Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency Tule Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency (ETGSA) | January 17th, 2020

Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency Tule Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan (Revised)

Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency (ETGSA) | July 12th, 2022

This Plan addresses the items identified in the SGMA regulations specific to the ETGSA, including descriptions of the physical characteristics, the ETGSA water budget (h

This Plan addresses the items identified in the SGMA regulations specific to the ETGSA, including descriptions of the physical characteristics, the ETGSA water budget (historic and future), specific monitoring features and locations, quantifiable measurable objectives, interim milestones and minimum thresholds for the applicable sustainable management criteria including depth to groundwater, groundwater storage, groundwater quality, and land subsidence between 2020 and 2040, and those projects and management actions proposed to implement during the 20 year planning horizon to achieve the Sustainability Goal. These projects and management actions will be critical to the success of the Plan, which initially focus the ETGSA to implement an accounting system to track and monitor groundwater data to help inform and develop policies to adaptively manage to reduce groundwater overdraft while minimizing impacts to agriculture production and economic impacts to the local communities. Due to size, this file has been divided. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8

Eastside Aquifer Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency | January 13th, 2022

The 2014 California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires that medium- and high-priority groundwater basins and subbasins develop Groundwater Sustainabil

The 2014 California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires that medium- and high-priority groundwater basins and subbasins develop Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) that outline how groundwater sustainably will be achieved in 20 years, and then maintained for an additional 30 years. This GSP fulfills that requirement for the Salinas Valley—Eastside Aquifer Subbasin (Subbasin), which is designated by the DWR as a medium priority groundwater subbasin. Plan approved by DWR 4/27/23.

EcoAtlas - Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program: Tool Integration White Paper

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | February 1st, 2016

EcoAtlas: Enhancing Regional Capacity for Habitat Restoration Project Tracking, Assessment and Reporting

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | July 1st, 2016

This project consolidates information from a variety of existing datasets to signicantLly expand the project tracking functionality in EcoAtlas to include hundreds of h

This project consolidates information from a variety of existing datasets to signicantLly expand the project tracking functionality in EcoAtlas to include hundreds of habitat protection, enhancement, and restoration projects throughout the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay-Delta regions. The Project Tracker database has been redesigned to better accommodate detailed project information such as acres of distinct habitat types, species benefitted, progress and status, and funding sources. Additional functionality was added to enhance visual displays and queries of the tabular and spatial project data. As new projects are developed and existing projects enter new phases, information can be expanded and updated through the new online data entry forms. Additional spatial data layers such as “Modern Delta Habitat Types” allow users to evaluate projects within the context of existing ecological resources and other landscape characteristics and uses. Additional data, querying and mapping functionality will allow for improved analyses of changes in habitat extent, landscape-scale conservation planning, evaluation of progress towards meeting conservation objectives, and partnership building. By providing the tools needed to track and analyze landscape change, we will improve our ability to strategically conserve important habitats in the future.

Ecological Limits of Hydrologic Alteration: Environmental Flows for Regional Water Management

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | March 20th, 2008

Worldwide, water conflicts are escalating as cities, industries, agriculture, and energy producers compete for limited freshwater supplies. At the same time, there is a g

Worldwide, water conflicts are escalating as cities, industries, agriculture, and energy producers compete for limited freshwater supplies. At the same time, there is a growing awareness of the need to maintain adequate freshwater flows in rivers, lakes, floodplains, aquifers, and estuaries to sustain biodiversity and the many benefits derived from the healthy, functioning ecosystems upon which local communities and economies depend. Efficient, integrated water resource management systems help  governments provide for growing human populations while protecting and restoring healthy freshwater ecosystems. The integration of ecological considerations into water management has been hampered by the difficulty, cost, and time required for determining environmental flows -- the quantity, timing, and quality of water flows required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems and the human livelihoods and well-being that depend on these ecosystems.  Environmental flow assessments scientifically evaluate tradeoffs between alteration of natural water flow patterns by humans and consequent changes in ecological health.

