Shop – California Water Library

Page

Showing
51-61 of 100

Per Page

Sort By

Hetch Hetchy Restoration Study

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | July 17th, 2006

Summary

The restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley on the upper Tuolumne River has once again captured the public’s imagination. In order to provide for an informed dialogue about

The restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley on the upper Tuolumne River has once again captured the public’s imagination. In order to provide for an informed dialogue about this issue, the Resources Agency has objectively evaluated the many Hetch Hetchy Valley restoration studies produced during the past two decades. In so doing, the state also recognized the great value and benefit of providing a central clearinghouse of all Hetch Hetchy restoration work. Moreover, in conducting the study, the state provided a neutral, public forum to discuss issues related to Hetch Hetchy restoration, such as water supply and water quality, flood management, cultural resources, environmental impacts, energy generation, and recreation. In all, several hundred people participated in a July 2005 workshop in Sacramento and at other stakeholder meetings throughout the state. In addition, many interested Californians provided written comments for our consideration. This final report is a comprehensive analysis of Hetch Hetchy Valley restoration studies. But even as a comprehensive analysis, we find, first and foremost, that much study remains to be done because there are major gaps in vital information. For example, objectives for replacing the water supply for the Bay Area, dam removal methods and impacts, and considerations of the public use and benefit of a restored Valley remain largely undefined. Another critical, missing element is a formal public involvement process to engage agencies, Native American tribes, stakeholders and other interested parties in this issue. While we offer no formal recommendation about next steps, it is clear that further investigations into Hetch Hetchy Valley restoration cannot be led by the State of California alone. Federal participation will be important to help shape future studies and to work with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, tribes, and the public on any next steps in this process. Moving forward, the Resources Agency’s role in studies and planning for Hetch Hetchy will be consistent with the state’s approach to other significant natural resources such as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta or the Salton Sea — to protect the public trust by ensuring that these natural places are protected and utilized for the benefit of all Californians.

View Document Download Now Email

Improving Habitats Along Delta Levees: A Review of Past Projects and Recommended Next Steps

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | January 15th, 2016

Summary

This review of habitat improvements along Delta levees was conducted to support the development of the Delta Stewardship Council’s (Council) Delta Levee Investment Stra

This review of habitat improvements along Delta levees was conducted to support the development of the Delta Stewardship Council’s (Council) Delta Levee Investment Strategy (DLIS), which focuses on flood risk reduction as the primary purpose of State levee investments. The report is intended to provide guidance to the Council to ensure that those investments also contribute to long-term improvement of river corridors, with net benefits for fish and wildlife. The Council must ensure that the DLIS helps to implement the Delta Reform Act and the Delta Plan. The Delta Reform Act of 2009 established the Council and defined its mission: to achieve the coequal goals of water supply reliability for California and ecosystem restoration in the Delta, in a manner that protects and enhances the values of the Delta as an evolving place (Water Code section 85054). The Delta Plan includes 14 regulatory policies, including one that calls for levee projects to incorporate habitat benefits, where feasible, and another requiring the use of the best available science and adaptive management. This report is intended to support the application of best available science and adaptive management to habitat improvements along Delta levees. It should be noted that levee-related habitat improvements alone are not expected to provide all the ecosystem benefits needed by native species. These projects take place within the larger context of ecosystem restoration in the Delta and Suisun Marsh, which will require more natural functional flows, restoration and conservation of a wide range of habitat types1, improved water quality, and the management of nonnative invasive species. Nevertheless, given its significant role in Delta levee investments, the State must ensure that these habitat projects are part of a program that provides a net benefit for aquatic species in the Delta.

View Document Download Now Email

Lake Lazarus: the strange rebirth of a Californian ecosystem

Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) | November 12th, 2018

Summary

At the start of the twentieth century, Owens Lake in southern California was one of the largest inland bodies of water in the United States. By the mid-1920s, it was gone

At the start of the twentieth century, Owens Lake in southern California was one of the largest inland bodies of water in the United States. By the mid-1920s, it was gone, drained to provide water to a mushrooming Los Angeles. Over the past 30 years, the city has spent around US$2 billion to undo the damage. It has failed to restore the lake, but in The Spoils of Dust, Alexander Robinson describes how the effort has succeeded in another way: by creating a landscape no less valuable ecologically. By documenting the transitions the lake has undergone, he suggests a way forward for engineers, geologists, ecologists and landscape designers hoping to bring other environments back from the brink.

