Upper Watershed Management

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A Measure of Snow: A Report Based on Case Studies of The Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program

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A Measure of Snow: A Report Based on Case Studies of The Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service | November 1, 2008...
Summary
Snow depth and snow water content data have been collected and disseminated throughout the Western United States for over 100 years. Early snow survey and...

Snow depth and snow water content data have been collected and disseminated throughout the Western United States for over 100 years. Early snow survey and water supply data were gathered through the efforts of university scientists, beginning with the work of Dr. James E. Church. In 1935, the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), now the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), established a formal cooperative Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting (SS-WSF) Program. The Agency was charged with responsibility for “conducting snow survey and water supply forecasts and the forecasting of irrigation water supplies.” The new Program would also develop consistent methods for measuring snow and reliable models for accurate water supply forecasting.

Administered by NRCS, the SS-WSF Program has grown into a network of more than 1,200 manually-measured snow courses and over 750 automated Snowpack Telemetry (SNOTEL) weather stations in 13 Western States, including Alaska. (See map on page 4.) The SS-WSF Program provides manual snow course data collected by NRCS conservation professionals, automated SNOTEL data, and modeled water supply/streamflow volume data as well as issues streamflow forecasts for over 740 locations in the West. The data and the related reports and forecasts, are made available—in near real time for the automated SNOTEL sites—to private industry; to Federal, State, and local government entities; and to private citizens through an extensive Internet delivery system and other distribution channels.

With 50-80 percent of the water supply in the West arriving in the form of snow, data on the snowpack provides critical information to decision-makers and water managers throughout the West. The basic data become even more valuable when used in concert with partner organizations to provide water supply forecasting tailored to meet end-user needs. According to researchers from multiple U.S. and international agencies, research centers, and academia, changes in the world’s climate have resulted in a loss of predictability in weather, precipitation, and water transport and accumulation patterns. It is anticipated that the value the SS-WSF Program provides to society will increase over time as climate variability increases.

Recently a study was done to see who uses SS-WSF data, how the data are used, and the value of the data. Users of the data were interviewed and specific events and activities were analyzed. This publication is based on that study.

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California Water Plan 2013: Mountain Counties Regional Report
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California Water Plan 2013: Mountain Counties Regional Report
Department of Water Resources | October 30, 2014...
Summary
As the State works to solve the water crisis in California, the potential for redirected impacts in the Mountain Counties Area is acute....
As the State works to solve the water crisis in California, the potential for redirected impacts in the Mountain Counties Area is acute. It is critical that the State recognize the significance and importance of the Sierra Nevada mountain range to the local communities, the environment, the Delta, and all of California, now and for future generations.

Water resource managers are working with elected officials, governmental agencies, businesses, farmers and conservationists on innovative programs for watershed management, water use efficiency, conservation, reuse, and recycling. Water managers and others in the region are actively balancing the water supplies that support both a vibrant economy and a healthy environment. They are also continually improving the management of surface and groundwater sources to sustain this important balance for this region and California.

Statewide Significance

Water is the number one resource exported from the Sierra Nevada, and the 16-county Mountain Counties Area is the primary source for most of that exported water. The Mountain Counties Area is over 15,700 square miles and represents 9.9 percent of the state. More than 40 percent of California’s developed water supply originates in the Mountain Counties area serving end users throughout the state.

?? The reservoirs in the region produce hydroelectricity to supply homes and businesses in the western United States. Mountain Counties has more hydroelectric generation facilities than any other region in California.

?? Agriculture in this region feeds the state and the world and is an economic driver for California’s economy.

Recreation and tourism in the Sierra Nevada mountains help communities thrive economically as guests come from all over the world to hike, ski, fish, raft, and boat.

?? Water stored behind designated reservoirs in the ten major watershed areas have dedicated in-stream flow releases designed to meet the many beneficial uses for the environment, agriculture, and urban users and provides storage to reduce the magnitude of flood flows.

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California’s Water: Protecting Headwaters
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California’s Water: Protecting Headwaters
Public Policy Institute of California | October 1, 2016...
Summary
Mountainous regions provide most of the state’s water supply. But major problems loom— from a growing risk of wildfires to a shrinking snowpack....

Mountainous regions provide most of the state’s water supply. But major problems loom— from a growing risk of wildfires to a shrinking snowpack. This brief outlines ways California and the federal government—the largest landowner in headwater areas—could address critical problems in these areas.

This publication is part of a briefing kit that summarizes a dozen of the state’s most pressing water management issues.

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Environmental Health Risks from Abandoned Mines in the Sierra Nevada
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Environmental Health Risks from Abandoned Mines in the Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Fund | June 9, 2014...
Summary
The widespread pollution from Gold Rush mining activities, including mercury, arsenic and lead, constitutes the oldest and longest neglected environmental justice problem in...
The widespread pollution from Gold Rush mining activities, including mercury, arsenic and lead, constitutes the oldest and longest neglected environmental justice problem in California. The effects of this pollution on human health and the environment are only now beginning to be addressed.