Economic Analysis Guidebook

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | December 2nd, 2016

Because of its considerable water management partnerships with the federal government, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) has a policy that all economic analyses con

Because of its considerable water management partnerships with the federal government, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) has a policy that all economic analyses conducted for its internal use on programs and projects be fundamentally consistent with the federal Economics and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation Studies (P&G), which was adopted by the US Water Resources Council on March 10, 1983. The P&G set forth principles “…intended to ensure proper and consistent planning by federal agencies in the formulation and evaluation of water and related land resources implementation studies…” and guidelines that “…establish standards and procedures for use by federal agencies in formulating and evaluating alternative plans for water and related land resources implementation studies.” It is also DWR policy to adopt, maintain, and periodically update its own Economics Analysis Guidebook, which is consistent with the P&G but can also incorporate innovative methods and tools when appropriate. This policy is necessary because (a) the P&G has not been updated for more than 20 years, (b) federal and State economic analyses sometimes have different regional analysis perspectives, and (c) water management projects and programs have become more complex. The Economics Analysis Guidebook (Guidebook) was developed to assist DWR economists in performing economic analyses and, more importantly, to explain economics concepts, methods, and tools to non-economist staff, program managers, and management within DWR. This Guidebook should be used in conjunction with the federal P&G in the preparation of project feasibility and socioeconomic impact analyses. If DWR is partnering with a federal agency during the preparation of a feasibility study, then the P&G will have precedence over this Guidebook in determining the federal National Economic Development Plan. However, this Guidebook may help DWR identify a “Locally Preferred Plan” that is preferable from a State or local perspective rather than a National Economic Development Plan, which otherwise might have been implemented with strict adherence to the P&G. The Economics Analysis Guidebook discusses the following topics: • Federal and State Economic Analysis Guidelines • Economic Analysis Methods • Ecosystem Valuation Methods • Economic Analysis Models • Economic Analysis and the Federal Planning Process • Financial Analysis

Economic and Environmental Implications of California Crop and Livestock, Adaptation to Climate Change

California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) | August 27th, 2018

Economic and Water Supply Effects of Ending Groundwater Overdraft in California's Central Valley

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | March 1st, 2016

Surface water and groundwater management are often tightly linked, even when linkage is not intended or expected. This link is especially common in semi-arid regions, suc

Surface water and groundwater management are often tightly linked, even when linkage is not intended or expected. This link is especially common in semi-arid regions, such as California. This paper summarizes a modeling study on the effects of ending long-term overdraft in California’s Central Valley, the state’s largest aquifer system. The study focuses on economic and operational aspects, such as surface water pumping and diversions, groundwater recharge, water scarcity, and the associated operating and water scarcity costs. This analysis uses CALVIN, a hydro-economic optimization model for California’s water resource system that suggests operational changes to minimize net system costs for a given set of conditions, such as ending long-term overdraft. Based on model results, ending overdraft might induce some major statewide operational changes, including large increases to Delta exports, more intensive conjunctive-use operations with increasing artificial and in-lieu recharge, and greater water scarcity for Central Valley agriculture. The statewide costs of ending roughly 1.2 maf yr of groundwater overdraft are at least $50 million per year from additional direct water shortage and additional operating costs. At its worst, the costs of ending Central Valley overdraft could be much higher, perhaps comparable to the recent economic effects of drought. Driven by recent state legislation to improve groundwater sustainability, ending groundwater overdraft has important implications statewide for water use and management, particularly in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. Ending Central Valley overdraft will amplify economic pressure to increase Delta water exports rather than reduce them, tying together two of California’s largest water management problems.

Economic Productivity of California Water

Pacific Institute | October 22nd, 2004

This short summary presents information on total employment, total revenues/income, and total water use in California for various industrial and commercial sectors, using

This short summary presents information on total employment, total revenues/income, and total water use in California for various industrial and commercial sectors, using data through 2004. Far more detailed information, data, and analysis are available from the Pacific Institute and complete data sources are listed at the end of this memo. There are gross disparities in the “economic productivity” of water use. Even modest reallocations of water from one sector of our economy to another can produce significant changes in job availability and gross state product, but such reallocations must take account of regional economic priorities, job displacement and retraining issues, equity, and environmental side-effects. The data in this analysis suggest that carefully tailored water and business strategies, however, can lead to substantial benefits for California’s economy, job picture, and agricultural production.