CVPIA 10 Years of Progress

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | June 27th, 2015

In 1992, Congress passed the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (Act, or CVPIA), which amended previous authorizations of the California Central Valley Project (CVP)

In 1992, Congress passed the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (Act, or CVPIA), which amended previous authorizations of the California Central Valley Project (CVP) to include fish and wildlife protection, restoration, enhancement, and mitigation as project purposes having equal priority with power generation, and irrigation and domestic water uses. Congress directed the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), to operate the CVP consistent with the purposes of the Act, to meet the Federal trust responsibilities to protect the fishery resources of affected Federally recognized Indian tribes, and to achieve a reasonable balance among competing demands for use of CVP water. For the past 10 years, Reclamation and the Service, working together to implement the CVPIA, have embarked on one of the Nation’s largest fish and wildlife restoration efforts. Reclamation and the Service have developed programs to improve environmental conditions and modify operations, management, and physical facilities, and thus, the associated environmental conditions of the CVP to comply with the purposes and goals of the Act. All of the Act’s restoration measures are planned and implemented by Reclamation and the Service and coordinated with the State of California, CALFED, and other partners. In the following pages, you will find a summary of the protection, restoration, enhancement, and mitigation measures that have been implemented as of the end of fiscal year 2002, demonstrating the contributions Reclamation and the Service have made to the Central Valley. As you read the summary, it should become clear that progress is being made in unprecedented programs, and advancements have been made in resolving complicated watershed issues throughout the Central Valley. Yet much work lies ahead.

Dealing with the Delta: Envisioning Futures, Finding Solutions (Research Brief)

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | February 15th, 2007

This research brief summarizes a report by Jay Lund, Ellen Hanak, William Fleenor, Richard Howitt, Jeffrey Mount, and Peter Moyle, Envisioning Futures for the Sacramento�

This research brief summarizes a report by Jay Lund, Ellen Hanak, William Fleenor, Richard Howitt, Jeffrey Mount, and Peter Moyle, Envisioning Futures for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta.

Delta Independent Science Board -- Comments on the Sacramento / Delta Draft Staff Report

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | January 19th, 2024

Delta-Mendota Canal Recirculation Feasibility Study Plan Formulation Report

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | September 30th, 2010

The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is evaluating the feasibility of using recirculation strategies to improve water quality and flow

The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is evaluating the feasibility of using recirculation strategies to improve water quality and flow in the lower San Joaquin River (SJR). Specifically, Reclamation is evaluating the feasibility of the Delta-Mendota Canal (DMC) Recirculation Project (Project) in which water from the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta (Delta) would be recirculated through the Central Valley Project (CVP) pumping and conveyance facilities to the SJR upstream from Vernalis. The DMC, which is part of the CVP, would be the primary conveyance facility utilized. The DMC is 120-mile canal that begins at the C.W. “Bill” Jones Pumping Plant (Jones) and ends at Mendota Pool, near the town of Mendota. Jones pumps water from the Delta into the canal. Water would be released from the canal into either Newman Wasteway or Westley Wasteway and would flow back into SJR near its confluence with the Merced River (Newman Wasteway) or with the Tuolumne River (Westley Wasteway). The water would re-enter the Delta near the town of Vernalis. In 2004, Reclamation initiated the DMC Recirculation Project Feasibility Study (Study). The Study is authorized by the CALFED (California Federal Bay-Delta Program) Bay-Delta Authorization Act of 2004 (118 Stat. §§ 1681-1702.; Public Law 108-361) and a similar study is required by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) as part of Water Right Decision 1641 (D-1641). The purposes of the PFR are (1) to provide information on the existing and potential resources that may be affected by the Project and (2) to present the results of the evaluation of the alternative plans that were carried forward from the 2008 Initial Alternatives Information Report (IAIR). The alternative plans are compared and ranked and the next steps in the study are presented.

Documentation of a Groundwater Flow Model (SJRRPGW) for the San Joaquin River Restoration Program Study Area, California

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) | September 23rd, 2014

To better understand the potential effects of restoration flows on existing drainage problems, anticipated as a result of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program (SJRRP