Today, the effects of historic mining pollution are an invisible but very real threat to people who live, work or recreate in the Sierra Nevada. Toxins of concern include mercury, arsenic, lead and asbestos. There is little information about these potential exposures available to Sierra residents. State-issued fish consumption advisories in the region
do not provide site-specific advice for many locations people fish, or the species people eat.

In 2006, The Sierra Fund, in partnership with California State University Chico, conducted a survey of Sierra clinics. This study found that not one of 13 surveyed clinics included information on mercury in fish as part of their maternal/infant health programs, whether caught locally or not. Additionally, the study learned that none of the clinics surveyed administer an environmental health history form, so it is difficult to connect current health problems to environmental exposures.

In order to address this lack of information and provide a springboard for more research, The Sierra Fund conducted three pilot studies of potential environmental exposures in 2009 and 2010 and a pilot outreach program to present these findings to Sierra communities in 2013-14. This report summarizes findings and recommendations from these efforts, in order to encourage continued research into these potentially serious health exposures.

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Estimates of Natural and Unimpaired Flows for the Central Valley of California: Water Years 1922-2014 (draft)
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Estimates of Natural and Unimpaired Flows for the Central Valley of California: Water Years 1922-2014 (draft)
California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | March 1, 2016...
Summary
Estimating regional water supplies that would have occurred absent human activities is a common practice in water resources planning. In this report, such...

Estimating regional water supplies that would have occurred absent human activities is a common practice in water resources planning. In this report, such theoretical water supply estimates are referred to as “unimpaired” flow. Since 1980, the Department of Water Resources (Department) has periodically published estimates of Central Valley unimpaired flows. In spite of the Department’s previous attempts to distinguish between natural conditions and its calcula tion of theoretical unimpaired flows, unimpaired flow estimates have frequently been used as a surrogate measure of natural conditions, presumably because natural flow estimates were unavailable. A major objective of this report is to clarify the conceptua l differences between natural and unimpaired flows.

In this report, the term “unimpaired” flow is used to describe a theoretically available water supply assuming existing river channel conditions in the absence of (1) storage regulation for water supply a nd hydropower purposes and (2) stream diversions for agricultural and municipal uses. Unimpaired flow estimates are theoretical in that such conditions have not occurred historically. In pristine watersheds which have undergone little land use change, unim paired flow estimates provide a fixed frame of reference to develop relationships between precipitation, runoff, and water supply based on long - term hydrologic records. For many years these relationships were based on the assumption of stationarity, i.e. that the past is a good indicator of the future. However, global warming now requires hydrologists and water resources managers to analyze non-stationary processes, requiring more sophisticated tools and techniques to quantify future water supplies. This report updates and extends the Department’s previous published estimates of unimpaired flows for 24 Central Valley sub-basins and the Delta. Monthly unimpaired flows are presented for water years 1922 - 2014.

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Forest Management (Resource Management Strategy)
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Forest Management (Resource Management Strategy)
Department of Water Resources | July 29, 2016...
Summary
Forest lands in California, the majority of which are in the middle to high elevation foothills and mountains, produce a diverse array of...
Forest lands in California, the majority of which are in the middle to high elevation foothills and mountains, produce a diverse array of resources such as water, timber, native vegetation, fish, wildlife, and livestock, and outdoor recreation. However, the water produced by these forests has economic value that equals or exceeds that of any other forest resource (Krieger 2001; California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection 2003).

Most of California’s major rivers and a substantial portion of its runoff originate in these forests; therefore, most of California’s major water development projects are tied strongly to forested watersheds.

Forest management activities can affect water quantity and quality. This strategy focuses on forest management activities, on both public and privately-owned forest lands, whose goals specifically include improvement of the availability and quality of water for downstream users.

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Independent Forensic Team Report: Oroville Dam Spillway Incident

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Independent Forensic Team Report: Oroville Dam Spillway Incident
California Department of Water Resources | January 5, 2018...
Summary
The Oroville Dam spillway incident was caused by a long-term systemic failure of the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), regulatory, and general...

The Oroville Dam spillway incident was caused by a long-term systemic failure of the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), regulatory, and general industry practices to recognize and address inherent spillway design and construction weaknesses, poor bedrock quality, and deteriorated service spillway chute conditions. The incident cannot reasonably be “blamed” mainly on any one individual, group, or organization.

During service spillway operation on February 7, 2017, water injection through both cracks and joints in the chute slab resulted in uplift forces beneath the slab that exceeded the uplift capacity and structural strength of the slab, at a location along the steep section of the chute . The uplifted slab section exposed the underlying poor quality foundation rock at that location to unexpected severe erosion, resulting in removal of additional slab sections and more erosion .

Responding to the damage to the service spillway chute necessitated difficult risk tradeoffs while the lake continued to rise. The resulting decisions, made without a full understanding of relative uncertainties and consequences, allowed the reservoir level to rise above the emergency spillway weir for the first time in the project’s history, leading to severe and rapid erosion downstream of the weir and, ultimately, the evacuation order.