View Document Download Now Email

Leveraging Wetlands for a Better Climate Future

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | July 15th, 2022

Summary

Managing Natural and Working Lands (NWL) to enhance carbon sinks and limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a key component of California’s ambitious strategy to achie

Managing Natural and Working Lands (NWL) to enhance carbon sinks and limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a key component of California’s ambitious strategy to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2045. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) Climate Change Scoping Plan includes 7 NWL categories in its GHG emission reduction scenarios, one of which is wetlands. Coastal wetlands in California are a high- leverage NWL type for GHG management relative to their small spatial footprint. These ecosystems have high rates of carbon sequestration and can accumulate large stocks of carbon, due to high productivity, efficient sediment trapping, and low decomposition rates (Chmura et al. 2003, Mcleod et al. 2011). In the absence of management interventions focused on wetland conservation, however, conversion of coastal wetlands to other land uses such as agriculture, grazing, development, impounded wetlands, or subtidal or upland habitat can halt or reverse carbon sequestration, and can shift these ecosystems from long-term GHG sinks to large GHG sources (Hatala et al. 2012, Tan et al. 2019). Filling of wetlands for infrastructure and development was a common practice throughout the early 20th century (Goals Project 1999), dramatically reducing the state’s coastal wetland area and associated carbon sink.

View Document Download Now Email

Los Angeles Basin Study The Future of Stormwater Conservation: Task 6 – Trade-Off Analysis & Opportunities

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | January 5th, 2016

Summary

The Los Angeles Basin Study (LA Basin Study) is a collaborative partnership between the Los Angeles County Flood Control District (LACFCD) and the U.S. Department of the

The Los Angeles Basin Study (LA Basin Study) is a collaborative partnership between the Los Angeles County Flood Control District (LACFCD) and the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation). The purpose of the LA Basin Study is to investigate long-range water conservation and flood risk impacts caused by projected changes in climate and population in the Los Angeles region. The LA Basin Study highlights opportunities for potential modifications and changes to both the existing regional stormwater capture system as well as for the development of new facilities and practices, which could help to resolve future water supply and flood risk issues. The stormwater capture concepts and alternatives developed in the Task 5 – Infrastructure & Operations Concepts report are evaluated in the trade-off analysis and opportunities highlighted in this report. The primary purpose of Task 6 – Trade-Off Analysis & Opportunities is to evaluate the quantifiable and non-quantifiable benefits and costs of the stormwater concepts identified in the Task 5 report and to provide an analysis of the trade-offs among concepts. In most cases, various project concepts would generate benefits for some impact categories but not others, and would also impose various types of costs. The trade-off analysis provides a methodology for comparing different types of benefits and costs that cannot all be quantified in monetary terms. These trade-offs include economic, financial, environmental, and social effects. Economic effects include the benefits associated with different types of goods and services supported by the concepts, the costs of the different concepts, the impacts of the different concepts on the regional economy through changes in the amount and type of spending, and the cost effectiveness of different project concepts. Financial effects reflect the impacts of paying for a project, such as paying off capital debt and covering operation and maintenance expenses. Environmental effects reflect the type and quality of environmental and natural resources that would be potentially influenced by a concept. Environmental effects include items such as water quality, energy consumption, impacts on habitat, and ecosystem function. Social effects reflect how the concepts may alter the social characteristics of a community or region such as impacts to education, environmental justice, and quality of life. Benefits are quantified for three categories of resource impacts. The first category is additional stormwater conserved or stored, which is measured in terms of acre-feet per year. The second is recreation, which is measured in miles of new trails. The third is increased habitat acreage and additional acquisition of right-of-way acreage that would provide habitat benefits. Stormwater conservation benefits are valued as improved water supply reliability, recreation is valued as a type of general recreation activity similar to outdoor activities at a local park, and habitat acreage is evaluated as an ecosystem improvement. In the case of the Regional Impact Programs concept, right-of-way acreage also produces some ecosystem benefits. Quantified benefits and costs as well as categories of qualitative benefits are summarized in Table ES-1. All benefits and costs are present valued over a 50-year planning period using the current Fiscal Year 2016 federal water project planning rate of 3.125%. The economic analysis of quantified benefits can be used to evaluate the magnitude of potential benefits of each project group, recognizing that many additional benefits may exist that are not accounted for in a traditional benefit and cost analysis. It is important to note that quantified benefits could only be developed for a subset of the total beneficial effects associated with the concepts identified in the Task 5 report. There are many potential benefits associated with environmental and social improvements, flood risk mitigation, environmental justice, and other effects that could be large but cannot be evaluated quantitatively for this level of analysis. These unquantified benefits may be larger than quantified benefits in some cases and smaller in other cases. The intent of the qualitative assessment is to provide an indication of the potential magnitude of unquantified benefits.

