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■   OF   CALIFORNIA,  DAVIS 


/ 


3  1175  01915  1839 

STATE    OF    CALIFORNIA 
The    Resources    Agency 

epartment    of    Water    Resources 


BULLETIN  No.  160-70 


;      mm 

(JC  DAVIS 


WATER  FOR  CALIFORNIA 

THE  CALIFORNIA  WATER  PLAN 

OUTLOOK  IN  1970 


i         JUL  19  1900  li 


NORMAN  B.  LIVERMORE,  JR. 

Secretary  for  Resources 
The  Resources  Agency 


DECEMBER   1970 


RONALD  REAGAN 

Governor 

State  of  California 


WILLIAM  R.  GIANELLI 

Direcfor 

Department  of  Water  Resources 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Kahle/Austin  Foundation  and  Omidyar  Network 


http://www.archive.org/details/waterforcaliforn16070cali 


STATE    OF    CALIFORNIA 
The    Resources    Agency 


Department    of    NVa  ter    Resources 


BULLETIN  No.  160-70 


WATER  FOR  CALIFORNIA 
OUTLOOK  IN  1970 


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DECEMBER    1970 


NORMAN  B.  LIVERMORE,  JR. 

Secretary  for  Resources 
The  Resources  Agency 


RONALD  REAGAN 

Governor 

State  of  California 


WILLIAM  R.  GIANELLI 

Director 

Department  of  Water  Resources 


FOREWORD 


Over  the  past  30  years,  California  has  undergone  one  of  the 
most  rapid  growth  cycles  ever  experienced  by  a  civilization. 
From  less  than  7  million  in  19^0,  the  State's  population  has 
climbed  to  almost  20  million  in  1970.   Today,  California  is 
still  growing,  although  at  a  reduced  pace.  Recent  growth  trends 
suggest  a  population  of  29  million  in  1990  and  45  million  in 
2020. 

As  California  continues  to  grow,  so  will  the  demand  for  water  — 
for  homes,  for  industry,  for  agriculture,  for  recreation  and 
for  a  quality  environment  for  future  generations.   Moreover, 
with  increasing  population  will  come  equally  increasing  poten- 
tial for  water  pollution.  As  we  face  the  water  problems  of  the 
future,  we  must  respond  to  emerging  concepts  of  environmental 
enhancement.   Many  of  our  past  ideas  must  be  modified  to 
accommodate  changing  environmental  conditions. 

Bulletin  No.  16O-7O  provides  a  summary  of  our  current  planning  — 
a  look  at  what  California  is  doing,  within  the  framework  of  the 
California  Water  Plan,  about  the  need  for  water  and  protection 
of  the  environment.  The  California  Water  Plan  has  demonstrated 
that  California  has  sufficient  water  supplies  to  meet  future 
needs.  However,  we  cannot  take  nature's  abundance  for  granted. 
As  we  face  the  challenges  of  the  1970s  and  beyond,  we  must  con- 
tinue to  assess,  plan,  and  use  our  water  resources  in  an 
intelligent  and  thoughtful  manner. 

Fortunately,  the  projected  slower  growth  of  statewide  population, 
together  with  the  additional  water  supplies  being  made  available 
by  projects  under  construction  or  authorized,  will  provide  a 
"breathing  spell"  in  the  development  of  California's  water 
resources.  This  will  afford  additional  time  to  consider  alter- 
native sources  of  water  supply  and  develop  policies  for  the 
maximum  protection  of  the  environment. 


William  R.  Gianelli,  Director 
Department  of  Water  Resources 
The  Resources  Agency 
State  of  California 
December  1,  1970 


iii 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Page 

FOREWORD ^^^ 

xj.ii 


ORGANIZATION  

CALIFORNIA  WATER  COMMISSION 


XV 


CHAPTER  I.   SUMMARY  AND  FINDINGS  1 

Outlook  in  1970 2 

Organization  of  Report  6 

CHAPTER  II.   AN  ERA  OF  CHANGS 9 

Emphasis  on  Water  Quality   9 

Environmental  Awareness   10 

Recent  Environmental  Legislation  11 

Federal  Environmental  Legislation  11 

National  Environmental  Policy  Act  of  19^9   H 

Wild  and  Scenic  Rivers  Act  (P.L.  90-5^2) 11 

Water  Quality  Improvement  Act  of  1970 12 

California  State  Environmental  Legislation   12 

California  Protected  Waterways  Act  12 

Assembly  Select  Committee  on  Environmental  Quality  ....  12 

Progress  in  Interstate  and  Federal-State  Water  Relationships  ....  14 

The  Water  Resources  Planning  Act  (P.L.  89-80) 1^ 

National  Water  Commission  Act  (P.L.  90-515)  1^ 

Colorado  River  Basin  Project  Act  (P.L.  90-537)   15 

Federal -State  Framework  Studies  15 

Western  United  States  Water  Plan   I6 

Western  States  V/ater  Council I6 

Progress  in  'Water  Resource  Development I6 

Local  Water  Development  17 

Federal  Projects 18 

State  Water  Project 19 


Page 

CHAPTER  III.   PLANNING  FOR  WATER  RESOURCE  MANAGEMENT  21 

Planninf;  Considerations 21 

Planning  Process  22 

Policies  J  Goals  and  Plans 23 

V/ater  Resource  Management  Analysis  Process 25 

Decision  and  Implementation  Activity   26 

CHAPTER  IV.   WATER  DEMANDS  31 

Future  Economic  Development   31 

Population 31 

Industrial  Development   3" 

