Improving the Federal Response to Western Drought: Five Areas for Reform

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | January 26th, 2016

The federal government is deeply involved in western water. It is the largest landowner, major supplier of irrigation, principal supporter of the farm sector, primary sou

The federal government is deeply involved in western water. It is the largest landowner, major supplier of irrigation, principal supporter of the farm sector, primary source of water information, and chief environmental regulator. For more than a century, western states have relied on a complex partnership with numerous federal agencies to manage water. The latest widespread drought has revealed both strengths and weaknesses in the federal role. To weather a warmer and possibly drier future, and to prepare for and respond to drought more effectively , the states and the federal government must address these weaknesses and work together to strengthen their partnership. Timely solutions are critical, given the growing vulnerability of the region’s residents, businesses, and environment to drought . This report identifies a suite of federal actions that can help weste rn states better manage drought . These reforms are, by design, modest and pragmatic. They focus on enhancing existing federal capacities, rather than implementing sweeping initiatives that would require time-consuming new funding or legislation.

Inaction’s Economic Cost for California’s Water Supply Challenges

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | May 14th, 2025

California’s water system is in for challenges in coming decades as climate, groundwater policy, and environmental regulations reduce availability and increase variabil

California’s water system is in for challenges in coming decades as climate, groundwater policy, and environmental regulations reduce availability and increase variability in water supplies for agricultural and urban uses. A previous report estimated 4 to 9 million acre-feet (maf) per year of unavoidable reductions in existing water supplies, 12% to 25% of today’s water use (Lund et al. 2024). This report estimates the economic costs of not responding to these reductions in water availability.

Incorporating Wetlands into Watershed Planning

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | February 26th, 2013

The purpose of this Supplement is to encourage the inclusion of proactive wetland management into watershed plans because wetlands play an integral role in the healthy fu

The purpose of this Supplement is to encourage the inclusion of proactive wetland management into watershed plans because wetlands play an integral role in the healthy functioning of the watershed. This Supplement promotes using a watershed approach that not only protects existing freshwater wetlands but also maximizes opportunities to use restored, enhanced, and created freshwater wetlands to address watershed problems such as habitat loss, hydrological alteration, and water quality impairments. The primary audiences for the Supplement are members and staff of watershed organizations and local/state agencies. This document is a Supplement to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Watershed Planning Handbook. It conveys information on recently developed approaches and tools for assessing wetland functions and conditions, the results of which assist decision makers in determining where in a watershed existing and former wetlands can best be restored or enhanced, or where wetlands can be created to optimize their functions in support of water quality and other watershed management plan goals. The Supplement also discusses wetland restoration, enhancement, and creation techniques and reviews the considerations involved in deciding how best to undertake a wetlands project. EPA’s Watershed Planning Handbook and other scientific resources emphasize the importance of the watershed as a management unit in which elements and processes operate over different spatial and temporal scales. The literature also emphasizes the importance of planning and implementing projects aimed at protecting or restoring water quality (or meeting similar goals) within the context of the watershed.

Information for the Future: The West Side San Joaquin Valley Project

West Side San Joaquin Valley Coordinating Council, University of California, Water Resources Center | September 1st, 1970

Inhabiting the Delta: A Landscape Approach to Transformative Socio-Ecological Restoration

University of California, Davis (UC Davis) | September 19th, 2017

Current legislation and plans for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Delta) call for large-scale restoration of aquatic and terrestrial habitats, which will require sign

Current legislation and plans for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Delta) call for large-scale restoration of aquatic and terrestrial habitats, which will require significant changes in waterways, land uses, and cultural patterns. These re-made landscapes will be subject to a variety of new human uses, which Delta planning and adaptive management literature has yet to adequately consider. Failing to account for human uses and evolving place values can lead to diminished performance and public support for Delta restoration efforts. Our empirical study examined restored and naturalized Delta landscapes using an integrative landscape approach that seeks to reconcile multiple goals and land-use agendas that span ecological, social, economic, and political domains. The research design consisted of six overlapping methods that included a planning, policy, and law review specific to the Delta; surveys and interviews with approximately 100 land managers, scientists, land-owners, law-enforcement personnel, agency representatives, and Delta residents; nine case studies of restored and naturalized delta landscapes; GIS mapping; and extensive field work. Findings derived from the synthesis of these methods show that human uses of the Delta’s re-wilded landscapes are diverse and pervasive. Given the infrastructural and urbanized context of the region, these environments are subject to multiple and sometimes conflicting uses, perceptions, and place values. Though these myriad uses cannot be fully predicted or controlled (nor should they be), findings showed that more proactive and inclusive planning for human uses can encourage or discourage particular uses while also building constituency, support, and active engagement in ecological restoration efforts. We conclude that reconciling human uses with ecological recovery in the Delta will require a more localized, multi-functional, and creative approach to designing and adaptively managing these emergent landscapes. We recommend that more resources and experimental prototyping be dedicated to such work.

