The Complete Story of the Project: Its Purposes, Plans, and Progress of Construction

Scientific American | September 1st, 1932

IN THE Black Canyon of the Colorado, where the river forms the boundary between the states of Arizona and Nevada, the Government of the United States through the Depa

IN THE Black Canyon of the Colorado, where the river forms the boundary between the states of Arizona and Nevada, the Government of the United States through the Department of the Interior and directly by the Bureau of Reclamation has started construction of Hoover Dam. On September 17, 1930, constructional activities were formally inaugurated by Secretary of the Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur, and since that date, under the supervision and control of the Bureau of Reclamation, headed by Commissioner Elwood Mead, the building of the dam has progressed rapidly. Construction operations are carried out under the direction of R. F. Walter, Chief Engineer of the Bureau of Reclamation, represented in the field by the writer.

The Economic Value of Carryover Storage in California’s Water Supply System with Limited Hydrologic Foresight

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | July 1st, 2021

The security and prosperity of California’s economy depend on a large, interconnected and highly engineered water supply system with vast surface and groundwater stora

The security and prosperity of California’s economy depend on a large, interconnected and highly engineered water supply system with vast surface and groundwater storage operated for over-year storage. Substantial public investment is needed to maintain and improve these systems with changing climate risks, increasing demands, and aging infrastructure. Hydro-economic optimization identifies promising opportunities for managing such systems, but scientific and engineering advances are needed to better incorporate hydrologic uncertainty and conjunctive management of streams and aquifers into such models. Over two decades of research the California Value Integrated Network (CALVIN) linear programming hydro-economic model has yielded insights for California’s inter-regional water system on many fronts, including climate change, groundwater sustainability, conjunctive management in southern California, water markets, and reservoir operations in Northern California. Yet there remains unrealized potential to improve the model’s formulation to better represent inter-annual hydrologic variability while concurrently developing reservoir control rules. To address this gap, this study implements linearized quadratic carryover storage value functions on 26 surface reservoirs and linear groundwater storage penalties on 32 groundwater reservoirs to optimize California’s inter-regional water system seasonal and inter-annual operations with limited seasonal foresight. A convex Pareto front tradeoff between total system cost and groundwater overdraft is developed through multi-objective evolutionary optimization of inter-annual carryover storage penalties. Resulting over-year storage valuations span a wide range of nearoptimal reservoir operations, suggesting substantial system flexibility and adaptability when managed in an integrated way. Generalized relationships between carryover capacity, carryover use, and the marginal value of carryover storage are drawn for the multi-reservoir system. When compared to carryover operations based on California’s current simulation model, CalSim-II, the performance of these near-optimal reservoir operations suggests room to improve currently prescribed reservoir control rules, especially in supporting more  sustainable conjunctive management with aquifers. Overall, this study demonstrates the practicability, feasibility, and utility for understanding large-scale integrated multi-reservoir conjunctive use systems using limited foresight with explicit carryover storage values.

The Radical Groundwater Storage Test

Scientific American | October 19th, 2017

IN BRIEF California could better survive flood years and drought years by capturing floodwaters and using them to recharge underground aquifers that farmers and muni

IN BRIEF California could better survive flood years and drought years by capturing floodwaters and using them to recharge underground aquifers that farmers and municipalities now pump from when rains are scarce. To do so, water users and managers have to regard surface water and groundwater as one connected resource. A variety of test projects are proving that this approach can work. For example, farm fields can be flooded even when crops are growing so the water can percolate down into aquifers. Revising water rights and paying landowners to allow flooding can help the techniques work across California and the world.

The Role of Snowpack, Rainfall, and Reservoirs in Buffering California Against Drought Effects

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | August 1st, 2016

California’s vast reservoir system, fed by annual snow and rainfall, plays an important part in providing water to the State’s human and wildlife population. There ar

California’s vast reservoir system, fed by annual snow and rainfall, plays an important part in providing water to the State’s human and wildlife population. There are almost 1,300 reservoirs throughout the State, but only approximately 200 of them are considered storage reservoirs, and many of the larger ones are critical components of the Federal Central Valley Project and California State Water Project. Storage reservoirs, such as the ones shown in figure 1, capture winter precipitation for use in California’s dry summer months. In addition to engineered reservoir storage, California also depends on water “stored” in the statewide snowpack, which slowly melts during the course of the summer, to augment the State’s water supply.

The water footprint of water conservation using shade balls in California

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | July 16th, 2018

The interest in quick technologic fixes to complex water problems increases during extreme hydroclimatic events. However, past evidence shows that such fixes might be ass

The interest in quick technologic fixes to complex water problems increases during extreme hydroclimatic events. However, past evidence shows that such fixes might be associated with unintended consequences. We revisit the idea of using shade balls in the Los Angeles reservoir to reduce evaporation during the recent drought in California, and question its sustainability by revealing the water footprint of this technologic water conservation solution.