Electric  Povjer  Development 3° 

Agricultural  Developm.ent ^1 

V/ater  Demand ^3 

Urban  Water  Demands ^5 

Agricultural  V/ater  Demands ^9 

Water  Demands  for  Electric  Povjer  Generation 51 

Recreation,  Fish  and  VJildlife  and  Related  Water  Development   ....  52 

Major  Policies  of  Federal  and  State 

VJater  Development  Agencies 52 

Recreation  Financing   52 

Fish  and  Wildlife  Planning 53 

Streamflow  Maintenance  for  Fish  and  Wildlife  5^ 

Fish  and  Wildlife  and  Recreation  V/ater  Demands 55 

Flood  Damage  Prevention  56 

V/ater  Quality 56 

V/ater  Quality  and  Water  Use 56 

Municipal  and  Industrial  Use 57 

Agricultural  Use 57 

Recreation 58 

Fish  and  Aquatic  Life 58 

Water  Quality  and  Water  Reuse 58 

Water  Quality  Control 60 


vi 


Page 

CHAPTER  V.   POTENTIAL  WATER  SUPPLY  SOURCES   63 

Surface  V/ater  Development 63 

Sacramento  Valley  Development  Potential   65 

North  Coastal  Area  Development  Potential  66 

Ground  v;ater  Development 67 

Availability  of  Ground  V/ater 67 

Ground  V/ater  Management 70 

Future  Ground  V.'ater  Use 72 

Desalting 72 

Department's  Desalting  Program  73 

Federal  Desalting  Program   74 

Current  Status  and  Cost  of  Desalting Jk 

Desalting  in  the  Future 75 

Water  Reclamation 76 

The  Department's  Role  in  Water  Reclamation  76 

Potential  Future  of  Water  Reclamation   77 

Present  Status  and  Use  of  Reclaimed  V/ater 78 

V/ater  Reclamation  Studies 80 

Cost  of  Water  Reclamation 82 

Legal  Requirements  and  Public  Acceptance   82 

Other  Possible  Sources  of  Water  83 

Western  States  Water  Developm.ent 83 

Weather  Modification  84 

Watershed  Management  86 

Undersea  Aqueduct   87 

Geothermal  Water  Resources  88 

Nonstructural  Alternatives  9I 

Reallocation  of  Water  Supplies   9I 

Pricing  Policies   gi 

Increased  Efficiency  of  Water  Use  92 

Mitigation  of  Colorado  River  Salinity  92 

Summary 93 


vii 


Page 

CHAPTER  VI.   REGIONAL  WATER  DEMAND-WATER  SUPPLY  RELATIONSHIPS  ....  95 

North  Coastal  Area 95 

San  Francisco  Bay  Area 98 

Central  Coastal  Area 103 

South  Coastal  Area 107 

Sacramento  Basin   Ill 

Delta-Central  Sierra  Area  117 

San  Joaquin  Basin 121 

Tulare  Basin   125 

North  Lahontan  Area 129 

South  Lahontan  Area 133 

Colorado  Desert  Area 137 

Regional  Water  Demand -Water  Supply  Summary   1^2 

CHAPTER  VII.   MEETING  WATER  DEMANDS  THROUGH  CEOTRAL  VALLEY 

PROJECT  AND  STATE  WATER  PROJECT  FACILITIES   1^7 

The  Central  Valley  Project   1^7 

The  State  Water  Project  1^8 

Operational  Characteristics  and  Flexibilities  150 

Water  Supply  Capabilities   151 

The  Role  of  the  Peripheral  Canal 153 

Projected  Water  Demands  on  the  Federal  and  State  Systems   15^ 

Possible  Central  Valley  Project  Expansion   15^ 

Possible  State  Water  Project  Expansion  157 

San  Francisco  Bay  Area '. 157 

Tulare  Basin   158 

Colorado  Desert  Area 158 

South  Coastal  Area 158 

Central  Valley  Project  Water  Demand-Supply  Relationship   ....  158 

State  Water  Project  Water  Demand-Supply  Relationship  159 

Recreational  and  Environmental  Accomplishments   162 

Environment  and  the  Central  Valley  Project  l62 


viii 


Page 

Environment   and   the  State  Water   Project      I63 

Summary I66 

CHAPTER  VIII.   POPULATION  DISPERSAL--IMPACT  ON  RESOURCES 

DEVELOPMENT I69 

Study  Criteria 170 

Impact  of  Population  Dispersal  on  Water  Development 

and  the  Environment 17'+ 

VJater  Demand  and  Supply 17^^ 

Northern  Model  "A^' 175 

Central  Ftodel  "B" 17t3 

Southern  Model  "C"   I76 

Waste  Disposal 176 

Electric  Power  Requirements   I78 

Other  Considerations 178 


FIGURES 


Number 


1  Relationship  of  California  Water  Plan  to  Other 

State  Environmental  and  Development  Policies  and  Plans   .  .   24 

2  Planning  for  Water  Resources  Management 

in  California 29 

3  United  States  Fertility  Series   32 

4  Hydrologic  Study  Areas  of  California   .....   35 

5  California's  Historical  and  Projected  Population 

Growth 36 

6  High,  Median  and  Low  Population  Project, 

State  of  California 37 

7  Generation  of  Electric  Energy  by  Prime  Source  to 

Meet  Future  Power  Demands  39 

8  Present  and  Projected  Land  Use 43 

9  California's  Historical  and  Projected  Net 

Irrigation  Acreage,  1930-2020    44 

10  California's  Historical  and  Projected  Applied 

Water  Demands,  1930-2020 44 

11  Projected  Growth  of  Applied  Water  Demands, 

State  of  California 48 

ix 


FIGURES  (continued) 

