CALIFORNIA WATER OUTLINE

I.Hydrologic Cycle

  1. Surface Water
  1. Rivers, lakes
  2. Reservoirs
  3. Watersheds
  1. Groundwater
  1. Zone of Aeration (non-saturation): Vadose Zone
  2. Zone of Saturation: Phreatic Zone
  3. Water Table
  4. Aquifers/Aquicludes
  1. Description
  2. Management Problems
  1. Depletion
  2. Contamination
  3. Wells

(1)drawdown effect

(2)cone of depression

  1. California Water
  1. Maldistribution
  2. Timing of Rainy Season
  3. Drought Cycles
  4. Apportionment within state
  5. Major river systems: Northern California and Southern California
  1. The Los Angeles Aqueduct
  1. Wm. Mulholland
  2. Artesian wells in Owens Valley = good GW potential
  3. Early 1900’s: drought in Los Angeles and the search for water is on!
  4. Owens Valley water most desirable (feasibility-wise)
  1. closest @233 miles
  2. All “downhill” from Owens Valley to LA – no pumps
  1. Mulholland lobbied for two bills: $24.5 million
  2. Aqueduct completed and water provided by November 1913
  3. Not an easy or agreeable project: scandals, riots, bomb threats, and general chicanery involved!
  4. 1979: DWP requested pumping rights for more water (80% of LA’s water came from Owens Valley
  1. Mono Lake (north Owens Valley) drying up
  2. Increased salinity and exposed gull nests lead environmentalist movement against DWP
  1. 1990: Court case favors Mono Lake Committee to bring lake level up: DWP must reduce pumping
  2. Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District slapped LA with a fine for the alkali dust released from surface of now-dry Owens Lake
  1. LA made “settlements” with Owens Lake residents
  2. Proposed costly reparationsagreed to by 1998
  1. Colorado River, MWD and the Salton Sea
  1. Original irrigation from Colorado to CA began ~1870-1890 with formation of California Development Company
  1. Water diverted to overflow channel: Alamo River
  2. Water irrigated ~ 100,000 acres in Imperial Valley
  1. 1905: Disastrous flooding of Colorado River filled in dry Salton Sink area: the Salton Sea is born (sort of)
  2. 1911: Imperial Valley formed Imperial Irrigation District and proposed “All-American Canal”
  3. 1920s: LA (and other SoCal cities) along with other out-of-state communities proposed: Hoover Dam – a project with a dam and the final “All-American Canal” (for CA, of course)–completed in 1935 largest dam in the world (at that time)
  4. 6 other states: angered by CA proposal (Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming andNew Mexico)
  5. Supreme Court: prior appropriation determines water rights
  6. States agree to “divide” water: half of flow to upper basin states (Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico) and half of flow to lower basin states (California, Nevada, and Arizona): Colorado River Compact, November 1922
  7. 1927: Metropolitan Water District formed (SoCal) to control and exploit Colorado water for CA.
  1. CA to receive 4.4 million acre feet/year + ½of any year’s surplus
  2. CA still uses all the excess water not used by any of the other states
  1. 1933: Parker Dam and aqueduct built to bring water 242 miles to LA from Lake Havasu (AZ)
  2. 1942: All American Canal bringing Colorado River water into the Imperial Irrigation District
  1. Farm sizes jumped to ~500 acres – some @ 3000 acres
  1. 80% of Colo. water used by four agricultural districts, controlled by Imperial Irrigation District (growing in population as well as farms)
  1. Controversy: San Diego (after losing a water battle with LA) tapping into this water source now
  2. Orange County cities (and San Diego) part of MWD domain: a water “force” of reckoning
  3. LA, even, has become a customer of MWD, as 1991 court rulings on LA Aqueduct water reduced water flow to LA.
  4. New controversy: San Diego trying to convince Imperial farmers to conserve the water they are allotted – and sell the excess water to SD @ a profit!
  5. MWD not happy about this development
  6. Coachella Valley farmers also complaining about apportionment of water from Imperial Valley.
  7. New water wars between Imperial Valley – Coachella Valley – San Diego – and the MWD?
  1. New Problems? Colorado River Allocations cut to CA
  1. As AZ’s population has grown so has it’s water needs
  2. CA was taking all of AZ’s excess water from Colorado: ~1.1 million acre feet over allotment
  3. 1990s: cut backsand loss of the extra 1.1 million acre feet of water
  1. Central Valley Project
  1. Major undertaking for flood control, land reclamation, irrigation, drainage, and power generation
  2. 1920s: California an agricultural powerhouse, thanks to groundwater reserves in Central Valley and irrigation
  3. Droughts and lowering of GW table: state officials proposed massive program in 1930’s
  4. Depression era: state project approved by voters (except those in So Cal – project not of interest to us!)
  5. Federal Bureau of Reclamation, 1935 – stepped in as state funds inadequate for project
  1. federal money = federal control!
  2. State in long-term battle for control of project
  1. 1937: Contra Costa Canal to Marquinez Reservoir
  2. 1940s; Shasta Dam (along Sacramento River) completed
  3. Project today:

