Water and the Future of the San Joaquin Valley

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | February 14th, 2019

The San Joaquin Valley—California’s largest agricultural region and an important contributor to the nation’s food supply—is in a time of great change. The valle

The San Joaquin Valley—California’s largest agricultural region and an important contributor to the nation’s food supply—is in a time of great change. The valley is ground zero for many of California’s most difficult water management problems—including groundwater overdraft, drinking water contamination, and declines in habitat and native species. Local water supplies are limited, particularly in the southern half of the region. To irrigate their crops, many farmers use water imported from the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. But in many places farmers have also relied on groundwater overdraft—pumping groundwater in excess of the rate at which it is replenished. Worsening droughts, increasing regulations to protect endangered native fishes, and growing demand by Southern California for Delta imports have compounded surface water scarcity. The state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires local water users to bring groundwater use to sustainable levels by the early 2040s. This will have a broad impact on valley agriculture and the regional economy in coming years—likely including some permanent idling of farmland. This report explores three key challenges facing the San Joaquin Valley and reviews the most promising approaches to address them:  Balancing water supplies and demands. To close the groundwater deficit, groundwater sustainability agencies in the valley’s overdrafted basins will have to augment supplies, reduce demands, or use some combination of these two approaches. A range of options are under consideration but they are not equally effective or practical.  Addressing groundwater quality challenges. Poor groundwater quality impairs drinking water supplies in disadvantaged rural communities, reduces long-term agricultural prosperity, and degrades ecosystems. Providing safe drinking water is an urgent priority. Over the longer term, parties will also need to manage water quantity and quality together, to take advantage of synergies and avoid unintended consequences. The necessary coordination will be challenging because the various programs addressing valley water quality issues are carried out by numerous local and regional entities, whose lines of responsibility and geographic boundaries do not neatly align.  Fostering beneficial water and land use transitions. Effectively addressing water scarcity and the resulting land use changes in the San Joaquin Valley offers opportunities to put lands coming out of production to good use—and gain “more pop per drop” from limited water resources. Multiple-benefit approaches to water and land management can enhance groundwater recharge and improve air and water quality. They can also promote healthier soils, new recreational opportunities, additional flood protection, improved habitat, and new revenue streams for private landowners engaging in conservation-oriented management. Addressing these complex and intertwined issues requires significant changes in water and land management and a major ramp-up in cooperation and coordination among a wide circle of stakeholders. Pursuing solutions that deliver multiple benefits will boost the chances of success overall. The entire region—and California as a whole—will benefit if solutions to these challenges are cost-effective and support the valley’s economy while improving public health and the natural environment.

Water and Wastes: A Retrospective Assessment of Wastewater Technology in the United States, 1800-1932

Johns Hopkins University Press (Hopkins Press) | April 2nd, 1984

This article derives largely from our NSF report on wastewater technology. The specific objects of the research were to identify the processes and key decision points i

This article derives largely from our NSF report on wastewater technology. The specific objects of the research were to identify the processes and key decision points involved in the evolution of wastewater technology of human waste disposal, to explore both its primary and secondary social and institutional effects, and to examine the development of public policy toward water pollution problems. In addition, the report dealt with the role played by values in the implementation of technology, as well as the effect of the technology on values. The essential aims of the project were to increase our understanding of water-related environmental problems and to inform policymakers about the larger context of contemporary wastewater questions.

Water availability and subsidence in California’s Central Valley

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | September 5th, 2015

California’s Central Valley covers about 52,000 square kilometers (km2) and is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. More than 250 different c

California’s Central Valley covers about 52,000 square kilometers (km2) and is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. More than 250 different crops are grown in the broad alluvial filled structural trough, with an estimated value exceeding $20 billion per year (Faunt 2009) (Figure 1). Central Valley agriculture depends on state and federal water systems that divert surface water, predominantly originating from Sierra Nevada snowmelt, to agricultural fields. Because the valley is semi-arid and the availability of surface water varies substantially from year to year, season to season, and from north to south, agriculture, as it grew, developed a reliance on groundwater for irrigation.

Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley Economic Impact Analysis: Phase One Results

Water Blueprint for San Joaquin Valley | February 15th, 2020

Water Budget Development for SGMA Compliance, Case Study: Ukiah Valley Groundwater Basin

Universities Council on Water Resources Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education | December 28th, 2017

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is the first comprehensive legislative effort to reform groundwater management in the state of California after years of

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is the first comprehensive legislative effort to reform groundwater management in the state of California after years of uncoordinated and voluntary governance of this resource. The objective of this study is to: a) describe the SGMA in California, b) describe a method for estimating a water budget, and c) present the implementation of this method for the Ukiah Valley Groundwater Basin (UVGB). An estimated water budget, done on a monthly time step from 1991 to 2015, was developed in order to characterize the UVGB. Results suggest that the groundwater basin is not in overdraft, and that a portion of the Russian River is a gaining river (approximately 18,952 AF/y) from November to June, and a losing river (approximately 393 AF/y) from July to October. Furthermore, lateral groundwater movement is identified through the groundwater mass balance. Based on previous work and the results of this study, the observed later groundwater losses signify connectivity between the UVGB and the Sanel Valley Groundwater Basin (SVGB). Local groundwater managers and users can use this information to inform proposed action plans and monitoring protocols that will allow them to achieve and maintain groundwater sustainability in the UVGB by the year 2040.