Number  Page 

12  Average  Annual  Full  Natural  Runoff   6^ 

13  Areas  of  Ground  Water  Occurrence   68 

14  Location  and  Relative  Quantities  of  Municipal  V.'aste 

Water  Discharged  in  Coastal  Counties  of  California,  19^8.  .   79 

15  Projected  Water  Supplies  and  Net  VJater  Demands, 

North  Coastal  Hydrologic  Study  Area  96 

16  North  Coastal  Hydrologic  Study  Area  97 

17  Projected  V/ater  Supplies  and  Net  Water  Demands, 

San  Francisco  Bay  Hydrologic  Study  Area 100 

18  San  Francisco  Bay  Hydrologic  Study  Area 101 

19  Projected  Water  Supplies  and  Net  Water  Demands, 

Central  Coastal  Hydrologic  Study  Area 10-^ 

20  Central  Coastal  Hydrolo,;;ic  Study  Area 105 

21  Projected  Water  Supplies  and  Net  Water  Demands, 

South  Coastal  Hydrologic  Study  Area  108 

22  South  Coastal  Hydrologic  Study  Area  109 

23  Projected  Water  Supplies  and  Net  Water  Demands, 

Sacramento  Basin  Hydrologic  Study  Area   11^ 

24  Sacramento  Basin  Hydrologic  Study  Area   115 

25  Projected  V/ater  Supplies  and  Net  V/ater  Demands, 
Delta-Central  Sierra  Hydrologic  Study  Area   Il8 

26  Delta-Central  Sierra  Hydrologic  Study  Area   119 

27  Projected  Water  Supplies  and  Net  VJater  Demands, 

•  San  Joaquin  Basin  Hydrologic  Study  Area  122 

28  San  Joaquin  Basin  Hydrologic  Study  Area  123 

29  Projected  Water  Supplies  and  Net  Water  Demands, 

Tulare  Basin  Hydrologic  Study  Area   126 

30  Tulare  Basin  Hydrologic  Study  Area   127 

31  Projected  Water  Supplies  and  Net  Water  Demands, 

North  Lahontan  Hydrologic  Study  Area   130 

32  North  Lahontan  Hydrologic  Study  Area   131 

33  Projected  Water  Supplies  and  Net  Water  Demands, 

South  Lahontan  Hydrologic  Study  Area   13^ 

3^      South  Lahontan  Hydrologic  Study  Area   135 

X 


FIGURES  (continued) 
Number  Page 

35  Projected  Water  Supplies  and  Net  Water  Demands, 

Colorado  Desert  Hydrologic  Study  Areas  138 

36  Colorado  Desert  Hydrologic  Study  Area   139 

37  Present  and  Projected  V.'ater  Demand-Water 

Supply  Relationships  1^3 

38  Major  Authorized  Features  of  the  State  Water  Project 

and  the  Central  Valley  Project  1^9 

39  The  Central  Valley  Project,  Projected  Net  VJater 

Demands  and  Dependable  Water  Supplies   I60 

40  The  State  Viater  Project,  Projected  Net  Water 

Demands  and  Dependable  VJater  Supplies I6I 

41  2020  Population  for  Base  Projection  and  Population 

Dispersal  for  Models  A,  B  and  C 172 

42  Population  Dispersal  to  Nevj  Urban  Areas  for 

Models  A,  B  and  C 173 

TABLES 
Number  Page 

1  Total  Population  in  California  by  Hydrologic 

Study  Area,  I967,  1990,  2020 34 

2  Present  (1967)  and  Projected  Land  Use  and 

Irrigable  Land  in  California  by  Hydrologic  Study  Areas  .  .    42 

3  Estimated  Urban  Water  Use   46 

4  Present  (1967)  and  Projected  Applied  and  Net  V/ater 

Demands  in  California  by  Hydrologic  Study  Areas   47 

5  Irrigated  Agriculture,  Applied  Unit  Water  Use  Values  ...    49 

6  Streamflow  Maintenance  Agreements  by  Hydrologic  Area  ...    54 

7  Ground  Water  in  California  69 

8  Summary  of  I967  and  Projected  Net  Water  Demands  and 

Water  Supplies  by  Hydrologic  Study  Areas  l44 

9  Major  Features  of  Basic  Central  Valley  Project  and 

State  Water  Project  System  152 

10      Summary  of  I967  and  Projected  Future  Water  Demands 

on  Existing  Facilities  of  the  Central  Valley  Project 

and  State  Water  Project   155 


xi 


TABLES  (continued) 
Number  Page 

11  Suiranary  of  Possible  Future  V/ater  Demands  Anticipated 
to  be  Supplied  by  Future  Facilities  of  the  Central 

Valley  Project  and  State  Water  Project  156 

12  Central  Valley  Project,  Recreation-Use  in  I969  I65 

13  Recreation-Use  at  State  Water  Project  Facilities  I67 

ih  Net  Urban  Water  Demands  in  2020  for  Selected  Alternative 

Patterns  of  Future  Urbanization   17^ 

PLATES 
(in  pocket  at  back  of  bulletin) 

1  Water  Resource  Development  in  California 

2  Irrigated,  Irrigable  and  Urban  Lands 


xii 


state  of  California 
The  Resources  Agency 
DEPARTMENT  OF  WATER  RESOURCES 


RONALD  REAGAN,  Governor 
NORMAN  B.  LIVERMORE,  JR.,  Secretary  for  Resources 
V/ILLIAM  R.  GIANELLI,  Director,  Department  of  Water  Resources 
JOHN  R.  TEERINK,  Deputy  Director 


DIVISION  OF  RESOURCES  DEVELOPMENT 
Herbert  W.  Greydanus  Division  Engineer 

This  bulletin  was  prepared  under 
the  direction  of 

Albert  J.  Dolcini   Chief,  Statewide  Planning  Branch 

by 

Robert  A.  Williams  Supervising  Engineer,  Water  Resources 

Donald  K.  Cole  Senior  Resources  Economist 


Assisted  by 


Ralph  G.  Allison 
Marilyn  J.  Bennett 
Edward  F.  Chun 
Stanley  W.  Cummings 
Eugene  H.  Gunderson 
Roy  N.  Haley 
Jacob  W.  Holderman 
Jean  H.  Jaquith 


*James  C.  McDade 

James  C.  Mosley 

George  E.  Reiner 

Maurice  D.  Roos 

Glenn  B.  Sawyer 

Carol  E.  Stevenson 

**Robert  C.  Tharratt 

E.  Philip  Warren 


Assistance  was  provided  by  the  District  Offices  of  the 
Department  of  Water  Resources 
under  the  direction  of 

Gordon  W.  Dukleth  District  Engineer,  Northern  District 

John  M.  Haley  District  Engineer,  Central  District 

Carl  L.  Stetson  District  Engineer,  San  Joaquin  District 

James  J.  Doody   District  Engineer,  Southern  District 


*  Department  of  Parks  and  Recreation 
**  Department  of  Fish  and  Game 


xlii 


state  of  California 

Department  of  V.'ater  Resources 

CALIFORNIA  WATER  COMMISSION 


IRA  J.  CHRISMAN,  Chairman,  Visalia 
CLAIR  A.  HILL,  Vice  Chairman,  Redding 


Mai  Coornbs Garberville 

Ray  W.  Ferguson Ontario 

William  H.  Jenning? La  Mesa 

Clare  Wm.  Jones Firebaugh 

William  P.  Moses San  Pablo 

Samuel  B.  Nelson  Northridge 

Ernest  R.  Nichols   Ventura 


R.  Dean  Thompson,  Executive  Officer 
C.  A.  McCullough,  Engineer 


CHAPTER  I.   SUMMARY  AND  FINDINGS 


This  bulletin  presents  an  up-to- 
date  appraisal  of  water  demands 
for  various  'beneficial  purposes 
throughout  the  State  for  1990  and 
2020,  and  the  potential  sources  of 
water  supplies  to  satisfy  those 
demands.   It  discusses  accomplish- 
ments in  both  planning  and  water 
development  implementation  in  the 
four  years  since  publication  of 
Bulletin  I6O-66,  the  first  of  the 
Bulletin  I60  series.   The  Bulle- 
tin 160  series  reports  on  progress 
in  the  implementation  of  the 
California  Water  Plan  and  updates 
certain  of  the  concepts  embodied 
in  that  Plan. 