Integrated Management of Delta Stressors: Institutional and Legal Options

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | April 22nd, 2013

Despite some recent progress, the current institutional landscape for regulation and management of stressors in the in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta is highly fragme

Despite some recent progress, the current institutional landscape for regulation and management of stressors in the in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta is highly fragmented. A modest but powerful set of institutional changes can help produce better environmental outcomes while containing management costs—which are likely to exceed several hundred million dollars annually. This report lays out proposals for institutional reform.

Integrated Regional Water Management Plan for the Greater Monterey County Region

Greater Monterey County Regional Water Management Group | August 31st, 2018

Integrated regional water management (IRWM) is an approach to water resource management in California that is being strongly promoted by the State as a way to inc

Integrated regional water management (IRWM) is an approach to water resource management in California that is being strongly promoted by the State as a way to increase regional self-sufficiency. IRWM offers an approach for managing the uncertainties that lie ahead, particularly in light of climate change. The IRWM planning process brings together water and natural resource managers, along with other community stakeholders, to collaboratively plan for and ensure the region’s continued water supply reliability, improved water quality, flood management, and healthy functioning ecosystems—allowing for creative new solutions and greater efficiencies. This IRWM Plan has been developed for the Greater Monterey County IRWM region to fulfill the goals of IRWM planning in this region and to provide eligibility for State IRWM grant funds. Click here for the chapter index. Click here for the Greater Monterey County Integrated Regional Water Management Program home page

Integrated Surface and Groundwater Modeling of Martis Valley, California, for Assessment of Potential Climate Change Impacts on Basin-Scale Water Resources

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | April 15th, 2015

This study develops a modeling framework to better understand surface and groundwater interactions in the Martis Valley Basin. Prior to the current study there were no ph

This study develops a modeling framework to better understand surface and groundwater interactions in the Martis Valley Basin. Prior to the current study there were no physical or statistical models of the Martis Valley Basin that could be used for long term water resource planning in the Basin. Currently, groundwater is the primary source for municipal and industrial water supply in Martis Valley, and surface water from the surrounding watersheds are partly stored in Donner, Prosser reservoirs and allowed to runoff into the Truckee River. This study presents the development, calibration, and verification of the physically based surface and groundwater GSFLOW model for Martis Valley. The model was calibrated for the historical 1981-2011 observed period. Various observations were used to calibrate the model during different periods, which helped verify the model’s ability to capture the dynamics of the hydrologic system. The model was calibrated to multiple fluxes and states in the hydrological system including streamflow, snow water equivalent, groundwater heads, and wetland and spring locations. In addition to comparing fluxes to multiple observations, consistency at internal gauges was also verified apart from simulating fluxes at the outlet. For future projections of hydrology, the GSFLOW model was forced with five future climate scenarios provided by CH2M HILL. Future simulations of snow water equivalent indicate reductions for all scenarios due to increasing temperatures. Groundwater recharge and its contribution to streamflow also decrease in the future for the warmer drier and hotter drier scenarios. The reduction in snowpack and earlier melt complicates the seasonally dependent nature of water resources and when combined, these results will likely add further stress to long term water availability in the Martis Valley Basin and the downstream consumers of the waters generated in the Basin.

