Delano Earlimart Irrigation District Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Delano Earlimart Irrigation District | January 27th, 2020

Delta Adapts: Creating a Climate Resilient Future

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | June 25th, 2021

The time to act is now. Climate change is already altering the physical environment of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh (Delta), and we will continue t

The time to act is now. Climate change is already altering the physical environment of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh (Delta), and we will continue to experience its effects through hotter temperatures, more severe wildfires, and prolonged droughts. Over the long term, climate change in the Delta is expected to harm human health and safety, disrupt the economy, diminish water supply availability and usability, shift ecosystem function, compromise sensitive habitats, and increase the challenges of providing basic services. Many of these impacts will disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. Although the exact extent and timing of these impacts is uncertain, this climate change vulnerability assessment phase of Delta Adapts will help the Delta Stewardship Council (Council) understand specific regional climate risks and vulnerabilities. Regional, collaborative adaptation strategies rooted in science are more critical than ever. The next phase of Delta Adapts, preparing an adaptation strategy, will identify ways to address the risks and vulnerabilities.

Delta Conveyance Project Final Environmental Impact Report

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | December 8th, 2023

Delta Conveyance Project: Modernizing California’s Water Infrastructure, Fast Facts 2024

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | September 13th, 2023

Delta Stewardship Council 2024 Annual Report

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | February 3rd, 2025

California relies on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as a hub for water, biodiversity, agriculture, infrastructure, transportation, recreation, and more. Since 2010, the

California relies on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as a hub for water, biodiversity, agriculture, infrastructure, transportation, recreation, and more. Since 2010, the Delta Stewardship Council has worked to advance California’s coequal goals for the Delta – a reliable statewide water supply and a resilient ecosystem – in a manner that protects and enhances the Delta’s unique character and values. In 2024, we reflected on how our agency has grown to continue facilitating collaboration with our partners.

Delta Vision Strategic Plan

State of California | October 17th, 2008

When it was created by Governor Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order S-17-06 in 2006, the charge of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force (Task Force) was nothing less th

When it was created by Governor Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order S-17-06 in 2006, the charge of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force (Task Force) was nothing less than to create a vision to repair the ecological damage to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta), and then prepare a strategic plan which would sustain the Delta in future decades while ensuring a reliable water supply for the two-thirds of California’s population who depend in whole or in part on water from the Delta.

Delta Vision Strategic Plan -- from Phil Isenberg, 1939-2023

State of California | October 17th, 2008

When it was created by Governor Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order S-17-06 in 2006, the charge of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force (Task Force) was nothing less th

When it was created by Governor Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order S-17-06 in 2006, the charge of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force (Task Force) was nothing less than to create a vision to repair the ecological damage to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta), and then prepare a strategic plan which would sustain the Delta in future decades while ensuring a reliable water supply for the two-thirds of California’s population who depend in whole or in part on water from the Delta.

Delta-Mendota Subbasin Staff Assessment

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | March 2nd, 2026

The Delta-Mendota Subbasin (subbasin) is located in the western portion of the San Joaquin Valley, in portions of Fresno, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, San Benito, and Sta

The Delta-Mendota Subbasin (subbasin) is located in the western portion of the San Joaquin Valley, in portions of Fresno, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, San Benito, and Stanislaus counties, and contains the cities of Dos Palos, Firebaugh, Gustine, Los Banos, Mendota, Newman, and Patterson. It is critically overdrafted and managed by 7 GSA Groups, comprised of 23 GSAs, which include: the Aliso Water District GSA Group, the Farmers Water District GSA Group, the Fresno County Management Areas A and B GSA Group, the Grassland GSA Group, the Northern Delta-Mendota GSA Group, the Central Delta-Mendota GSA Group, and the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors GSA Group. During most years, agriculture accounts for more than 85% of groundwater use in the subbasin (Water Year 2019–Water Year 2024 Annual Reports). The state intervention process for the Delta-Mendota Subbasin was initiated in March 2023 when DWR determined the subbasin’s six 2022 GSPs were inadequate.  The GSAs released a single revised draft GSP in May 2024, which they adopted with slight revisions in July 2024 (2024 GSP). State Water Board staff evaluated the 2024 GSP to determine if identified deficiencies were resolved. The GSAs made significant progress. State Water Board staff concludes the GSAs amended the GSP such that a probationary designation of the Delta-Mendota Subbasin is unnecessary and recommends the Board return the subbasin to DWR’s jurisdiction for continued evaluation of local management under SGMA.

Depletion and response of deep groundwater to climate-induced pumping variability

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | January 23rd, 2017

Groundwater constitutes a critical component of our water resources. Widespread groundwater level declines have occurred in the USA over recent decades, including

Groundwater constitutes a critical component of our water resources. Widespread groundwater level declines have occurred in the USA over recent decades, including in regions not typically considered water stressed, such as areas of the Northwest and mid-Atlantic Coast. This loss of water storage reflects extraction rates that exceed natural recharge and capture. Here, we explore recent changes in the groundwater levels of deep aquifers from wells across the USA, and their relation to indices of interannual to decadal climate variability and to annual precipitation. We show that groundwater level changes correspond to selected global climate variations. Although climate-induced variations of deep aquifer natural recharge are expected to have multi-year time lags, we find that deep groundwater levels respond to climate over timescales of less than one year. In irrigated areas, the annual response to local precipitation in the deepest wells may reflect climate-induced pumping variability. An understanding of how the human response to drought through pumping leads to deep groundwater changes is critical to manage the impacts of interannual to decadal and longer climate variability on the nation’s water resources.

Desalination and sustainability - An appraisal and current perspective

Water Research, Elsevier | February 1st, 2016

Desalination technologies have evolved and advanced rapidly along with increasing water demands around the world since 1950s. Many reviews have focused on the techno-econ

Desalination technologies have evolved and advanced rapidly along with increasing water demands around the world since 1950s. Many reviews have focused on the techno-economic and environmental and ecological issues of the desalination technologies and emphasized the feasibility of desalination industry as an alternative to meet the water demands in many water scarce regions. Despite these efforts, many perceptions about desalination processes hinder their applications for potential water supplies. This article has two specific aims: 1) provide an overview of the desalination trends around the world and discuss the sustainability components of desalination processes in comparison with other water supply alternatives; and 2) discuss case studies for desalination, and drivers and factors that influence sustainable desalination and other alternative water sources for desalination to increase our current understanding on the sensitive and futuristic issues of water supply and resource management options for drought facing regions. Although some of the facts and recent developments discussed here show that desalination can be affordable and potentially sustainable, contributions that meaningfully address socio-economic and ecological and environmental issues of desalination processes are urgently required in this critical era of severe water stress for the present context and the future development of desalination technologies.