Considerable  confusion  has  been 
evident  concerning  the  California 
Water  Plan  and  its  relationship  to 
the  State  Water  Project.   It  is 
important  that  the  distinction 
between  the  two  be  explained  at 
the  outset  to  facilitate  under- 
standing of  the  information  pre- 
sented in  this  bulletin. 

The  California  Water  Plan  is  a 
long-range  planning  framework  for 
the  development  of  California's 
water  resources.   The  State  Water 
Project,  currently  nearing  comple- 
tion by  the  Department  of  Water 
Resources,  is  a  specific  system 
of  physical  facilities  which  will 
satisfy  water  demands  in  large 
areas  of  the  State  in  the  immediate 
future.   The  State  Water  Project, 
as  well  as  all  projects  whether 
local,  state  or  federal,  contrib- 
utes toward  achievement  of  the 
objectives  of  the  California  Water 
Plan  as  they  become  implemented. 


This  bulletin  and  supporting 
studies  deal  with  demands  for 
water  and  sufficiency  or  supplies 
to  satisfy  those  demands  to  1990 
and  2020,  some  20  and  50  years 
hence,  respectively.   Such  projec- 
tions are  increasingly  subject  to 
change  with  the  passage  of  time 
due  to  changing  factors  and  events 
that  cannot  be  foreseen  today. 
Accordingly,  the  estimates  and 
projections  concerning  the  future, 
as  presented  in  this  bulletin, 
represent  only  the  magnitudes  or 
conditions  foreseen  at  the  present 
time.   It  is  fully  recognized  that 
periodic  revision  will  be  necessary 
in  the  light  of  additional  infor- 
mation and  experience,  and  that 
such  revisions  may  well  be  substan- 
tial--either  upward  or  downward. 

Major  emphasis  is  placed  on  the 
1990  projections,  as  these  will 
have  considerable  influence  on 
decisions  that  will  be  made  in  the 
next  few  years.   The  major  purpose 
of  the  2020  estimates  is  to  provide 
perspective  for  those  decisions 
necessary  to  implement  plans  for 
water  supply  sources  to  meet  demands 
in  the  1990s. 

Findings  from  the  studies  reported 
in  this  bulletin  are  set  forth 
under  the  heading  "Outlook  in  1970". 
They  are  a  series  of  concise  state- 
ments summarizing  the  information 
of  significant  importance  for  which 
supporting  data  and  information  are 
presented  in  detail  in  the  ensuing 
chapters . 


■1- 


Outlook  In  1970 

In  General-- 

•  Sufficient  water  is  developed  by  completed  water  projects,  or  will 
be  developed  by  those  under  construction,  to  satisfy  most  urban 
and  irrigation  needs  for  about  two  decades.   However,  shortages  in 
dependable  supplies  presently  exist  in  certain  areas  arid  ccnveyence 
facilities  are  needed  to  deliver  developed  supplies  to  those  areas. 

•  The  favorable  status  of  developed  water  supplies  affords  time  to 
evaluate  potential  alternative  sources  of  water  and  devote  more 
attention  to  the  emerging  environmental  problems  associated  with 
water  conservation  projects  and  the  evolvement  of  definite  public 
policies  on  such  problems. 

•  VJhereas  major  storage  projects  are  not  immediately  needed  for 
water  conservation,  flood  problems  are  increasing,  and  the  control 
of  floods  may  warrant  construction  of  storage  reservoirs,  which 
should  include  conservation  storage  when  justified. 

•  The  quality  of  water  supplies  is  generally  satisfactory  throughout 
most  of  the  State,  with  the  principal  exception  of  supplies  from 
the  Colorado  River,  and  care  must  be  expressed  to  maintain  the 
good  quality. 

On  Growth-- 

•  The  rapid  growth  of  California's  population  that  followed  World 
War  II  decreased  sharply  by  the  mid-1960s  because  of  reductions 
in  births  and  migration. 

•  Recent  trends  indicate  that  the  present  population  of  20  million 
in  California  will  increase  to  about  29  million  in  1990  and 

45  million  in  2020,  instead  of  35  million  and  54  million  as 
projected  four  years  ago  on  the  basis  of  the  higher  growth  rates 
following  World  War  II. 

•  Urban  land  use  is  expected  to  nearly  double  from  2.3  million 
acres  at  present  to  about  4.5  million  acres  in  2020  to  accommodate 
the  projected  population  of  45  million. 

•  Irrigated  acreage  is  expected  to  increase  about  10  percent  from 
8.9  million  acres  at  present  to  9.8  million  acres  in  3990,  onJ  to 
increase  only  an  additional  4  percent  to  10.2  million  acres  in 
2020.   This  projected  growth  in  acreage  is  less  than  proportional 
to  the  projected  growth  of  state  and  national  requirements  for 
food  and  fiber  because  improved  agricultural  methods  are 
expected  to  produce  greater  yields  per  acre. 

•  Projected  increases  in  both  leisure  time  and  extra  income  suggest 
a  rapid  growth  in  the  per  capita  demand  for  water-associated 
recreation,  especially  near  urban  areas.   The  annual  demand  for 
recreation  is  projected  to  increase  from  the  current  2l8  million 
visitor-days  to  2.5  billion  visitor-days  by  2020. 


-2- 


«  Consumption  of  electrical  energy  has  generally  doubled  about  every 
10  years.   This  trend  is  expected  to  continue  for  about  20  years 
and  then  decline  slightly  after  1990.   Electrical-generation 
requirements  are  expected  to  increase  from  32,000  megawatts  in 
1970  to  110,000  megawatts  in  1990  and  Ul2,000  megawatts  in  2020. 
As  more  steam-electric  powerplants  are  constructed,  demands  for 
cooling  water  will  Increase  substantially. 

On  Needs-- 

•  Statewide  urban  water  demands  are  expected  to  increase  from  about 
3.7  million  acre-feet  at  present  to  6.4  million  acre-feet  in  1990 
and  to  10.3  million  acre  feet  in  2020.   Overall  per  capita  water 
demands  are  expected  to  increase  some  20  percent  by  2020;  however, 
the  growth  of  per  capita  demands  in  large  metropolitan  areas  is 
expected  to  be  somewhat  lower  because  of  the  projected  increase  in 
high-rise  multiple  dwellings  and  a  consequent  reduction  in  demands 
for  water  to  irrigate  lawns  and  gardens. 

•  Demands  for  agricultural  water  will  generally  increase;  in 
proportion  to  the  growth  of  irrigated  acreage,  i.e.,  from 

2k. h   million  acre-feet  at  present  to  27.4  million  acre-feet  in 
1990,  and  28.7  million  acre-feet  in  2020. 