Tracking California’s striking water storage gains attributed to intensive atmospheric rivers

Journal of Hydrology (Elsevier) | February 5th, 2025

California is highly vulnerable to extreme precipitation events due to the dense landfall of atmospheric rivers (ARs) during the winter months, often resulting in catastr

California is highly vulnerable to extreme precipitation events due to the dense landfall of atmospheric rivers (ARs) during the winter months, often resulting in catastrophic consequences such as widespread floods, mudslides, and landslides. This study focuses on the recovery of daily variations in AR-driven terrestrial water storage (TWS), which produces geodetically detectable ground subsidence. We invert GNSS vertical positions to obtain daily estimates of equivalent water height (EWH) through a variational Bayesian principal component analysis (vbPCA) based inversion scheme and track significant water gains during record-setting winter months in four water years (WYs) 2011, 2017, 2019, and 2023. These precipitation extremes have resulted in a substantial short-term increase in water storage, as evidenced by the multi-source EWH datasets (GNSS, GRACE, and NLDAS). Notably, WY 2023 experienced the highest snowfall due to the landfalls of high-density, high-category ARs, while WY 2017 recorded the highest precipitation totals, driven by the most frequent occurrence of hazardous ARs. Our findings further highlight that GNSS can accurately detect exceptionally wet hydrological events on short time scales, benefiting from an improved signal-to-noise ratio due to substantial increase in water storage. The results also indicate that while these extreme water years can help alleviate surface subsidence in the Central Valley caused by groundwater overexploitation, it is insufficient to alter California’s heavy reliance on groundwater for its intensive agricultural activities. Our findings demonstrate that GNSS is successful in tracking prodigious water increases from short-term precipitation extremes that are weaker than powerful hurricanes, illuminating the prospect of GNSS in supporting water management and flood preparedness.

Truckee River Operating Agreement

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | September 6th, 2008

Click here for USBR home page for the agreement and related documents.

Click here for USBR home page for the agreement and related documents.

Update on an Analysis of a Potential Groundwater Storage and Recovery Program in the Carpinteria Groundwater Basin

Montecito Water District (MWD) | March 11th, 2025

Upper San Joaquin River Basin Storage Investigation (Temperance Flat)

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | April 1st, 2016

The Upper San Joaquin River Basin Storage Investigation is a feasibility study of new surface water storage that is being performed by the U.S. Department of the Interior

The Upper San Joaquin River Basin Storage Investigation is a feasibility study of new surface water storage that is being performed by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation. The purpose of the investigation is to determine the type and extent of federal, state, and regional interests in a potential dam project in the upper San Joaquin River watershed to expand water storage capacity; improve water supply reliability and flexibility for agricultural, urban, and environmental uses; and enhance San Joaquin River water temperature and flow conditions to support anadromous fish restoration efforts This investigation is one of five surface water storage studies recommended in the CALFED Bay-Delta Program Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement/Report Record of Decision of August 2000. Reclamation released a Draft Feasibility Report in February 2014 that provides an in depth examination into the potential construction of a new dam and reservoir on the upper San Joaquin River, between Friant and Kerckhoff dams. View the feasibility report available here. Reclamation released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Upper San Joaquin River Basin Storage Investigation for public comment on September 5, 2014. Written comments may be provided at any time on or before Oct. 27, 2014. Testimony can also be submitted at the upcoming public hearings on October 14 and October 16, 2014. Comments and testimony will be considered in the Final EIS. The Draft EIS documents the potential environmental effects of alternatives to increase storage of water from the upper San Joaquin River watershed to improve water supply reliability and operational flexibility in Central Valley Project San Joaquin Valley areas and other regions of California, and to enhance water temperature and flow conditions in the San Joaquin River downstream from Friant Dam for salmon and other native fish. In addition to the No Action Alternative, the Draft EIS documents five action alternatives that include constructing a dam in the upstream portion of Millerton Lake at river mile 274. The action alternatives vary based on operations and intake feature configurations. The Draft EIS was prepared for formal public review and comment, consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act. View the Draft EIS report available here.Upper San Joaquin River Basin Storage Investigation

Valuing energy flexibility from water systems

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | September 27th, 2024

From Maven's Notebook preview: * The researchers suggest a way to measure the value of using water systems to help manage energy needs. * Water systems are generall

From Maven's Notebook preview: * The researchers suggest a way to measure the value of using water systems to help manage energy needs. * Water systems are generally very efficient at adjusting their energy use, but with current designs, they can only provide a moderate amount of power and energy under typical conditions. * Upgrading facilities to improve their energy flexibility is often a good investment and is usually cheaper than adding battery storage on-site. * Different pricing systems for energy in the U.S. and around the world have the biggest impact on whether these upgrades will be profitable. * Recognizing the value of energy flexibility is the first step to encouraging energy storage, flexible energy use, and renewable biogas generation in the water industry.