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Assessing the Microclimate Effects and Irrigation Water Requirements of Mesic, Oasis, and Xeric Landscapes

Hydrology (MDPI) | June 10th, 2022

Summary

Urban irrigation is an essential process in land–atmosphere interactions. It is one of the uncertain parameters of urban hydrology due to various microclimates. This s

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Assessing the presence of current-use pesticides in mid-elevation Sierra Nevada streams using passive samplers, California, 2018–19

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | February 9th, 2023

Summary

Passive sampler devices were deployed in six northern California streams five times between November 2018 and December 2019 to measure the presence or absence of current-

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Assessing virtual water trade and inequalities in household water footprints across California’s counties

Publisher not available | March 20th, 2025

Summary

The concept of virtual water trade suggests water flows from water-rich to water-scarce regions, but local disparities are often overlooked. This study uses a multi-regio

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Assessing Water Affordability

Pacific Institute | August 14th, 2013

Summary

A new pilot study in California shows many households, even within affluent communities, routinely spend over the affordability threshold of 2 percent of their household

A new pilot study in California shows many households, even within affluent communities, routinely spend over the affordability threshold of 2 percent of their household income on their water bill. The number of water systems with “unaffordable” rates varies by region and measure used – which has important implications for policy makers. Assessing Water Affordability: A Pilot Study in Two Regions of California, from the Pacific Institute in partnership with Community Water Center and Fresno State University, looks at both an urban and rural case: the Sacramento metropolitan area and the Tulare Lake Basin. In Sacramento, using the most common form of determining affordability – the annual water bill as a percent of median household income at the water system scale – few water systems appeared to suffer from unaffordable rates. In contrast, in the Tulare Lake Basin, 18 percent of systems had unaffordable rates. Using a more fine-grained measure based on household income levels reveals even higher levels of unaffordability in both regions. In the Sacramento metropolitan region, measuring on a water-system-wide scale vs. a household scale means the difference between recognizing zero water systems with unaffordable rates vs. 100,000 households with unaffordable water rates. In the rural Tulare Lake Basin, measuring on these different scales means finding only nine out of 51 water systems with unaffordable rates vs. nearly 4000 households with unaffordable water rates – some 40% of the households in the study group. “Water rate affordability is a central element to water access, and cost makes water excludable and inaccessible to those who cannot afford it,” said Dr. Juliet Christian-Smith of the Pacific Institute. “Water affordability is also a major concern to public welfare, safety, and security. When households are unable to make their water payments, consequences can include public health crises, social unrest, and lost revenue for water providers that can threaten their fiscal stability.” The study’s results show that a significant number of areas within water systems have unaffordable rates, even if the system as a whole does not, and so it may be more important to consider household income rather than median income when assessing and addressing water affordability.

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Assessment of California's Water Footprint

Pacific Institute | December 11th, 2012

Summary

The Pacific Institute has released the first comprehensive assessment of California’s water footprint, providing an important perspective on the interconnections betwee

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Assessment of Interconnected Subbasins

Butte County | June 30th, 2017

Summary

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) to develop groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) that achieve sust

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) to develop groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) that achieve sustainable groundwater management within 20 years of adoption. All critically overdrafted basins must adopt GSPs by January 31, 2020; all other medium and high priority basins must complete GSPs by January 31, 2022. Since many subbasins are hydrologically connected to adjoining subbasins, sustainable groundwater management will require accounting for groundwater interactions with adjoining subbasins. Often, adjoining subbasins will use different analytical methods or apply different levels of technical rigor. Many GSAs are concerned that different methodologies for developing interbasin flows can lead to different results that will call into question the ability to achieve sustainability and would potentially create issues with SGMA compliance. This effort evaluated opportunities and barriers for agencies to account for interconnected basin dynamics through the collaboration of technical experts focused on a portion of the northern Sacramento Valley Integrated Regional Water Management (NSVIRWM) Plan area. As interbasin flows (i.e., groundwater flow between interconnected basins) cannot be directly measured, the project reviewed available tools to investigate how they may or may not be suitable for use in estimating interbasin flows within the region. This process highlighted areas for local agencies to consider in addressing interbasin issues, developed a framework for analysis in other areas of the state, and identified areas where the state and federal government can assist local agencies implementing SGMA. This report is developed to provide summary level information appropriate for decision makers, with more detailed technical information and examples provided in the appendices or by reference. Interbasin flow is groundwater entering or exiting a defined subbasin through its boundaries in the subsurface and may vary significantly in space and time based on the dynamics of inflow and outflow from the basins. Interbasin flows are driven by differences in groundwater levels (i.e. head gradients) across the basin boundary. Groundwater levels are, in turn, impacted by processes on the land surface. Land use and crop acreages drive water demand in a subbasin and indirectly drive groundwater pumping, which has a direct effect on groundwater levels (i.e., groundwater heads). The direction and magnitude of interbasin flow depends on the groundwater head gradient across the basin boundary and the conductivity of the aquifer materials. It is widely recognized that the groundwater subbasins in the Sacramento Valley, and throughout the Central Valley, are interconnected to varying degrees. The Sacramento Valley Groundwater Basin includes many subbasins, extends over a wide geographic area, and includes numerous established and eligible GSAs. With interconnected subbasins, management decisions and actions in one subbasin may influence one or more adjoining subbasins. Such influence may positively or negatively impact sustainability. Thus, interbasin flows become critical to both GSAs’ development of GSPs and to DWR reviewing GSPs.