•  More  than  80  percent  of  the  additional  electrical-generating 
capacity  in  1990  and  2020  is  expected  to  be  derived  from  fossil- 
or  nuclear-fueled  steam  plants,  which  requre  very  large  amounts 
of  cooling  water.   If  50  percent  of  the  projected  increase  in 
generating  capacity  between  now  and  2020  is  located  at  inland  sites, 
due  to  limited  acceptability  of  coastal  sites,  about  3  million 
acre-feet  of  cooling  water  will  be  required  each  year.   The  possible 
water  demands  for  cooling  inland  plants  are  not  included  in  the 
projected  demands  in  this  report.   They  could  comprise  one  of   the 
largest  increases  in  future  water  demands. 

•  Intensification  of  land  use,  resulting  from  the  increasing 
population,  will  require  a  vigorous  flood  control  program.   Local 
agencies  should  carefully  consider  floodplain  management  in 
addition  to  the  construction  of  flood  control  facilities. 

•  The  increasing  demand  for  water-associated  recreation  will  require 
the  development  of  additional  water  surface  and  shoreline, 
particularly  near  major  urban  areas. 

c  Studies  of  hypothetical  patterns  of  distribution  of  California's 
future  population  indicate  that,  regardless  of  where  population 
centers  may  be  located,  total  statewide  water  demands  will  be 
essentially  unchanged.   Whereas  the  requirements  for  water 
conservation  will  remain  the  same,  new  population  centers  would 
require  different  patterns  of  water  transportation  facilities. 

On  Present  Water  Supplies-- 

«  All  major  urban  areas  have  adequate  water  supplies  from  existing 
projects  or  facilities  authorized  or  under  construction  to  meet 
water  demands  for  the  next  20  or  more  years. 


-3- 


»   Adequate  quantities  of  water  are  generally  available  for  irrigation, 
but  in  some  areas,  particularly  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  ground 
water  is  being  overdrafted  and  in  other  areas,  such  as  the  Imperial 
and  Coachella  Valleys,  significant  water  quality  problems  are 
emerging. 

«   Construction  has  been  initiated  or  completed  on  a  number  of  major 
water  supply  projects  during  the  last  four  years. 

•  The  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Reclamation  has  completed  the  federal-state 
San  Luis  Dam,  Pumping  Plant,  and  Canal  and  has  initiated  con- 
struction of  the  Tehama-Colusa  Canal,  the  San  Felipe  Division, 
the  San  Luis  drain,  and  the  Auburn-Folsom  South  Unit,  all 
features  of  the  Central  Valley  Project. 

•  The  U.  S.  Army  Corps  of  Engineers  has  initiated  construction  of 
New  Melones  Dam  on  the  Stanislaus  River;  Warm  Springs  Dam  on 
Dry  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Russian  River;  Martis  Dam  on 
Martls  Creek,  a  tributary  to  the  Truckee  River;  Mojave  Dam  on 
the  Mojave  River;  Hidden  Dam  on  the  Chowchilla  River;  and 
Buchanan  Dam  on  the  Fresno  River. 

•  The  State  Water  Project  is  more  than  95  percent  complete  or 
under  construction,  with  water  being  delivered  to  the  Sacra- 
mento Valley,  San  Francisco  Bay  area,  and  the  San  Joaquin  Valley. 
Initial  water  delivery  to  Southern  Calif  ornia  is  scheduled  for  1971. 

•  Local  agencies  contributed  to  water  development  by  completing 
or  initiating  construction  on  35  reservoir  projects.   Major 
projects  completed  were  New  Bullards  Bar  on  the  Yuba  River  (Yuba 
County  Water  Agency),  New  Exchequer  on  the  Merced  River  (Merced 
Irrigation  District),  Hell  Hole  on  the  Rubicon  River  (Placer 
County  Water  Agency),  Lopez  or  Arroyo  Grande  Creek  (San  Luis 
Oblsop  County  Flood  Control  and  Water  Conservation  District), 
and  New  Don  Pedro  on  the  Tuolumne  River  (City  of  San  Francisco 
and  Modesto  and  Turlock  Irrigation  Districts).   In  addition, 

the  City  of  Los  Angeles  completed  the  second  pipeline  of  the 
Owens  River  Aqueduct,  and  several  agencies  in  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley  have  completed  or  are  constructing  major  distribution 
systems  to  deliver  imported  water  to  individual  users. 

On  Future  Water  Supplies-- 

•  The  alternative  sources  of  water  considered  available  for  meeting 
future  demands  include  surface  water  development  by  federal,  state, 
and  local  agencies;  increased  use  of  ground  water  in  conjunction 
with  surface  supplies;  desalination;  reclaimed  waste  water; 
weather  modification;  and  geothermal  resources. 

•  Ground  water  will  continue  to  be  an  important  source  of  water.   The 
primary  value  of  ground  water  basins  lies  in  their  use  for  water 
storage  and  distribution  in  coordination  with  local  and  imported 
surface  supplies  as  integrated  systems. 


• 


Desalination  offers  promise  of  a  supplemental  source  of  fresh  water 
particularly  in  California's  coastal  areas.   However,  the  future 
of  desalted  water  as  a  major  source  of  supply  cannot  be  fully 
evaluated  until  the  economics  of  desalination  have  been  tested 


-4- 


with  a  large-scale  prototype  development.   The  Department  of  Water 
Resources  and  the  U.  S.  Office  of  Saline  Water  are  cooperating  in 
a  program  to  lead  to  such  a  development  by  the  late  1970s. 

«  Reclamation  of  waste  water  presents  a  potential  source  for 

partial  fulfillment  of  increasing  water  demands  in  major  coastal 
metropolitan  areas,  particularly  for  environmental  enhancement 
projects  such  as  irrigation  of  recreational  and  agricultural 
greenbelts . 

•  Desalination  of  geothermal  water  may  eventually  produce  significant 
quantities  of  fresh  water  and  electrical  energy.   The  Department 

of  Water  Resources  is  participating  in  studies  to  determine  the 
feasibility  of  development  of  geothermal  resources  in  the  Imperial 
Valley. 

