Shop – California Water Library

Page

Showing
101-111 of 115

Per Page

Sort By

The irrigation efficiency trap: rational farm-scale decisions can lead to poor hydrologic outcomes at the basin scale

Frontiers in Environmental Science | August 28th, 2023

Summary

Agricultural irrigation practices have changed through time as technology has enabled more efficient conveyance and application. In some agricultural regions, irrigation

Agricultural irrigation practices have changed through time as technology has enabled more efficient conveyance and application. In some agricultural regions, irrigation can contribute to incidental aquifer recharge important for groundwater return flows to streams. The Henrys Fork Snake River, Idaho (United States) overlies a portion of the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, where irrigated agriculture has occurred for over a century. Using irrigator interviews, aerial and satellite imagery, and statistical streamflow analysis, we document the impact of farm-scale decisions on basin-scale hydrology. Motivated to improve economic efficiency, irrigators began converting from surface to center-pivot sprinkler irrigation in the 1950s, with rapid adoption of center-pivot sprinklers through 2000. Between 1978–2000 and 2001–2022, annual surface-water diversion decreased by 311 Mm3 (23%) and annual return flow to the river decreased by 299 Mm3 over the same period. Some reaches that gained water during 1978–2000 lost water to the aquifer during the later period. We use an interdisciplinary approach to demonstrate how individual farm-scale improvements in irrigation efficiency can cumulatively affect hydrology at the landscape scale and alter groundwater-surface water relationships. Return flows are an important part of basin hydrology in irrigated landscapes and we discuss how managed and incidental aquifer recharge can be implemented to recover return flows to rivers.

View Document Download Now Email

The Natural Flow Regime

BioScience (Oxford University Press) | December 1st, 1997

Summary

Humans have long been fascinated by the dynamism of free-flowing waters. Yet we have expended great effort to tame rivers for transportation, water supply, flood con

Humans have long been fascinated by the dynamism of free-flowing waters. Yet we have expended great effort to tame rivers for transportation, water supply, flood control, agriculture, and power generation. It is now recognized that harnessing of streams and rivers comes at great cost: Many rivers no longer support socially valued native species or sustain healthy ecosystems that provide important goods and services.

View Document Download Now Email

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: The Evolution and Implementation of Water Policy: An Historical Perspective

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | June 1st, 1977

Summary

This report is a history of the attempts to control the encroachment of salinity from San Francisco Bay into the Delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from 1920

This report is a history of the attempts to control the encroachment of salinity from San Francisco Bay into the Delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from 1920 to the present. Two basic solutions to the problem present themselves: the physical separation of salt water from fresh water by means of a barrier at some point downstream from the Delta, or the release of sufficient water from upstream storage reservoirs to drive back tidal salinity.

View Document Download Now Email

The State Water Resources Control Board's Role in Implementing the Delta Plan

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | April 5th, 2011

Summary

The Delta Plan should identify the authorities of the State Water Board that may be employed to implement its goals, subgoals, and strategies. The State Water Board’s B

The Delta Plan should identify the authorities of the State Water Board that may be employed to implement its goals, subgoals, and strategies. The State Water Board’s Bay Delta Plan and Delta Strategic Workplan should be incorporated into the Delta Plan.

View Document Download Now Email

Treated Wastewater as a Multi-Benefit Groundwater Sustainability Project

Nature Conservancy | January 1st, 2019

Summary

The Arroyo Las Posas, a creek in Ventura County, is a good example of a stream supported by flows from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). These flows are a s

The Arroyo Las Posas, a creek in Ventura County, is a good example of a stream supported by flows from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). These flows are a significant factor in the basin’s water balance and support important GDEs. How this treated water is used in the future may therefore play a significant role in planning for the basin’s groundwater sustainability.

View Document Download Now Email

Tulare Lake Basin Hydrology and Hydrography: A Summary of the Movement of Water and Aquatic Species

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | April 12th, 2007

Summary

This report provides a summary of the historic and current hydrology of the Tulare Lake Basin (Basin) and describes past, present and potentiai future movement of water o

This report provides a summary of the historic and current hydrology of the Tulare Lake Basin (Basin) and describes past, present and potentiai future movement of water out of the Basin, and potential movement of bioiogical organisms and toxicants within and outside of the Basin. This study was initiated at the request of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).

