Irrigating Machinery on the Pacific Coast

Scientific American | December 17th, 1887

In offering the present paper to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the author does so with a tolerably complete knowledge of the very advanced practice in England

In offering the present paper to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the author does so with a tolerably complete knowledge of the very advanced practice in England in this class of machinery: and his purpose is mainly to explain the differences that have been called for by local circumstances in California. Character of the Country: The western or Pacific slope of the Sierra Nevada or coast range of mountains in California is very abrupt, the crests of the range being so near that the snow is visible from the coast during the whole year. Hundreds of streams cross this narrow country, falling either direct into the Pacific Ocean or into the great basin formed by the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. These two rivers. the largest in California, run in opposite directions nearly parallel with the coast and meet at the Bay of San Francisco forming ac ontinuous valley 400 miles long and from 50 to 100 miles wide. The small streams for the most part are fed by melting snow in the summer; and every gulch or canon has its rivulet or brook. They increase in volume until they pass into or through the hills at the foot of the mountain range; and there, unless of considerable size, they may wholly disappear in summer by percolation through the silt or by evaporation. Streams exposed to the torrid air which in summer sweeps across the sand deserts of Southern California are dried up with wonderful rapidity. The evaporation from Salt Lake, exposed to the same dry wind, is sometimes equal to half an inch per day. or 64 million tons of water. Not withstanding this great loss by evaporation, the quantity of water falling into the ocean on the coast of California has been estimated at 100 million cubic feet or 2 3/4 million tons per minute, enough, if distributed properly, to irrigate 25,000 square miles.

Irrigation of Twelve Million Acres in the Valley of California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | November 15th, 1920

Issue Paper for the San Joaquin River spring-run Chinook experimental population – Delta impacts

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) | July 23rd, 2013

Juvenile Production Estimate (JPE) Calculation and Use/Application of Survival Data from Acoustically-tagged Chinook Salmon Releases Report

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | February 21st, 2014

Each year, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) estimates the number of juvenile winter-run Chinook salmon expected to enter the Delta. NMFS’ June 4, 2009

Each year, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) estimates the number of juvenile winter-run Chinook salmon expected to enter the Delta. NMFS’ June 4, 2009, biological and conference opinion on the long-term operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project provides an incidental take limit on natural juvenile winter-run based on the juvenile production estimate.

Land Subsidence in Santa Clara Valley, Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | January 31st, 1971

Land Use and Resource Management Plan for the Primary Zone of the Delta

Delta Protection Commission (DPC) | February 25th, 2010

The Delta Protection Act of 1992 (Act) established the Delta Protection Commission, a State entity to plan for and guide the conservation and enhancement of the natural r

The Delta Protection Act of 1992 (Act) established the Delta Protection Commission, a State entity to plan for and guide the conservation and enhancement of the natural resources of the Delta, while sustaining agriculture and meeting increased recreational demand. The Act defines a Primary Zone, which comprises the principal jurisdiction of the Delta Protection Commission. The Secondary Zone is the area outside the Primary Zone and within the “Legal Delta”; the Secondary Zone is not within the planning area of the Delta Protection Commission. The Act requires the Commission to prepare and adopt a Land Use and Resource Management Plan for the Primary Zone of the Delta, which must meet specific goals. This document constitutes the Land Use and Resource Management Plan for the Primary Zone of the Delta (Plan), as updated in 2010. The Act (Public Resources Code Section 29760 et. seq.) requires the Commission to prepare and adopt and thereafter review and maintain a comprehensive long-term Resource Management Plan for land uses within the Primary Zone of the Delta (“Resource Management Plan”). The Resource Management Plan is to set forth a description of the needs and goals for the Delta and a statement of the policies, standards, and elements of the Resource Management Plan. Within 180 days of the adoption of the Resource Management Plan or any amendments by the Commission, all local governments, as defined in Public Resources Code Section 29725, shall submit to the Commission proposed amendments to their general plans. The amendments shall cause the general plans to be consistent with the criteria in Public Resources Code Section 29763.5 with respect to land located within the Primary Zone. Those criteria include a requirement that the general plan be consistent with the Resource Management Plan (Plan).

Landscape Patterns and Processes of the McCormack-Williamson Tract and Surrounding Area: A framework for restoring a resilient and functional landscape

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | March 25th, 2013

This report uses a reconstruction of the historical (early 19th century) Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta landscape in concert with contemporary data to elucidate restoration

This report uses a reconstruction of the historical (early 19th century) Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta landscape in concert with contemporary data to elucidate restoration opportunities and constraints at the McCormack-Williamson Tract and within the surrounding Delta setting. Historical ecology encourages a landscape-level perspective of restoration through improved understanding of how physical processes created and maintained habitat mosaics in the recent past. This perception of landscapes can be used to evaluate current conditions and develop future restoration scenarios. We used the recently completed study of the historical Delta landscape (Whipple et al. 2012) to explore opportunities for the McCormack-Williamson Tract (MWT), a 1,645 acre (6.6 km2) tract along the Mokelumne River (Figure 1 and Figure 2). This site exemplifies the need to balance contemporary constraints to restoration (including existing infrastructure and flood protection concerns) with the goals of landscape-scale restoration. To explore some of the strategies and opportunities available to advance the landscape-scale restoration in the MWT area, three general concepts emerged: increasing landscape complexity, connectivity, and resilience. To understand how to interpret and improve these attributes, we developed conceptual models that placed the site within the larger landscapes of the historical Delta, relating local habitat features to regional controlling physical gradients. This aided interpretation of the contemporary physical landscape and allowed identification of opportunities and constraints to both short-term and long-term landscape-scale restoration. The historical record reveals features such as floodplain lakes, forests on natural river levees, and tidal channels in the study area. These and other features could be strategically incorporated into a restoration vision, or an “operational landscape unit” for this part of the Delta (Verhoeven et al. 2008). This type of perspective can help focus restoration targets, including the relative proportion and placement of different habitat types and landscape elements within project design constraints, maximizing the site’s ecological potential. The landscape-scale approach also identifies opportunities to improve ecological connectivity and long-term adaptability to sea level rise and other environmental changes. Some of these opportunities may be critical to the ecological function and resilience of the area, but may not be able to be addressed in the immediate MWT project design. Thus, a central component of translating a historical landscape perspective to site-scale design is envisioning an adaptable restoration process that spans short-term restoration actions that are possible within the site’s bounds, while maintaining a longer-term vision of what is needed at the landscape scale.

Late Cenozoic Tectonism of the Sacramento Valley, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | July 15th, 1987

Left Out in Drought: California Fish Impacts of the California Drought on Freshwater Ecosystems

Pacific Institute | September 7th, 2022

California is deep into the third year of another major drought. Rural and urban areas again face water use restrictions and financial losses. Less water and hotter tempe

California is deep into the third year of another major drought. Rural and urban areas again face water use restrictions and financial losses. Less water and hotter temperatures also stress ecosystems, increasing the prevalence of wildfires, air pollution, dry streambeds, and loss of wildlife. Impacts to rural and urban areas frequently mask the disproportionate ecological impacts of the drought and the related policy and management responses that have exacerbated those impacts. The lack of acknowledgement and de- prioritization of ecosystem water needs during drought has led to insufficient actions taken to protect the natural systems on which we all depend.

Letter from National Marine Fisheries Service: Re: Proposed Modification to the Annual Review Schedule Required as Part of the Reasonable and Prudent Alternative in the National Marine Fisheries Service’s 2009 Biological Opinion on the Coordinated Long-term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project (June 30, 2016)

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | June 30th, 2016