•  Modification  of  the  weather  may  eventually  become  a  feasible 
method  for  augmenting  natural  water  supplies.   The  Department  of 
Water  Resources  has  been  participating  in  experiments  with  weather 
modification  since  1951- 

,  As  a  result  of  the  projected  slower  growth  of  statewide  population 
as  compared  with  projections  made  four  years  ago,  future  water 
demands  are  also  expected  to  increase  more  slowly.   This  slower 
projected  growth  of  water  demands,  particularly  in  the  South 
Coastal  area,  is  expected  to  delay  the  time  of  need  for  an  addi- 
tional conservation  facility  for  the  State  Water  Project  about 
10  years  until  the  mid-1990s.   However,  the  time  of  need  for  an 
additional  facility  could  be  advanced  by  (1)  greater-than-planned 
outflows  of  fresh  water  from  the  Sacramento-San  Joaquin  Delta,  as 
might  be  required  by  the  State  Water  Resources  Control  Board; 
(2)  the  needs  of  additional  service  areas;  or  (3)  increased  water 
use  in  areas  tributary  to  the  Delta. 

•  About  1  million  acre-feet  of  imported  supplemental  water  will  be 
needed  annually  for  the  east  side  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  to 
offset  existing  large  overdrafts  of  local  ground  water.   The 
proposed  East  Side  Division  of  the  Central  Valley  Project  is  a 
sound  engineering  proposal  to  eliminate  existing  deficiencies  and 

to  permit  expansion  of  agricultural  development.   Through  provisions 
for  stream  maintenance  releases,  the  East  Side  Canal  has  the 
potential  for  environmentally  enhancing  the  Sierra  Nevada  streams 
between  Dry  Creek  in  Sacramento  County  and  the  Kern  River  in  Kern 
County.   Specific  plans  for  such  releases  should  be  developed. 

•  The  Joint  federal-state  Peripheral  Canal  should  be  authorized  by 
Congress  and  constructed  to  enhance  the  environment  of  the 
Sacramento-San  Joaquin  Delta  and  to  provide  good-quality  water  in 
the  Delta  and  for  other  areas  of  California. 

•  Local  water  agencies  will  continue  to  play  an  important  role  in 
the  development  of  California's  water  resources.   Local  agencies 
are  expected  to  develop  about  20  percent  of  the  new  water  supplies 
required  between  now  and  2020.   They  will  also  predominate  in  the 
construction  of  distribution  facilities  for  water  delivered  from 
state  and  federal  projects. 


-5- 


)n  Special  Environmental  Issues-- 

•  The  rivers  of  California  should  be  classified  to  identify  their 
potential  for  various  future  uses,  such  as  scenic  and  wild  rivers, 
fisheries  management,  water  conservation  (including  "lood  control), 
or  hydroelectric  power.   The  Department  of  Water  Resources  has 

a  program  for  characterizing  the  State's  rivers;  and  the  Resources 
Agency  is  conducting  a  study  of  outstanding  scenic  and  recreational 
waterways  under  the  California  Protected  Waterways  Act. 

•  Studies  of  the  protection  and  enhancement  of  fisheries  and  wildlife 
habitat  should  be  expanded  to  include  more  complete  consideration 
within  the  perspective  of  total  resources  planning  and  decision 
processes . 

•  Acceptable  water  quality  is  of  paramount  importance  in  the 
conservation,  use,  and  disposal  of  water.   The  maintenance  of 
acceptable  water  quality  requires  an  intensive  effort  by  all 
levels  of  government. 


Organization 
of   Report 

The  text  of  this  bulletin  is  pre- 
sented in  seven  chapters.   Chapter 
II,  "An  Era  of  Change",  discusses 
changing  public  values  and  atti- 
tudes toward  water  development 
and  its  impact  on  the  environment. 
It  also  describes  activities  and 
events  since  the  publication  of 
Bulletin  I6O-66  that  have  signif- 
icant bearing  on  California's 
water  resources. 

Chapter  III,  "Planning  for  Water 
Resource  Management",  considers 
environmental  and  social  goals 
in  relation  to  water  resource 
planning  and  discusses  a  broad- 
ened planning  concept  of  water 
resource  management  planning. 

Chpater  IV,  "Water  Demands", 
summarizes  California's  water 
needs  on  a  statewide  basis.   It 
discusses  the  various  factors  of 
demand  for  developed  supplies, 
with  particular  emphasis  on  pro- 
jections of  population,  industrial 
development,  irrigated  agriculture, 
and  land  use.   It  also  discusses 
the  water  demand-related  consid- 
erations of  water  quality,  flood 
control,  recreation,  fish  and 


wildlife,  and  other  environmental 
factors . 


Chapter  V,  "Potential  Water  Supply 
Sources",  describes  the  various 
possible  sources  of  water  that 
offer  potential  for  meeting  future 
water  needs.   However,  no  conclu- 
sion is  drawn  as  to  the  timing  or 
indicated  priority  of  any  particular 
source . 


Chapter 
Water  S 
in  some 
present 
for  wat 
each  of 
areas  o 
of  exis 
supplie 
those  d 


VI,  "Regio 
upply  Reiat 

detail  the 

and  projec 
er  and  rela 

the  11  maj 
f  the  State 
ting  and  de 
s  available 
emands . 


nal  Water  Demand- 
ionships",  covers 

derivation  of 
ted  future  demands 
ted  services  by 
or  hydrologic 

and  an  inventory 
velopable  water 

toward  satisfying 


Chapter  VII,  '"Meeting  Water  Demands 
Through  Central  Valley  Project  and 
State  Water  Project  Facilities", 
describes  the  role  of  the  State 
Water  Project  and  the  Central  Valley 
Project  and  explains  the  manner  in 
which  they  could  be  expanded  and 
operated  to  provide  continuing 
water  service,  if  such  service  is 
indicated. 


-6- 


Finally,  Chapter  VIII,  "Population 
Dispersal--Impact  on  Resources 
Development",  considers  the  impact 
of  possible  future  alternative 
patterns  of  population  distribution 
on  water  development,  use  and  dis- 
posal, and  other  environmental 
considerations  such  as  sources  and 
transmission  of  electric  energy, 
highway  transportation,  and  air 
pollution . 

It  will  be  noted  in  the  ensuing 
chapters  that  the  "present"  is 


designated  as  19f-7 .      This  is  -^he 
base  year  chosen  to  reflect  as 
nearly  as  possible  present  (1970) 
conditions,  while  at  the  same  time 
representing  the  actual  development 
status  as  determined  from  the  most 
recent  land  and  water  use  surveys 
which  have  been  in  progress  over 
the  past  four  years.   For  the  most 
part  this  information,  combined  with 
trend  data  and  the  preliminary  1970 
census,  has  been  considered  repre- 
sentative of  present  conditions. 