View Document Download Now Email

Undelivered Water: Fulfilling the CVPIA promise to Central Valley refuges

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | November 3rd, 2009

Summary

The 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act transformed California’s federal water management system by providing fish and wildlife a co-equal priority with other u

The 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act transformed California’s federal water management system by providing fish and wildlife a co-equal priority with other uses. In so doing, the Act mandated that the federal government establish a program, now known as the Refuge Water Supply Program (RWSP), to manage, secure, and deliver a reliable, clean water supply to serve the wetland habitat needs of nineteen federal, state, and private wildlife refuges in California’s Central Valley. The refuges protect a significant portion of the last remaining 5 percent of the historic Central Valley wetlands and provide birds of the Pacific Flyway habitat during critical periods when no other wetlands habitat may be available. In response to a request from OMB, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Fish and Wildlife Service established an Independent Panel to evaluate the performance of the RWSP component of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act.

View Document Download Now Email

Understanding Uncertainties in Future Colorado River Streamflow

American Meteorological Society (AMS) | January 1st, 2014

Summary

The Colorado River is the primary water source for more than 30 million people in the United States and Mexico. Recent studies that project streamf low changes in the Col

The Colorado River is the primary water source for more than 30 million people in the United States and Mexico. Recent studies that project streamf low changes in the Colorado River all project annual declines, but the magnitude of the projected decreases range from less than 10% to 45% by the mid-twenty-first century. To understand these differences, we address the questions the management community has raised: Why is there such a wide range of projections of impacts of future climate change on Colorado River streamflow, and how should this uncertainty be interpreted? We identify four major sources of disparities among studies that arise from both methodological and model differences. In order of importance, these are differences in 1) the global climate models (GCMs) and emission scenarios used; 2) the ability of land surface and atmospheric models to simulate properly the high-elevation runoff source areas; 3) the sensitivities of land surface hydrology models to precipitation and temperature changes; and 4) the methods used to statistically downscale GCM scenarios. In accounting for these differences, there is substantial evidence across studies that future Colorado River streamflow will be reduced under the current trajectories of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions because of a combination of strong temperature-induced runoff curtailment and reduced annual precipitation. Reconstructions of preinstrumental streamflows provide additional insights; the greatest risk to Colorado River streamf lows is a multidecadal drought, like that observed in paleoreconstructions, exacerbated by a steady reduction in flows due to climate change. This could result in decades of sustained streamflows much lower than have been observed in the ~100 years of instrumental record.

View Document Download Now Email

Water Quality Conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta during 1995

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | August 1st, 1999

Summary

Water year 1995 was a wet year, ending an eight-year period of predominantly dry and critically dry years. After a relatively dry fall, January and March precipitation

Water year 1995 was a wet year, ending an eight-year period of predominantly dry and critically dry years. After a relatively dry fall, January and March precipitation was heavy and produced flooding in the Central Valley. By May 1, precipitation was 165% of average, snowpack water content was 215% af average, seasonal runoff was 170% of average, and reservoir storage was 110% of average. In 1995, the Net Delta Outflow Index (NDOI) was used to estimate Delta outflow, and the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Unimpaired Runoff indices were used to determine water year type for 1995. Using these indices, water year 1995 was officially classified as wet on May 1, 1995. All standards, including those in Water Right Decision 1485, as amended by the 1995 Water Quality Control Plan, were met in 1995. The entire 1995 calendar year was characterized by excess conditions, and both State Water Project and Central Valley Project water requirements were met as well as in-Delta consumptive uses. Delta outflows were high throughout the year, and the calculated average monthly flows exceeded 80,000 cubic feet per second (CFS) during the peak outflow period (January through May), and 3,000 cfs during the minimum outflow period (July through November).

View Document Download Now Email

Water Stress and a Changing San Joaquin Valley

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | March 1st, 2017

Summary

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 and growing

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 and growing water stress. Agriculture is a leading economic driver and the predominant water user. The region’s farms and related manufacturing businesses account for 25 percent of the valley’s revenues and 16 percent of local jobs—and 89 percent of annual net water use. The latest drought underscored valley agriculture’s vulnerability to water scarcity and long-term declines in groundwater reserves. The region has a greater abundance of productive farmland than local water supplies for irrigation. In most years since the mid-1980s, groundwater has been used faster than it is being replenished (“groundwater overdraft”). Over the past three decades, overdraft has averaged nearly 2 million acre-feet per year, or 13 percent of net water use. This has contributed to increased pumping costs, dry wells, sinking lands, and declining reliability of this vital drought reserve.