Dams: Shasta and Keswick Dams on Sacramento River:

Folsom Dam on American River

New Melones Dam on Stanislaus River

Friant Dam on San Joaquin River

Canals:

Contra Costa Canal: farmers

Tehama-Colusa Canal: w side of Sacto Valley

Delta Cross Canal: farmers

Delta-Mendota Canal: s. from delta to w.side ofSan Joaquin Valley

Madera Canal:

Friant-Kern Canal: to e.side of San Joaquin Valley

Proposed Canal: Peripheral Canal: to divert Sacramento

And Feather River water from Delta to So. Ca

1 maf/year

Defeated as: (1) too costly >$2.29 billion (2)environmentally unsound

  1. California Water Project (State Water Project)
  1. 1945: Oroville Dam proposed along Feather River to distribute water to Delta/Bay area initially – eventually to So Cal and San Joaquin Valley customers: 750 mile project: “California Water Project”
  2. First recipients (1962) Alameda County
  3. 1968: San Joaquin Valley
  4. 1971: over Tehachapis into SoCal (2maf/year…the lion’s share!) Castaic Lake (west branch), Lake Perris in Riverside (east branch)
  5. Federally-subsidized
  1. California Water Laws (Western Water Laws)
  1. Initially: “English Common Law” and Riparian Rights controlled water usage and ownership
  2. Riparian Rights
  1. Rights in flowing water
  2. Rights given to owner of land next to the water
  3. The water rights are part and parcel of land ownership
  4. Reasonable use is implied: only as it doesn’t negatively affect other users downstream
  1. Water user must own land bordering the water
  2. User must limit use to those purposes deemed reasonable or natural (domestic use only) – NO DIVERSION OF WATER FOR IRRIGATION ALLOWED
  3. Water must be returned to river in same condition as it was taken
  1. This worked well in the “well-watered” east coast of USA – not in the arid and parched region of western USA, especially west of the “100th” Meridian.
  2. Federal governmentowned most of the land in the west – no private ownership of land meant no ownership of water.
  3. Realities for the West:
  1. Availability of water
  2. Distribution of Water
  3. English Common Law assumes water to be free-flowing, ubiquitous and virtually available to all
  1. Doctrine of Prior Appropriations: “Colorado Doctrine”
  1. Evolved out of Riparian rights
  2. First person who appropriates waters has greater rights than later people – as long as 1stuser used water continuously (don’t use it – you lose it)
  3. Set up order and regulation as to who controlled the water
  4. Didn’t replace riparian completely – just allocation of water between disputing individuals claiming water rights on land they didn’t own!
  5. Federal legislation in place now to respect appropriation and preserve riparian rights
  6. Colorado Doctrine separated water rights from land ownership rights and control of water became “public trust” with states setting own rules….riparian rights eventually undercut
  1. California Doctrine
  1. The difficulty with both riparian rights and prior appropriation rights is that California’s water is maldistributed throughout the state, additionally, the seasonality of rain cause many disputes to end up in courts.
  2. Courts of California finally set rules:
  1. State to honor and recognize water rights acquired through “prior appropriation”
  2. Riparian rights also acknowledged as original riparian rights in CA passed from Mexico to US govt and from US to private citizens.
  3. Recent acquisitions of riparian rights wouldn’t necessarily be recognized

(1)rights subject to prior appropriation law and

(2)water use subject to beneficial use of land (can’t profit from selling water)

  1. State’s water resources are vital and must be used for general welfare and public interest
  2. Any water above riparian or prior appropriations needs was “excess water – subject to state control
  3. All uses of water by appropriation was “public use” and subject to state control – the bulk of water in the state belongs to government and the state could, would and did determine priorities of use
  4. California’s Water Code: Highest priority for water: Domestic Use Second: Irrigation

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