■7- 


CHAPTER  II.   AN  ERA  OF  CHANGE 


Since  publication  of  Bulletin  No.  3, 
"The  California  Water  Plan",  in 
1957j  the  Department  has  been  en- 
gaged in  an  intensive  statewide 
planning  program  to  supplement  and 
update  the  California  Water  Plan. 
This  program  involves:   (l)  peri- 
odic reassessment  of  existing  and 
future  demands  for  water  and  the 
economic  and  social  needs  for  re- 
lated services  such  as  flood  con- 
trol, hydroelectric  power,  and  rec- 
reational and  fish  and  wildlife 
opportunities;  (2)  periodic  reevalu- 
ation  of  local  water  resources 
available  to  satisfy  estimated 
demands,  and  the  magnitude  and 
timing  of  need  for  additional  water 
supplies  that  cannot  be  provided 
from  local  sources;  (3)  evaluation 
of  the  various  alternative  sources 
of  water  supplies  to  meet  future 
demands  in  areas  of  deficiency, 
including  dams  and  reservoirs,  de- 
salination, reuse  of  reclaimed  watei) 
weather  modification,  and  other 
possibilities;  (4)  evaluation  of  the 
need  for  protection  and  preservation 
of  the  water  resource  for  environ- 
mental enhancement;  and  (5)  exami- 
nation of  alternative  water  resource 
management  plans . 

The  objective  of  the  statewide  plan- 
ning program  is  to  provide  a  guide 
to  the  selection  of  the  most  favor- 
able management  plans  for 
California's  water  resources,  con- 
sidering all  reasonable  alternative 
courses  of  action.   Evaluation  of 
these  alternatives  is  premised  not 
only  on  physical  and  engineering 
considerations  but  also  takes  into 
account  changing  economic,  social, 
technological,  political,  and 
cultural  factors,  as  best  those 
factors  can  be  foreseen.   The  re- 
sults of  the  program  are  documented 
in  the  Bulletin  160  series. 

Since  publication  of  the  Bulletin 
No.  160-66  in  1966,  California  has 
experienced  a  dynamic  era,  not  only 
in  the  area  of  water  project 


implementation,  but  also  in  the 
evolution  of  the  broad  consideration 
of  water  resource  development  within 
the  framework  of  the  overall  envi- 
ronment.  Certainly,  this  evolution 
is  desirable  and  needed,  as  water  is 
a  most  valuable  natural  resource  and 
must  be  considered  in  its  broadest 
ramifications.   The  scope  of  plan- 
ning must  be  broadened  to  encompass 
fully  the  environmental  and  total 
resources  considerations. 

Studies  reported  In  this  bulletin 
indicate  that  estimates  of  future 
water  demand  are  lower  than  at  the 
time  of  publication  of  Bulletin  No. 
160-66,  and  that  more  time  is 
available  to  develop  new  water 
supplies.   However,  concern  for 
environmental  quality  and  especially 
emphasis  on  "clean  water"  necessi- 
tates much  more  effort  on  water 
resource  management.   The  beneficial 
uses  of  our  water  resources  must  be 
protected,  and  Increased  effort  must 
be  made  to  clean  up  our  rivers, 
lakes,  estuaries,  and  ocean  conti- 
nental shelf. 


Emphasis  on  Water  Quality 

Water  resource  management  Implies 
the  integration  of  water  supply  with 
water  quality.   Two  major  goals  in 
water  resource  management  are:  (l) 
the  management  and  use  of  the  water 
resources  to  meet  the  needs  and 
desires  of  the  people  as  best  those 
needs  can  be  determined;  and  (2)  the 
management  of  the  water  and  related 
resources  of  land  and  air  to  pre- 
serve and  enhance  the  resources  for 
indefinite  use  and  enjoyment. 

The  importance  of  maintaining  the 
quality  of  the  waters  of  California 
has  long  been  recognized  by  the 
State.   A  major  step  was  taken  in 
1967  to  strengthen  the  water  quality 
control  programs  through  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  State  Water  Resources 
Control  Board.  Functions  of  the 


-9- 


five-member  State  Board  are  divided 
into  water  rights  and  water  quality. 
The  water  quality  functions  Include 
the  control  and  prevention  of  water 
pollution. 

The  State  Board  guides  the  nine 
Regional  Water  Quality  Control 
Boards,  enabling  state  policy  for 
water  quality  control  to  be  admin- 
istered regionally,  within  a  frame- 
work of  statewide  coordination  and 
policy.   The  Regional  Boards,  with 
boundaries  generally  based  on  major 
watershed  areas,  are  regulatory 
agencies,  each  gearing  its  work  to 
the  specific  problems  of  its 
particular  region.   The  Boards 
formulate  water  quality  control 
plans  for  waters  of  their  regions, 
establish  and  enforce  waste  dis- 
charge requirements,  and  implement 
policies  of  the  State  Board. 

The  authority  of  the  State  Water 
Resources  Control  Board  and  the 
California  Regional  Water  Quality 
Control  Boards  was  substantially 
increased  on  January  1,  1970  when 
the  Porter-Cologne  Water  Quality 
Control  Act  became  effective.   This 
Act,  considered  the  most  compre- 
hensive water  quality  control  law 
in  the  Nation,  completely  revises 
the  state  water  pollution  and  water 
quality  control  laws  and  also 
enables  the  State  Water  Resources 
Control  Board  to  carry  out  water 
quality  objectives  through  its  water 
rights  function. 

A  significant  element  of  the  Act  is 
the  provision  for  development  by  the 
State  Water  Resources  Control  Board 
of  state  policy  for  water  quality 
control  and  regional  water  quality 
control  plans.   These  policies  and 
plans  become  a  part  of  the 
California  Water  Plan  upon  sub- 
mission to  the  Legislature. 


Environmental  Awareness 

The  recent  emergence  of  environ- 
mental awareness  and  concern  stems 
from  two  major  considerations: 
first,  the  obvious  deterioration  of 
our  surroundings  today--air  pollu- 
tion, water  pollution,  debris  of 


our  industrial  society,  urban 
sprawl,  loss  of  our  natural  fauna 
and  flora,  ecological  disruption, 
and  many  other  distressing  aspects 
of  contemporary  society;  and 
second,  the  predictions  of  what  may 
happen  in  the  future  as  the  popu- 
lation pressures  Increase,  and  the 
related  Impact  of  our  expanding 
technological  society  is  Intensified. 
That  these  problems  must  be  solved 
within  a  framework  of  comprehensive 
environmental  and  resources  policy 
is  becoming  increasingly  clear. 

