The Lower Colorado Basin Fiscal Years 2019 & 2020

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | January 4th, 2021

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Annual Report for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) | December 1st, 2019

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California History and First Annual Report for the Period Ending June 30, 1938

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) | January 20th, 1939

The Monterey Amendments to State Water Project Contracts: A History

California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) | February 28th, 2010

Policy statement: C-WIN works to overturn the Monterey Plus amendments to the State Water Project contracts. To return the state mandated "Urban Preference"; to require t

Policy statement: C-WIN works to overturn the Monterey Plus amendments to the State Water Project contracts. To return the state mandated "Urban Preference"; to require the contracts to reflect water that is really there; to stop the abusive pumping of water that is not surplus; and to return the Kern Water Bank to the public to firm up the urban preference for the 22 million urban water users south of the Delta in times of drought. Drought from 1987 to 1992, and again in 1994, financial crisis among state water contractors, and the prospect of tighter regulation of Delta exports by the State Water Project (SWP) by the state and federal government provoked the project’s most serious crisis. In 1994 four of the SWP contractors, including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) and the Kern County Water Agency which together control about 75 percent of State Water Project allocations, and representatives from Paramount Farming (a private company), met secretly in Monterey to attempt to resolve their water shortage dilemma. The result was the Monterey Amendments to the State Water Project water service contracts.

The Monterey Plus Amendments to State Contracts: “Paper Water” and the Kern Water Bank Giveaway: A C-WIN Policy Brief

California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) | January 1st, 2012

Changes secretly made to the State Water Project by water contractors and the California Department of Water Resources in the 1990s, known as the Monterey Plus Amendments

Changes secretly made to the State Water Project by water contractors and the California Department of Water Resources in the 1990s, known as the Monterey Plus Amendments, caused ecological destruction in the Delta and made water supplies for State Water Project customers much more expensive and less reliable.

The Monterey Plus Amendments to State Water Contracts: It’s Chinatown, Jake

California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) | February 1st, 2014

In the 1990s, ,ive of the extant 29 State Water Project contractors secretly colluded with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to change SWP policy, a move

In the 1990s, ,ive of the extant 29 State Water Project contractors secretly colluded with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to change SWP policy, a move subsequently known as the Monterey Plus Amendments. These changes caused major disruptions in Delta ecosystems and made water less accessible and much more expensive for most State Water Project customers, especially during droughts. Urban ratepayers bore the brunt of the burden, as they found out to their profound dismay in the drought that beleaguered the state from 2007 to 2009. The Monterey Plus Amendments were concluded 17 years ago, but they are not established law, and are under current court challenge.

The Rebirth of California Fish & Game Code Section 5937: Water for Fish

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | July 1st, 2012

Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so wh

Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. In an average year, California receives inflows and imports of water totaling around 200 million acre-feet,2 enough water to cover the entire state twenty-three inches deep. But California is a state of spatial and temporal water extremes. Spatially, precipitation varies wildly: Death Valley in the Southeast averages less than three inches per year, yet the northwestern corner of the state averages over 140 inches per year. More than 70% of California’s stream flow originates north of Sacramento, but more than 80% of the water is used south of Sacramento. Temporally, precipitation varies both seasonally and annually. California’s wet season typically runs from October or November to April or May, with little or no precipitation during the growing season, from May to September.7 Annual rainfalls of 40% or more below average and 36% or more above average each typically occur once every six to seven years.  To balance these extremes, over 1,300 dams store water across the state, supplying water for urban, industrial, and agricultural uses. While these uses sustain a tremendous part of California’s economy, they also come at high, often unappreciated costs. Fish also need water, so dams that alter water flows for human benefits may also have marked negative impacts on fish.

The San Francisco Bay-Delta Agreement: Principles for Agreement on Bay-Delta Standards Between the State of California and the Federal Government

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | December 15th, 1994

The seven Colorado River Basin states letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 5/22/23

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | May 22nd, 2023

The State Water Project Delivery Capability Report 2023 Addendum - Impacts of Subsidence

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | May 7th, 2025

The purpose of this addendum is to show how ongoing subsidence effects on the California Aqueduct will impact operation of the State Water Project (SWP). The addendum pro

The purpose of this addendum is to show how ongoing subsidence effects on the California Aqueduct will impact operation of the State Water Project (SWP). The addendum provides information to SWP water users about a potential range of water delivery impacts over the next 20 years if no corrective action is taken to address the subsidence effects. However, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is committed to restore the conveyance capacity of the California Aqueduct and has an engineering plan for near-term fixes. DWR is also working with its partners to secure additional funding sources for this work. DWR is confident that the California Aqueduct capacity will be restored and the SWP will not see the impacts outlined in this addendum. Thus, long-term water supply planning activities by water users should rely on the potential future SWP allocation results presented in the 2023 Delivery Capability Report (DCR 2023) released in 2024.