where I = rainfall intensity (in mm/h) and D = duration (in hours). Debris flows were generated from 68 recently burned areas in southern California in response to long-duration frontal storms. The flows occurred after as little as two hours, and up to 16 h, of low-intensity (2–10 mm/h) rainfall. The storms lasted between 5.5 and 33 h, with average intensities between 1.3 and 20.4 mm/h, and had recurrence intervals of two years or less. Threshold rainfall conditions for life- and property-threatening floods and debris flows during the first winter season following fires in Ventura County, and in the San Bernardino, San Gabriel and San Jacinto Mountains of southern California are defined by I = 12.5D−0.4, and I = 7.2D−0.4, respectively. A threshold defined for flood and debris-flow conditions following a year of vegetative recovery and sediment removal for the San Bernardino, San Gabriel and San Jacinto Mountains of I = 14.0D−0.5 is approximately 25 mm/h higher than that developed for the first year following fires. The thresholds defined here are significantly lower than most identified for unburned settings, perhaps because of the difference between extremely rapid, runoff-dominated processes acting in burned areas and longer-term, infiltration-dominated processes on unburned hillslopes.

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Spatial Dependence of Floods Shaped by Spatiotemporal Variations in Meteorological and Land‐Surface Processes

State Investments in Delta Levees: Key Issues For Updating Priorities

State of California Emergency Flood Fighting Methods

State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance

State of the Estuary 2019 Update

State of the Salmonids: Status of California’s Emblematic Fishes 2017

State Plan of Flood Control Descriptive Document (2010)

State Plan of Flood Control Descriptive Document 2016 Update

State Plan of Flood Control Descriptive Document Update (2017)

Storm rainfall conditions for floods and debris flows from recently burned areas in southwestern Colorado and southern California

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