To better understand the potential effects of restoration flows on existing drainage problems, anticipated as a result of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program (SJRRP), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), developed a groundwater flow model (SJRRPGW) of the SJRRP study area that is within 5 miles of the San Joaquin River and adjacent bypass system from Friant Dam to the Merced River. The primary goal of the SJRRP is to reestablish the natural ecology of the river to a degree that restores salmon and other fish populations. Increased flows in the river, particularly during the spring salmon run, are a key component of the restoration effort. A potential consequence of these increased river flows is the exacerbation of existing irrigation drainage problems along a section of the river between Mendota and the confluence with the Merced River. Historically, this reach typically was underlain by a water table within 10 feet of the land surface, thus requiring careful irrigation management and (or) artificial drainage to maintain crop health. The SJRRPGW is designed to meet the short-term needs of the SJRRP; future versions of the model may incorporate potential enhancements, several of which are identified in this report. The SJRRPGW was constructed using the USGS groundwater flow model MODFLOW and was built on the framework of the USGS Central Valley Hydrologic Model (CVHM) within which the SJRRPGW model domain is embedded. The Farm Process (FMP2) was used to simulate the supply and demand components of irrigated agriculture. The Streamflow-Routing Package (SFR2) was used to simulate the streams and bypasses and their interaction with the aquifer system. The 1,300-square mile study area was subdivided into 0.25-mile by 0.25-mile cells. The sediment texture of the aquifer system, which was used to distribute hydraulic properties by model cell, was refined from that used in the CVHM to better represent the natural heterogeneity of aquifer-system materials within the model domain. In addition, the stream properties were updated from the CVHM to better simulate stream-aquifer interactions, and water-budget subregions were refined to better simulate agricultural water supply and demand. External boundary conditions were derived from the CVHM. The SJRRPGW was calibrated for April 1961 to September 2003 by using groundwater-level observations from 133 wells and streamflow observations from 19 streamgages. The model was calibrated using public-domain parameter estimation software (PEST) in a semi-automated manner. The simulated groundwater-level elevations and trends (including seasonal fluctuations) and surface-water flow magnitudes and trends reasonably matched observed data. The calibrated model is planned to be used to assess the potential effects of restoration flows on agricultural lands and the relative capabilities of proposed SJRRP actions to reduce these effects.

Draft finding of no significant impact, 2-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | November 13th, 2009

The proposed Demonstration Project is a 5-year experiment to validate a new delta smelt behavioral model and study the effects of modifying flows in the Sacramento-San Jo

The proposed Demonstration Project is a 5-year experiment to validate a new delta smelt behavioral model and study the effects of modifying flows in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) to protect delta smelt and other sensitive aquatic species from entrainment in Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) export pumps. Research suggests that the pre-spawning migration of adult delta smelt is tied to sediment/suspended particles in the water (turbidity). Temporary gates would be placed across Old River and Connection Slough in the central Delta and operated from December to March to keep turbid water away from the CVP and SWP export pumps, thus keeping adult delta smelt away from the pumps, and in March and June to prevent larvae and juvenile delta smelt from being entrained by the export pumps.

Effect of the South Delta Agricultural Barriers on Emigrating Juvenile Salmonids

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | November 15th, 2018

The California Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) Temporary Barriers Project (TBP) is an ongoing project that installs, operates, and monitors up to four temporary ro

The California Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) Temporary Barriers Project (TBP) is an ongoing project that installs, operates, and monitors up to four temporary rock-fill barriers constructed in waterways located in the southern portion of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) near the cities of Tracy and Lathrop in San Joaquin County, California (Figure 1-1). Three of the temporary barriers—Old River at Tracy (ORTB), Middle River (MRB), and Grant Line Canal (GLCB), collectively, the south Delta agricultural barriers (SDABs)—are constructed and operated during the agricultural irrigation season, usually April through November. The SDABs are designed to act as flow control structures, retaining tidal fresh water behind each barrier following a flood tide. The fourth barrier, Head of Old River Barrier (HORB), is installed during the spring and fall as a fish guidance barrier. The HORB is normally installed in the spring to prevent juvenile fall-run San Joaquin River Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and juvenile Central Valley steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) 2 from emigrating through Old River toward the south Delta water export facilities at the intakes of the State Water Project (SWP) and federal Central Valley Project (CVP). In the fall, the HORB helps to guide adult San Joaquin River Chinook Salmon to spawning locations in the upper watershed. Installation, operation, and removal of the SDABs has the potential to harm, harass, or cause mortality to fish species of management concern to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), specifically, juvenile fall-run Chinook Salmon which are NMFS Species of Concern (NMFS 2010), juvenile Central Valley steelhead which is a threatened species, an Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 10j experimental population (63 Federal Register [FR] 13347), and juvenile Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris), also a federally listed threatened species (71 FR 17757). The TBP is implemented in compliance with the terms and conditions of two NMFS Biological Opinions (BiOp) (NMFS 2008, 2009).

Effects Analysis for the Delta Smelt Fall Habitat Action in 2019

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | August 1st, 2019

Effects of Hydraulic Conditions on Salvage Efficiency of Adult Delta Smelt at the Tracy Fish Collection Facility

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | February 29th, 2016

Empirical and Experimental Analyses of Secondary Louver Efficiency at the Tracy Fish Collection Facility: March 1996 to November 1997

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | January 30th, 2004