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Assessment of Interconnected Subbasins: Regional Collaboration and Model Selection Process

Groundwater Resources Association of California (GRA) | October 3rd, 2017

Summary

In basins with complex spatial and temporal variations in water budget components, integrated groundwater-surface water modeling is the best approach to quantify and eval

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Assessment of Interim Flow Water-Quality Data of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program and Implications for Fishes, California, 2009–11

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | June 29th, 2015

Summary

After more than 50 years of extensive water diversion for urban and agriculture use, a major settlement was reached among the U.S. Departments of the Interior and Commerc

After more than 50 years of extensive water diversion for urban and agriculture use, a major settlement was reached among the U.S. Departments of the Interior and Commerce, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Friant Water Users Authority in an effort to restore the San Joaquin River. The settlement received Federal court approval in October 2006 and established the San Joaquin River Restoration Program, a multi-agency collaboration between State and Federal agencies to restore and maintain fish populations, including Chinook salmon, in the main stem of the river between Friant Dam and the confluence with the Merced River. This is to be done while avoiding or minimizing adverse water supply effects to all of the Friant Division contractors that could result from restoration flows required by the settlement. The settlement stipulates that water- and sediment-quality data be collected to help assess the restoration goals. This report summarizes and evaluates water-quality data collected in the main stem of the San Joaquin River between Friant Dam and the Merced River by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the San Joaquin River Restoration Program during 2009–11. This summary and assessment consider sampling frequency for adequate characterization of variability, sampling locations for sufficient characterization of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program restoration reach, sampling methods for appropriate media (water and sediment), and constituent reporting limits. After reviewing the water- and sediment-quality results for the San Joaquin River Restoration Program, several suggestions were made to the Fisheries Management Work Group, a division of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program that focuses solely on the reintroduction strategies and health of salmon and other native fishes in the river. Water-quality results for lead and total organic carbon exceeded the Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program Basin Plan Objectives for the San Joaquin Basin, and results for copper exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pesticide Programs’ aquatic-life chronic and acute benchmarks for invertebrates. One sediment sample contained detections of pyrethroid pesticides bifenthrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, and total permethrin at concentrations above published chronic toxicity thresholds.

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Assessment of Nutrient Status and Trends in the Delta in 2001–2016: Effects of drought on ambient concentrations and trends

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | March 1st, 2018

Summary

Nutrients and the effects of nutrients on water quality in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a priority focus area for the Delta Regional Monitoring Program (Delta RMP)

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Assessment of the condition of San Francisco Bay Area depressional wetlands

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | March 23rd, 2017

Summary

Depressional wetlands are the most abundant, yet most threatened wetland type in California. Despite their relatively ubiquitous nature, they are poorly characterized, an

Depressional wetlands are the most abundant, yet most threatened wetland type in California. Despite their relatively ubiquitous nature, they are poorly characterized, and unlike streams, they are not subject to any systematic ambient monitoring and assessment in California. Consequently, decisions regarding protection, restoration, and management, such as issuance of Section 401 water quality certifications or prioritization of projects for wetland restoration grant funding, are usually made without the benefit of any regional context of condition, knowledge of predominant stressors, or rigorous documentation of reference conditions. The goals of this study were to apply tools for ambient monitoring of depressional wetlands in the San Francisco Bay region to accomplish the following: 1) To evaluate the regional condition of depressional wetlands in this portion of northern California, and 2) To evaluate the relationship between condition and stress by sampling both local stressors (intensity of direct wetland use, water chemistry, and sediment chemistry) and landscape stressors (adjacent land use, flow diversions, and road density). Once achieved, these goals should establish the foundation for developing a robust ambient depressional wetland monitoring program. This study included perennial (have surface water year round) and seasonal (lack surface water for part of the year) depressional wetlands as defined by Brinson (1993) located within the boundaries of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. Depressional wetlands in this study includes both natural water bodies such as sag ponds and small lakes, as well as created wetlands such as abandoned or active stock ponds, aesthetic ponds, and irrigation/treatment ponds. Wetlands were not considered for this study if they were concrete lined, marine influenced, wastewater treatment ponds, livestock wastewater ponds, riverine (i.e., dominated by riverine hydrology), dry, or vernal pools. It is likely that a majority of wetlands sampled in this study would be considered waters of the State of California; the field teams did not perform a regulatory-based delineation of a wetland as part of this study. Thirty wetlands in the San Francisco Bay area were sampled during the spring of 2014, including both perennial and seasonal wetlands. The proportion of wetlands in the region considered “likely intact” (scores in the upper 50th percentile of the range found at reference sites) varied by indicator.

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Page : 45

Assessing the Microclimate Effects and Irrigation Water Requirements of Mesic, Oasis, and Xeric Landscapes

Assessing the presence of current-use pesticides in mid-elevation Sierra Nevada streams using passive samplers, California, 2018–19

Assessing virtual water trade and inequalities in household water footprints across California’s counties

Assessing Water Affordability

Assessment of California's Water Footprint

Assessment of Interconnected Subbasins

Assessment of Interconnected Subbasins: Regional Collaboration and Model Selection Process

Assessment of Interim Flow Water-Quality Data of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program and Implications for Fishes, California, 2009–11

Assessment of Nutrient Status and Trends in the Delta in 2001–2016: Effects of drought on ambient concentrations and trends

Assessment of the condition of San Francisco Bay Area depressional wetlands

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