Water Resources in California

Water resource issues in California involve both water supply and water pollution.  There is a great deal of overlap between the two sets of issues.   Here, we look at some of the tremendous amount of information available on water supply in California.  Browsing through these sites will lead you to most of the information available on the web about water supply in California.  There is a lot on water pollution here as well, but if you want to focus specifically on water pollution, see  Pollution in California.

Water Resources on the Web         Books on Water Resources

Water Resources on the Web

• California  Issues contains briefings on critical issues related to water in California. including such important topics as the Bay-Delta, and wetlands in California  There are also several beautiful water-related maps and some very good publications (real paper) that you can order, at http://www.water-ed.org/store/default.asp.  From the Water Education Foundation, this is a good place to start learning about water issues in California.

• The U.S. Geological Survey has information on the Water Resources of California, including surface and ground water, water quality, and wetlands.

• The State Water Resources Control Board is responsible for comprehensive management, allocation, and protection of California's water "to ensure the highest reasonable quality of waters of the state, while allocating those waters to achieve the optimum balance of beneficial uses".

• Current issues with regard to water and rivers in California, from Friends of the River.

• The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has a very large website, covering all aspects of  the MWD and water in Southern California.  

• The Bureau of Reclamation's Lower Colorado Regional Office  manages the lower Colorado River, as well as water resource projects and programs in southern California and adjacent states.   From this informative page, you can find out about operations and management of the river,  the Multi-Species Conservation Program,  Resource Management (Salton Sea, water reclamation,  water conservation, endangered species...) and several other topics. Here is the Biological Assessment, on "Description and Assessment of Operations, Maintenance, and Sensitive Species of the Lower Colorado River-August 1996."  This document contains a tremendous amount of information on the river and its ecosystem.  Projects and Facilities is a useful source of information on dams, aqueducts and canals serving Southern California.

• Hoover Dam has its own website, with visitor information, educational material, and The Story of Hoover Dam , among other topics.   Here are some photographs of Hoover Dam.

• Dams are always an issue on rivers.  Here is Bruce Babbitt on rivers and dams.  Friends of the River replies with a Top Ten Dam Removal List for California.  Then, there is Hetch Hetchy Dam, on the Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park.  The construction of  Hetch Hetchy was a big issue in the early years  of the 20th century, and the issue has been revived in recent years, as some people and organizations think it should be removed.  Read what David Brower says on Restoring Hetch Hetchy, and see the Restore Hetch Hetchy Home Page, from the Sierra Club.  Also, see an organization called Restore Hetch Hetchy.

• Dams and Environmental Protection, from the Bureau of Reclamation, addresses such issues as the river environment, wetlands, and endangered species.

• For information on hydropower, see the electricity section of  Energy Resources in California.

• Cal-Fed Bay Delta Program is a cooperative project by several state and federal agencies to coordinate management of the San Francisco Bay and Delta Region, including addressing management of water quality, water supply, and long-term solutions to problems in the Bay-Delta Estuary.

• Aerial photographs of the Sacramento Delta Region, from UC Berkeley, and the California Department of Water Resources.

• Make your own Map of California Water Resources with this beautiful relief map of California.  You can choose to put major rivers and water projects on the map, and print it out.  Other map information on water resources can be found in Surface Water Information, from the California Department of Water Resources.

• Salton Sea Restoration Project, from the Bureau of Reclamation, is a good place to find out about the status of the Salton Sea.  Here are some photographs of the Salton Sea, and a list of several websites related to the Salton Sea.

• The Salton Sea page from San Diego State University, has a wealth of  information and links on the Salton Sea.

• Groundwater Information is available from the Department of Water Resources.

• California Rivers Assessment (CARA) is a database that provides a tremendous amount of information on California Rivers.  You can search by watershed or by other criteria, using a clickable map and find information on watershed size, precipitation and other physical factors, dams and other projects, and watershed conditions.  There is also a lot of background information on topics such as the effects of dams.  You can generate maps using ICEMAP, which will display any part of California you specify, showing features you choose, such as rivers, cities, relief, and many others.

• The California Farm Water Coalition  is the voice of agricultural water users, and works to "increase public awareness of agriculture’s efficient use of water and promote the industry’s environmental sensitivity regarding water". They have educational programs on agricultural water use, and a water fact book with information on irrigation technology, agriculture and the environment, and agriculture and the economy.

• Watershare is the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's web site on water conservation.  Find out about water conservation in the Colorado Region (includes Southern California and the deserts in the eastern part of the state), and the Mid-Pacific Region (includes roughly the northern half of the state). Or, see information about Waterwise Gardens in California.  Many beautiful gardens and natural areas are listed, broken down by region within the state, with varying amounts of information on each.

• Links to a LOT of information about rivers in California, from the California Resources Agency.

• Watershed information from the State Resources Agency.

• Water Online is building a library of information on the San Francisco Bay-Delta and related water subjects. A non-profit organization sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

• Water Laws and Regulations (Federal and State) applicable to California waters, from the State Water Resources Control Board.

• Links to Federal, State, and Local Water Agencies, from the Department of Water Resources.

• California's Ocean Resources: An Agenda for the Future,  is a comprehensive document from the State of California Resources Agency on managing ocean and coastal resources.

• Other water resource information is available from many of the Government Agencies working on water issues.

Book on Water Resources: Some good general books on water in California and the West in general.

Fradkin, Philip L. 1981. A River No More, The Colorado River and the West.  Tucson: The University of Arizona Press. Framed around a pilgrimage along the Colorado, from its headwaters to its eventual disappearance in the desert several miles north of its historic mouth at the Gulf of California, this book discusses the natural history, human history, and politics of the Colorado and its water. 

Hart, John. 1996.  Storm over Mono, The Mono Lake Battle and the California Water Future.   Berkeley: UC Press.   This book tells a fascinating story, or perhaps two fascinating stories.  The first story centers on Mono Lake itself, with its remarkable ecology and unique beauty.  The breathtaking photos of Mono Lake are worth the price of the book alone (for more photos of Mono Lake, see the Mono Lake Committee's Photo Gallery).  The second story is of the battle over the water in the Mono Lake watershed, with assorted groups of naive students and Sierra trout fishermen fighting against the tremendous resources of  the City of Los Angeles and its powerful Department of Water and  Power.   The outcome of the fight was a surprising one, and has implications that go well beyond Mono Lake.

Nevada Humanities Committee. 1991.  A River Too Far, The Past and Future of the Arid West.  Reno: University of  Nevada Press.  An anthology of articles, essays, and photographs on water in the west.  Selections from Wallace Stegner, John McPhee, and others make this a very illuminating book, and the revealing photographs are an essay in themselves.

Reisner, Marc. 1986.  Cadillac Desert, The American West and Its Disappearing Water.  New York: Penguin Books.  A readable, funny, shocking account of the history and politics of water in the West.

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06/07/06

The grizzly bear is the state animal of  California, and is the bear on the California flag.  There are no grizzly bears in the wild in California today.   The last one in the state was killed in 1922, or possibly in 1924.