Water Column Selenium Concentrations in the San Francisco Bay-Delta: Recent Data and Recommendations for Future Monitoring

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | August 1st, 2017

The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board developed a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and implementation plan for selenium in North San Francisco Bay (NSFB) in 2015.1 T

The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board developed a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and implementation plan for selenium in North San Francisco Bay (NSFB) in 2015.1 The TMDL is based on attainment of water column and fish tissue target concentrations protective of human health, aquatic life, and wildlife, and was approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency in August, 2016. Analyses in support of the TMDL synthesized the results of different monitoring efforts to characterize selenium concentrations in water and biota in the Estuary. For water quality evaluation in the TMDL, the sources of observational data included studies of selenium speciation across the estuarine salinity gradient, performed in 1999-2000 and again in 2010 and 2012 (Cutter and Cutter 2004, Doblin et al. 2006, Tetra Tech, 2012), as well as samples collected by the San Francisco Bay Regional Monitoring Program (RMP). Changes in wastewater treatment from the five major refineries in NSFB were implemented in the late 1990s, leading to significant reductions in selenium loads. Data at Estuary center-line locations showed small changes for dissolved selenium in the mid-salinity range and no trends in particulate selenium (Baginska, 2015). As part of the TMDL, water quality modeling analyses were performed to characterize NSFB selenium concentrations under a range of hydrologic conditions and changing point-source loads (Baginska, 2015). Water column selenium concentration data in the NSFB and Delta continue to be collected at selected locations, although these data have not been systematically evaluated following the analyses presented in the TMDL reports. In the near term, possible changes that may cause selenium concentrations to change in the NSFB and Delta include concentration changes in the inflow from the San Joaquin River basin, changes in refinery inputs, changes in stormwater and tributary loads from the Bay margin, and changes in overall Central Valley hydrological conditions, such as the extreme wet and dry periods that occurred between 2012 and 2017. Other drivers, such as nutrient concentrations and algal levels, may also play a role, especially on the concentrations of selenium on particulates.

Water for a Growing Bay Area: How the region can grow without increasing water demand

Pacific Institute | October 21st, 2021

The San Francisco Bay Area is at a crossroads. The region, blessed with a beautiful natural setting, multiple shipping ports and world-class universities, is a driver of

The San Francisco Bay Area is at a crossroads. The region, blessed with a beautiful natural setting, multiple shipping ports and world-class universities, is a driver of global economic growth. But the region’s housing supply has not kept up with population growth. Many low-income households, disproportionately made up of people of color, have been forced into overcrowded and substandard housing or displaced from the urban center to new neighborhoods far from their jobs, friends and families. The most vulnerable have lost their homes entirely and are among the region’s 35,000 unhoused people. Over the next half-century, the Bay Area’s need to add housing will only grow more intense. The region is projected to add 2 million new jobs by 2070, which would attract as many as 6.8 million people, and needs to build at least 2.2 million new housing units just to prevent housing affordability from worsening. This represents 83% more people, 74% more housing units and 38% more jobs over the next 50 years.

Water Forward 2024 Plan Report - Austin's 100 Year Plan

City of Austin | December 6th, 2024

Water Forward 2024 is Austin’s 100-year integrated water resource plan. The purpose of Water Forward is to develop and implement diverse and environmentally conscious w

Water Forward 2024 is Austin’s 100-year integrated water resource plan. The purpose of Water Forward is to develop and implement diverse and environmentally conscious water management strategies to adapt to growth, drought, and climate change and ensure a sustainable, resilient, equitable, and affordable water future for our community for the next 100 years. Austin Water has developed this plan to address near- and long-term water needs through a collaborative process in alignment with guiding principles crafted to reflect the Austin community’s values. 

Water institutional reforms: theory and practice

International Water Association (IWA) Publishing | February 1st, 2005

This paper aims to set the stage with an outline of the conceptual, analytical and theoretical aspects of water institutional reforms and a synthesis of the main findings

This paper aims to set the stage with an outline of the conceptual, analytical and theoretical aspects of water institutional reforms and a synthesis of the main findings from the reform experiences of six countries: Australia, Chile, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Utilizing the latest developments in the literature on the subject, this paper presents the analytics of unbundling water institutions to show their endogenous and exogenous linkages, the transaction cost approach as a diagnostic framework for understanding the role of factors affecting water institutions, and a stage-based perspective to provide insights into the internal mechanics and dynamics evident in the process of water institutional change. Using this analytical framework and theoretical approach, this paper also identifies a few practically relevant principles for reform design and implementation. Based on a review of country reform experiences, the paper also synthesizes reform theories with actual practices by providing anecdotal evidence for various theoretical postulates and practical reform principles.

Water is a master variable: Solving for resilience in the modern era

Water Security, Elsevier | November 21st, 2019

Resilience is increasingly recognized as an imperative for any prospect of sustainable development, as it relates to our ability to sustain human well-being and progress

Resilience is increasingly recognized as an imperative for any prospect of sustainable development, as it relates to our ability to sustain human well-being and progress under the planetary and societal changes that we face now and into the future. Yet, we are ill-prepared to meet this challenge. We neither fully understand nor manage consistently for resilience of the human and natural systems that we must steward through extraordinary change. A unifying approach and common currency would help us to understand and manage for resilience under uncertain futures. Water is an essential, defining element in human and natural systems. Human civilization and water systems have co-evolved as a coupled system, with the majority of natural freshwater systems transformed to meet our demands. Shifting patters of water availability in space and time will define key pathways and tipping points for our resilience, and thus requirements for water system resilience must guide the trajectories and boundaries of human development. Here, we consider the thesis that water offers a key to unlocking the complex challenge of designing and managing for the resilience of coupled human-natural systems. We examine what constitutes a resilient system, what drives freshwater resilience, and how pathways to human resilience may be charted and navigated through the medium of water. Our theoretical treatise frames a portfolio of research that tests this thesis, including modeling and applications to water and water-dependent systems.