View Document Download Now Email

Mission Bay Historical Ecology Reconnaissance Study: Data Collection Summary (Technical Report)

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | February 1st, 2016

Summary

The goals of the Mission Bay Historical Ecology Reconnaissance Study were to collect and compile high-priority historical data about the Mission Bay landscape, identify

The goals of the Mission Bay Historical Ecology Reconnaissance Study were to collect and compile high-priority historical data about the Mission Bay landscape, identify sources that could help to develop a deeper understanding of early ecological conditions, and to identify future possible research directions based on the available data. This technical memorandum is intended to document the archives consulted during the reconnaissance study, summarize the collected and compiled data, and to identify potential next steps. A separate technical presentation to project staff and advisors will summarize the preliminary findings and questions generated from a review of the historical dataset. Ultimately, this research is intended to support the San Diego Audubon Society’s Mission Bay Wetlands Conceptual Restoration Plan (CRP) and the ReWild Mission Bay project. Also on this topic: Mission Bay Historical Ecology Reconnaissance Study: Data CollectionSummary and Initial Findings (Presentation)

View Document Download Now Email

Modeling the effect of habitat availability and quality on endangered winter-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) production in the Sacramento Valley

Ecological Modelling (Elsevier) | March 13th, 2021

Summary

Reconciliation between water uses and sustaining aquatic species populations requires an effort to identify and quantify essential habitat characteristics for ecosystem h

Reconciliation between water uses and sustaining aquatic species populations requires an effort to identify and quantify essential habitat characteristics for ecosystem health and valuation methods to predict ecosystem response to restoration actions. This process is particularly challenging for anadromous fish species such as California's Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon, due to their limited geographic range and diverse life history habitat requirements. Tools, such as life-cycle models, are needed to manage population dynamics and quantify the composite effects of processes across space and time. Nevertheless, complex institutions can hinder result interpretation and communication, and limit model use in decision-making. This paper focuses on the federally endangered and endemic Sacramento River winter-run Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) by developing a Winter-Run Habitat-based Population Model (WRHAP). WRHAP is a conceptual, freshwater rearing stage model that includes alternative rearing habitats reported in the literature (e.g., floodplains, off-channel and tributaries), defines rules of habitat use based on instream conditions, and incorporates a juvenile growth module that combines bioenergetics modeling with empirical growth rates. Model outputs reasonably follow observed out-migration patterns and provide a realistic smolt size distribution arriving at the San Francisco Bay. This effort demonstrates the importance of currently “non-critical” habitats (as defined by the Endangered Species Act) for juvenile development, with floodplain habitat contributing to a quarter of out-migrating biomass (despite < 18% availability and <10% of total rearing days), and off-channel growth being one of the most sensitive parameters (explaining ~13% of average juvenile weight variance). The model shows the utility of a simple population model to explore relationships between habitat quality/quantity and juvenile development, and to assist water/environmental management and decision-making processes focused on species recovery.

View Document Download Now Email

Observational Study of Sycamore Regeneration at two sites in Santa Clara County after the 2016-2017 Water Year

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

Summary

This memo serves as an update to the Sycamore Alluvial Woodland Habitat Mapping and Regeneration Study (Beagle et al. 2017), and describes changes seen at the two study s

This memo serves as an update to the Sycamore Alluvial Woodland Habitat Mapping and Regeneration Study (Beagle et al. 2017), and describes changes seen at the two study sites, Upper Coyote Creek and Pacheco Creek, between fall 2015 and fall 2017. We were tasked with augmenting tree core data as reported in 2017 by adding additional trees to further investigate the relationship between sycamore establishment and geomorphic position, which partially serves as a proxy for the role flood processes play in improving the suitability of conditions for sycamore seedling establishment and growth. Coincidentally, major flooding during water year 2016-2017 provided us with an exciting opportunity to observe sycamore regeneration at these two study sites. This memo reports on tree coring results; documents and maps sycamore seedlings and other observed regeneration strategies of sycamores during 2018 related to geomorphic change at the two study sites; proposes natural and anthropogenic drivers of sycamore regeneration; and outlines next steps for further investigation.