Integrated Water Management Plan Evaluation: A review of the Salton Sea Authority's preferred project concept for rehabilitating the Salton Sea

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | March 11th, 2005

The USGS Salton Sea Science Office convened an experts workshop, from November 15-17 in Riverside, California, to evaluate a Salton Sea rehabilitation proposal known as t

The USGS Salton Sea Science Office convened an experts workshop, from November 15-17 in Riverside, California, to evaluate a Salton Sea rehabilitation proposal known as the Integrated Water Management Plan (IWMP) (also known as the ‘North Lake Plan’). Salton Sea Restoration: Preferred Project Report (Salton Sea Authority 2004) describes the IWMP and provided the basis for this evaluation. As described further in the following, the IWMP would build a causeway across the middle of the current Salton Sea, creating a smaller north lake that discharges into a proposed 20,000 acres of shallow-water wetlands in the southern portion of the Sea, and a terminal brine pool, as well as various treatment wetlands. A recently implemented water conservation and transfer agreement, along with several unrelated actions, will significantly decrease the volume of water flowing into southeastern California’s Salton Sea in the next 20 years, shrinking the Sea and increasing salinity beyond the tolerances of most of the species currently present. Future conditions at the Sea will be very different from current conditions, whether or not the IWMP is implemented. The surface elevation of the Salton Sea fluctuates by more than 0.3 meter (one foot) annually, primarily in response to agricultural irrigation patterns in the Imperial Valley. On January 1, 2005, the surface elevation of the Salton Sea was ~69.8 meters (228.86 feet) below mean sea level. The Sea is a terminal lake; the only outlet for its waters is via evaporation. The Sea is an officially-designated sump for the water draining from fields in the adjacent Coachella and Imperial Valleys; the Sea also receives agricultural and municipal drainage from the Mexicali Valley, in Baja California. The Sea is currently 33% saltier than the ocean and getting saltier each year. The Sea is also eutrophic, with extremely high levels of biological productivity, fed by fertilizers draining off of the fields in the basin. This productivity has attracted more than 400 species of birds to the area, including large numbers of breeding birds and special status species. The objective of the experts workshop evaluation process was to develop a credible description of the future physical and biological conditions created by implementation of the IWMP. The objective of the evaluation process was not to support or reject the proposal. This was a scientific review process. Economic and recreational impacts generated by implementation of the proposal, although important, were beyond the scope of this evaluation process and were not addressed. The evaluation did not concern itself with regulatory, policy, political or agency positions. Based on the scientific expertise of the participants, the evaluation sought to identify any critical flaws in the proposal, as well as major beneficial outcomes, major questions to be resolved, and considerations of importance in judging the effectiveness of the proposal. The views and opinions reflected in this report are those of the participants and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of their agencies or affiliations, nor do they necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation or U.S. Geological Survey.

Integrated Water Resources Plan 2015 Update

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) | January 1st, 2016

In California water, uncertainty comes with the territory. Being unprepared for tomorrow, however, is simply not an option. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern C

In California water, uncertainty comes with the territory. Being unprepared for tomorrow, however, is simply not an option. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California prepares for tomorrow with an evolving long-term water strategy known as its Integrated Water Resources Plan, or IRP. The inaugural IRP was adopted in 1996, with updates in 2004 and 2010. The 2015 IRP Update continues the tradition of assessing and adapting to changing conditions facing Southern California. The fundamental goal of the IRP is for Southern California to have as reliable a water system for tomorrow as the region has enjoyed for decades, regardless of the challenges that emerge along the way. Metropolitan plans to meet this goal through an adaptive management strategy that is the cornerstone of the 2015 IRP Update. Metropolitan was authorized by the California Legislature in 1928 to advance a regional approach to water supply in Southern California. Metropolitan’s initial mission was to construct the 242-mile Colorado River Aqueduct to its service area on the Southern California coastal plain. Metropolitan’s service area had an assessed property valuation of approximately $2 billion at the time. Now Metropolitan serves a six-county service area with a property valuation of approximately $2 trillion. Metropolitan imports supplies from both the Colorado River and Northern California via the State Water Project while investing in a variety of storage, local supply and conservation initiatives. Metropolitan has a long record of promoting alternatives to imported water supplies, dating back to the 1980s. With the IRP, that process became more formalized as a long-term strategy and official policy. Metropolitan has steadily diversified the future water portfolio for Southern California with each revision to the IRP. This update is no exception. Investments to maintain the reliability of imported supplies are complemented by an expansion of local supply development along with a reduction in demand through a variety of conservation and water-use efficiency initiatives. The necessary suite of actions evolves over time based on the water conditions of tomorrow. Updating the IRP creates a new baseline for managing into the future.