. . . There were many opportunities to intervene and prevent the incident , but the overall system of interconnected factors operated in a way that these opportunities were missed. Numerous human , organizational, and industry factors led to the physical factors not being recognized and properly addressed, and to the decision-making during the incident.

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Mining’s Toxic Legacy: An Initiative to Address Mining Toxins in the Sierra Nevada
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Mining’s Toxic Legacy: An Initiative to Address Mining Toxins in the Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Fund | March 1, 2008...
Summary
The purpose of this report is to present current information on the nature and extent of mining toxins in the Sierra, the problems...
The purpose of this report is to present current information on the nature and extent of mining toxins in the Sierra, the problems they pose to human and environmental health, and recommendations for action to address these problems. This is accomplished by examining the best available science from the perspective of communities in the Gold Country, and directing the results to regional nonprofit organizations and local, state, federal, and tribal governments.

The area considered by this Initiative is defined to be consistent with the State of California’s Sierra Nevada Conservancy service boundary. Areas of the Sierra Nevada in the State of Nevada were also considered as a secondary topic. This enabled the Initiative to address both the east and west sides of the Sierra, as well as some parts of the Cascade region, all of which were heavily impacted by historic mining.

Though the impact of gold mining is the primary focus of the Initiative, gold prospectors found other commodities, including iron, copper, lead, silver, and tungsten which they then mined and sold. This report considers the impact of these mining activities as a secondary topic and in less detail.

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The State of the Sierra Nevada’s Forests
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The State of the Sierra Nevada’s Forests
Sierra Nevada Conservancy | October 2, 2014...
Summary
There is a growing understanding that many Sierra Nevada forests are not healthy and that overgrown forests are susceptible to disease and intense...
There is a growing understanding that many Sierra Nevada forests are not healthy and that overgrown forests are susceptible to disease and intense wildfire. There is likewise broad consensus that science-based ecological restoration of our Sierra Nevada forests must be dramatically increased in order stem the tide of large, uncharacteristic wildfires. These wildfires threaten the very lifeblood of California -- the forested watersheds of the Sierra Nevada.

The State of Sierra Nevada’s Forests Report identifies the wide range of benefits provided by our Sierra Nevada forests and watersheds that are at risk:
- The Region is the origin of 60% of California’s developed water supply.
- These watersheds are the primary source of fresh water flowing into the Sacramento-SanJoaquin Delta, California’s water “hub.”
- The forests of the Sierra Nevada store massive amounts of carbon, assisting in the state’sefforts to combat climate change.
- The forests and watersheds provide crucial habitat to hundreds of species.
- The area provides world-class recreational opportunities enjoyed by millions from around the world.
- The Region is a major producer of wood products and hydro-electric power.
Key findings of this report include the following:
- The United States Forest Service Region 5 (USFS) estimates that between six and nine million acres of lands for which they have management responsibility are in need of restoration. In order to return these lands to ecological health, a two to three times increase in the pace and scale of ecological restoration must occur.
- The amount of area consumed by fire in the Sierra Nevada continues to increase. More land has burned in the first four-and-a-half-years of this decade than seven entire decades in the past.
- Between 1984 and 2010, there was a significant increase in the number of acres within a forest fire burning at high-intensity, from an average of 20% in mid-1980s to over 30% by 2010.
- High-intensity burn areas can experience runoff and erosion rates five to ten times greater than low- or moderate-intensity burn areas. The sediment that is carried in the runoff not only degrades water quality and damages infrastructure, it fills reservoirs, reducing storage capacity.
- The 2013 Rim Fire, the largest fire in the recorded history of the Sierra Nevada, burned 257,000 acres, almost 40% of which was at high intensity. Estimates are that that fire produced the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions that 2.3 million vehicles produce in a year.
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A Measure of Snow: A Report Based on Case Studies of The Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program

A Measure of Snow: A Report Based on Case Studies of The Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program

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California Water Plan 2013: Mountain Counties Regional Report

California Water Plan 2013: Mountain Counties Regional Report

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California’s Water: Protecting Headwaters

California’s Water: Protecting Headwaters

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Environmental Health Risks from Abandoned Mines in the Sierra Nevada

Environmental Health Risks from Abandoned Mines in the Sierra Nevada

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Estimates of Natural and Unimpaired Flows for the Central Valley of California: Water Years 1922-2014 (draft)

Estimates of Natural and Unimpaired Flows for the Central Valley of California: Water Years 1922-2014 (draft)

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Forest Management (Resource Management Strategy)

Forest Management (Resource Management Strategy)

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Independent Forensic Team Report: Oroville Dam Spillway Incident

Independent Forensic Team Report: Oroville Dam Spillway Incident

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Mining’s Toxic Legacy: An Initiative to Address Mining Toxins in the Sierra Nevada

Mining’s Toxic Legacy: An Initiative to Address Mining Toxins in the Sierra Nevada

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The State of the Sierra Nevada’s Forests

The State of the Sierra Nevada’s Forests

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