View Document Download Now Email

Optimizing the dammed: Water supply losses and fish habitat gains from dam removal in California

Journal of Environmental Management (Elsevier) | April 1st, 2014

Summary

Dams provide water supply, flood protection, and hydropower generation benefits, but also harm native species by altering the natural flow regime and degrading aquatic an

Dams provide water supply, flood protection, and hydropower generation benefits, but also harm native species by altering the natural flow regime and degrading aquatic and riparian habitat. Restoring some rivers reaches to free-flowing conditions may restore substantial environmental benefits, but at some economic cost. This study uses a systems analysis approach to preliminarily evaluate removing rim dams in California's Central Valley to highlight promising habitat and unpromising economic use tradeoffs for water supply and hydropower. CALVIN, an economic-engineering optimization model, is used to evaluate water storage and scarcity from removing dams. A warm and dry climate model for a 30-year period centered at 2085, and a population growth scenario for year 2050 water demands represent future conditions. Tradeoffs between hydropower generation and water scarcity to urban, agricultural, and instream flow requirements were compared with additional river kilometers of habitat accessible to anadromous fish species following dam removal. Results show that existing infrastructure is most beneficial if operated as a system (ignoring many current institutional constraints). Removing all rim dams is not beneficial for California, but a subset of existing dams are potentially promising candidates for removal from an optimized water supply and free-flowing river perspective. Removing individual dams decreases statewide delivered water by 0–2282 million cubic meters and provides access to 0 to 3200 km of salmonid habitat upstream of dams. The method described here can help prioritize dam removal, although more detailed, project-specific studies also are needed. Similarly, improving environmental protection can come at substantially lower economic cost, when evaluated and operated as a system.

View Document Download Now Email

Overview of Management and Restoration Activities in the Salton Sea

Congressional Research Service (CRS) | November 24th, 2013

Summary

Efforts to restore the Salton Sea ecosystem have been discussed and initiated through state and federal actions. Several studies by state and federal agencies have provid

Efforts to restore the Salton Sea ecosystem have been discussed and initiated through state and federal actions. Several studies by state and federal agencies have provided baseline data about the Sea, and some restoration plans have been proposed. The State of California, the Salton Sea Authority, and the federal government through the Bureau of Reclamation have devised plans for restoring the Sea. However, none of these plans are being fully implemented. Federal authorities that address restoration of the Salton Sea are generally based on creating and evaluating proposals for restoration, rather than implementing restoration activities in a comprehensive manner similar to other initiatives in the Everglades and Great Lakes. California is pursuing restoration options, but funding for implementing them is lacking. Whether or not to restore the Salton Sea remains controversial. Proponents of restoration contend that the Salton Sea ecosystem is valuable from an ecological standpoint because it is one of the few remaining large-scale wetland habitats in California for migratory birds and fish. Further, some argue that keeping the Salton Sea intact will stimulate economic development, recreation, and tourism in the region. They note that losing the Sea could cause economic and environmental decline, and could lead to air quality problems from exposed seabeds. Others contend that the Sea should not be restored. They argue that the Salton Sea is naturally declining, as it has throughout its geological history. Further, they note that countering this process will be costly and ultimately not worth the expense. They state that limited restoration funds should be used to restore other natural wetlands in California, such as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta. The decline of the Salton Sea ecosystem is accelerating due to water transfers from agricultural lands to municipal water districts in San Diego under the terms of the Quantification Settlement Agreement, an agreement on how to share California’s apportionment of Colorado River water. The water transfers have resulted in less water flowing into the Salton Sea and accelerated increases in salinity and shoreline recession. According to some scientists, salinity levels may reach lethal levels for most fish and wildlife as soon as 2018. These predictions, along with the steadily declining ecosystem might provoke Congress to consider a larger role in restoration for the federal government. Congress may decide to address restoration by increasing the federal role in restoration efforts. This could be done by funding existing federal authorities that address, or could address, restoring the ecosystem; authorizing federal participation and appropriations for implementing existing restoration plans; or authorizing a new comprehensive plan to be created that might involve participation from federal and non-federal stakeholders, similar to other restoration initiatives around the country. Congress might also decide not to address restoration of the Salton Sea ecosystem, or simply maintain the status quo of federal participation.

View Document Download Now Email

← Prev

Page : 6

Type

Biological Opinion (1)
Book/Textbook (1)
Case study (5)
Conference proceedings (4)
Congressional Testimony (3)
Environmental Documents (3)
Fact sheet (2)
Guidance Document (3)
Handbook/Guide (1)
Issue Paper (1)
Journal Article (22)
magazine (3)
Memo (3)
Model (5)
Plan (7)
Report (41)
Science Panel Report (2)
Strategy (3)
Technical Report (5)