View Document Download Now Email

← Prev

Page : 11

Type

Book/Textbook (3)
Bulletin (1)
California Water Plan (1)
Case study (7)
Conference proceedings (3)
Environmental Documents (4)
Essay (1)
Fact sheet (2)
Guidance Document (3)
Handbook/Guide (3)
Issue Paper (1)
Journal Article (27)
Legal document (4)
Letter (3)
magazine (1)
Memo (2)
Model (12)
NGO Position Paper (1)
Plan (1)
Policy (1)
Report (41)
Research Article (6)
Science Panel Report (10)
Technical Report (8)
Water Right Decision (1)
White Paper (2)

Topic

Adaptive Management (10)
Agriculture (5)
Basic Information (1)
California Water Fix/BDCP/Delta Conveyance (1)
Climate Change (11)
Drought & Hydrology (11)
Ecosystem & Species Management (67)
Ecosystem Restoration (7)
Environmental Justice (2)
Estuary News (1)
Federal Water Quality (3)
Fisheries (44)
Flood Management (3)
Geochemistry (2)
Geohydrology (5)
Geohydrology (1)
Groundwater (12)
History (3)
Invasive Species (1)
Levees (1)
Modeling (18)
Planning & Management (28)
Policy (1)
Pollutants (3)
Recycled Water (1)
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (38)
Salinity (13)
Science Management (4)
State Water Quality (4)
Storage (1)
Stormwater (1)
Transfers & Markets (2)
Tribal Water Issues (4)
Upper Watershed Management (12)
Water & Energy (3)
Water Project Operations (33)
Water Quality (44)
Water Quality Monitoring (5)
Water Rights, Water Law (8)
Water Supply (10)
Water Use & Efficiency (4)

Keywords

adaptive management (7)
agriculture (2)
agriculture wa (1)
agriculture water use and efficiency (3)
anadromous fish (15)
atmospheric rivers (1)
basin characterization (1)
benthic macroinvertebrates (1)
bioassessment (2)
Central Valley (10)
Central Valley Project (CVP) (8)
climate change (8)
Colorado River (2)
conjunctive use (1)
drought (5)
economic analysis (2)
ecosystem management (46)
ecosystem restoration (3)
endangered species (18)
Estuary News (1)
fisheries (44)
flood management (3)
flows (115)
forest management (1)
groundwater dependent ecosystems (4)
Groundwater Exchange (8)
groundwater pumping impacts (1)
groundwater recharge (4)
groundwater-surface water interaction (9)
history (3)
invasive species (1)
irrigation (1)
levees (1)
modeling (18)
monitoring (8)
native fish (17)
outreach and engagement (1)
planning and management (13)
pollutants (2)
public trust doctrine (5)
recycled water (1)
risk assessment (1)
Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (37)
salinity (13)
science management (1)
sediment (5)
snowpack (4)
State Water Project (SWP) (5)
stora (1)
storage (1)
stormwater (1)
streams (8)
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) (2)
transboundary aquifers (1)
tribal water issues (4)
upper watershed management (6)
urban water conservation (1)
wastewater (2)
water and energy (2)
water budget (3)
water markets (2)
water project operations (23)
water quality (27)
water rights (10)
water supply (3)
water supply forecasting (4)
wetlands (2)

Publisher

American Geophysical Union (AGU) (5)
American Meteorological Society (AMS) (3)
American Rivers (1)
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) (1)
Bay Institute (2)
BioScience (Oxford University Press) (3)
CALFED (1)
California Agriculture (UCANR) (1)
California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) (5)
California Department of Water Resources (DWR) (9)
California Energy Commission (CEC) (1)
California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) (10)
California Urban Water Agencies (CUWA) (1)
Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (Canadian Science Publishing) (1)
Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) (6)
Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum (1)
Ecological Society of America (Wiley) (1)
Environmental Biology of Fishes (Springer) (2)
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) (1)
Freshwater Biology (Wiley) (2)
Frontiers in Environmental Science (1)
Frontiers in Environmental Science (Frontiers) (1)
Hydrobiologia (Springer) (1)
Klamath Riverkeeper (1)
Klamath Tribal Water Quality Consortium (1)
Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) (1)
Limnology and Oceanography (Wiley) (1)
Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center (1)
National Academy of Sciences (NAS) (1)
Nature Conservancy (4)
Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) (2)
Pacific Institute (2)
Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) (7)
River Research and Applications (Wiley) (3)
San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) (1)
Scott River Water Trust (1)
Siskiyou Farm Bureau (1)
Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (1)
Superior Court of California, County of Kern (2)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) (1)
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) (2)
U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) (1)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2)
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) (11)
University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) (1)
University of California, Davis (UC Davis) (6)
Western Resource Advocates (1)

Basin

Middle Amargosa Valley - 6-020 (1)
San Joaquin Valley - Kern 5-022.14 (2)

Hydrological Region

Central Coast (5)
Colorado River (7)
Lower Basin States and Mexico - Colorado River (6)
National (12)
North Coast (21)
North Lahontan (7)
Sacramento River (44)
San Francisco Bay (37)
San Joaquin River (45)
South Coast (11)
South Lahontan (7)
Tulare Lake (12)
Upper Basin States - Colorado River (8)

Reset

Search for:

CONTACT