Topic

Adaptive Management (2)
Agriculture (5)
California Water Fix/BDCP/Delta Conveyance (1)
Climate Change (8)
Ecosystem & Species Management (57)
Ecosystem Restoration (77)
Environmental Justice (5)
Estuary News (3)
Fisheries (21)
Flood Management (12)
Groundwater (4)
History (7)
Infrastructure (8)
Integrated Regional Water Management (1)
Landscape Reform (3)
Levees (3)
Modeling (11)
People & Water (5)
Planning & Management (22)
Point Pollution Sources (1)
Pollutants (4)
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (41)
Salinity (10)
Science Management (8)
Stormwater (2)
Tribal Water Issues (3)
Uncategorized (1)
Upper Watershed Management (4)
Water & Energy (1)
Water Project Operations (5)
Water Quality (26)
Water Quality Monitoring (2)
Water Rights, Water Law (1)
Water Supply (4)
Wetland Mitigation (26)

Keywords

adaptive management (2)
agricultural drainage (3)
agriculture (4)
anadromous fish (10)
basin characterization (1)
biological opinion (BiOp) (1)
California Water Plan (1)
Central Valley (5)
Central Valley Project (CVP) (5)
climate change (6)
Colorado River (13)
dam removal (7)
desalination (1)
disadvantaged communities (DACs) (2)
drought (1)
economic analysis (2)
ecosystem management (12)
ecosystem restoration (100)
endangered species (10)
environmental justice (2)
Estuary News (3)
fisheries (19)
flood management (8)
floodplain restoration (16)
flows (3)
forest management (1)
fugitive dust (13)
funding (2)
Groundwater Exchange (3)
groundwater recharge (1)
habitat restoration (11)
history (7)
infrastructure (3)
land use (9)
levees (5)
mercury (1)
modeling (7)
monitoring (6)
native fish (12)
nature-based solutions (2)
outreach and engagement (3)
planning and management (12)
pollutants (6)
risk assessment (2)
Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (40)
salinity (9)
Salton Sea (12)
science management (8)
sea level rise (2)
sediment (4)
State Water Project (SWP) (3)
stormwater (4)
streams (1)
tribal water issues (4)
upper watershed management (3)
water project operations (5)
water quality (16)
water supply (4)
wetlands (19)

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (3)
American Water Resources Association (AWRA) (1)
CALFED (2)
California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) (1)
California Department of Water Resources (DWR) (7)
California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) (5)
California Rice Commission (CRC) (1)
California Trout (1)
Cantara Trustee Council (1)
Congressional Research Service (CRS) (1)
Conservation Biology (Society for Conservation Biology) (1)
Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) (7)
Ecological Modelling (Elsevier) (1)
Ecological Society of America (Wiley) (1)
Environmental Biology of Fishes (Springer) (1)
Environmental Challenges (Elsevier) (1)
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) (2)
Frontiers in Conservation Science (Frontiers) (1)
Hydrobiologia (Springer) (1)
Journal of Environmental Management (Elsevier) (1)
Landscape Ecology (Springer) (2)
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (3)
Nature Conservancy (1)
Nature Portfolio (Springer Nature) (4)
North American Journal of Fisheries Management (Taylor & Francis) (1)
Office of the Great Salt Lake Commissioner (1)
Oxford University Press (OUP) (1)
Pacific Institute (1)
PLOS (1)
Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) (2)
Restore Hetch Hetchy (1)
Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries (Springer) (1)
Salton Sea Authority (3)
San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) (21)
San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP) (3)
Science of the Total Environment (Elsevier) (1)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) (2)
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) (1)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) (1)
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) (3)
University of California, Davis (UC Davis) (6)

Basin

East Salton Sea 7-033 (3)
Eel River Valley 1-010 (1)
Klamath River Valley - Lower Klamath 1-002.02 (2)
Klamath River Valley - Tulelake 1-002.01 (2)
Petaluma Valley 2-001 (1)
Sacramento Valley - Butte 5-021.70 (1)
Sacramento Valley - Colusa 5-021.52 (1)
Sacramento Valley - Sutter 5-021.62 (1)
Sacramento Valley - Yolo 5021.67 (1)
San Joaquin Valley - Delta-Mendota 5-022.07 (1)
San Joaquin Valley - Merced 5-022.04 (1)
San Joaquin Valley - Turlock 5-022.03 (1)
San Joaquin Valley - Westside 5-022.09 (1)
West Salton Sea (3)

Hydrological Region

Central Coast (7)
Colorado River (17)
Lower Basin States and Mexico - Colorado River (10)
National (8)
North Coast (11)
North Lahontan (3)
Sacramento River (46)
San Francisco Bay (46)
San Joaquin River (51)
South Coast (10)
South Lahontan (5)
Tulare Lake (7)
Upper Basin States - Colorado River (3)

Reset

Search for:

CONTACT