The  real  issue  is  the  problem  of 
planning  adequately  for  the  use  of 
one  resource--water--in  a  near 
vacuum  of  other  equally  contro- 
versial and  interrelated  problems 
such  as  population  and  land  use. 
Planning  for  water  use  is  made  con- 
siderably more  difficult  by  the 
absence  of  any  firm  policies  and 
direction  in  these  other  areas  which 
are  the  focal  point  of  much  concern. 
The  need  for  such  policies  is  par- 
ticularly manifest  in  water  resource 
development  because  of  the  long  time 
required  for  planning  and 
implementation. 

The  Department  of  Water  Resources 
recognizes  the  need  for  a  compre- 
hensive policy  framework  to  provide 
keener  perspective  with  regard  to 
water  resource  development.  Until 
such  policy  is  articulated  by  the 
State,  the  Department  must  continue 
its  philosophy  and  policy  of  ensur- 
ing that  the  water  needs  of  the 
people  are  satisfied,  as  best  those 
needs  can  be  determined  now  and  in 
the  future.   The  needs  of  people 
Include  not  only  the  demand  for 
use,  but  also  the  need  for  preser- 
vation of  those  resources.   This 
necessitates  an  awareness  of  the 
need  for  planning  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  a  proper  balance  between 
the  preservation  and  protection  of 
water  resources  and  the  development 
and  use  of  those  resources. 

While  there  is  much  talk  about  popu- 
lation control,  no  expectation  of 
some  population  Increase  is  unreal- 
istic. As  population  Increases, 
and  there  is  every  indication  that 
it  will,  water  deraainds  will  increase 


-10- 


proportionately.   Proper  considera- 
tion of  environmental  Issues  must 
be  premised  on  the  acknowledgment 
that  people  and  their  related 
activities  will  continue  to  need 
water,  no  matter  how  the  future 
pattern  of  population  growth  and 
distribution  may  occur.   Therefore, 
the  question  should  not  be  whether 
further  water  development  should 
occur,  but  how  such  development  can 
best  be  accomplished,  fully  taking 
into  account  the  Interrelation  with 
the  environment  and  population  and 
land  use  policy,  as  such  policy  may 
develop. 


Recent  Environmental 
Legislation 

With  the  approach  of  the  1970s,  the 
environment  and  environmental  prob- 
lems have  become  the  watchword  not 
only  of  the  public  but  also  of  the 
Governor,  the  executive  departments, 
and  the  lawmakers.   In  fact,  both 
the  State  Legislature  and  the 
Congress  have  declared  the  1970s  to 
be  the  decade  of  the  environment. 
This  is  reflected  at  the  state  level 
in  the  passage  of  three  significant 
bills,  and  at  the  federal  level  by 
enactment  or  extension  of  important 
policy  statutes.  While  this  legis- 
lation is  somewhat  broadly  based, 
it  will  profoundly  affect  future 
water  resource  development. 


Federal  Environmental 
Legislation 

Many  bills  concerning  the  environ- 
ment are  now  pending  before  the 
Congress,  and  a  number  of  bills 
dealing  in  various  degrees  with  the 
environment  have  been  passed 
recently.   Three  significant  policy 
enactments  concerning  water  resource 
environment  are  worthy  of  particular 
note  and  are  briefly  discussed  in 
the  following  paragraphs. 


National  Environmental  Policy  Act 
of  19 b9^   This  Act  declares  national 
policy  to  encourage  productive  and 
enjoyable  harmony  between  man  and 
his  environment;  to  promote  efforts 


which  will  protect  the  environjnent 
and  stimulate  the  health  and  wel- 
fare of  man;  and  to  enrich  the 
understanding  of  the  ecological 
systems  and  natural  resources 
important  to  the  Nation.   It  de- 
clares that  the  continuing  policy 
of  the  Federal  Government  in 
cooperation  with  the  state  and 
local  governments  and  other  con- 
cerned public  and  private  organi- 
zations will  be  to  use  all 
practicable  means,  including 
financial  and  technical  assistance, 
to  foster  and  promote  the  general 
welfare . 

The  Act  provides  that  all  federal 
agencies  incorporate  environment  in 
planning  and  decision-making,  and 
Include  in  every  recommendation  or 
report  a  detailed  statement  on  the 
environmental  impact  and  other  con- 
siderations Involved.   It  also  re- 
quires those  agencies  to  Include 
the  comments  of  other  agencies 
affected.   The  Act  also  establishes 
a  Council  on  Environmental  Quality 
in  the  Executive  Office  of  the 
President.   The  Council  assists  and 
advises  the  President  and  reviews 
the  federal  agency  programs  and 
attitudes . 


Wild  and  Scenic  Rivers  Act  (P.L.  90- 
5^2 j.   The  Act,  passed  in  196^, 
established  the  basic  principle  that 
certain  selected  rivers  of  the 
Nation  which,  with  their  immediate 
environments,  possess  outstanding, 
remarkable,  scenic,  recreation, 
geologic,  fish  and  wildlife, 
historic,  cultural,  and  other 
similar  values,  are  to  be  preserved 
in  a  free -flowing  condition  and 
protected  for  the  benefit  and  the 
enjoyment  of  present  and  future 
generations . 

The  Wild  and  Scenic  Rivers  Act 
established  the  Wild  and  Scenic 
Rivers  System,  composed  of  eight 
initial  rivers,  including  the 
Middle  Ford  of  the  Feather  River, 
and  Identifies  27  other  rivers  to 
be  studied  for  possible  inclusion 
in  the  national  system.   In  addition, 
the  Act  also  authorizes  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  provide 


-11- 


technical  assistance,  advice,  and 
encouragement  to  the  states,  politi- 
cal subdivisions,  and  private 
organizations  in  their  efforts  to 
establish  state  and  local  wild, 
scenic,  and  recreation  river  areas. 

Congress  has  made  clear  that  the 
task  of  preserving  and  administering 
outstandingly  remarkable,  free- 
flowing  streams  is  not  solely  the 
domain  of  the  Federal  Government ; 
and  that  the  states  should  be 
encouraged  to  undertake  as  much  of 
the  Job  as  is  possible.   To  date, 
12  states,  including  California, 
have  active  scenic  river  programs 
to  enhance  the  values  of  free- 
f lowing  rivers. 


Water  Quality  Improvement  Act  of 
1970.   The  Act  is  aimed  essentially 
at  strengthening  federal  water 
pollution  control  authority,  set- 
ting up  an  all-inclusive  federal 
office  to  give  policy  guidance  to 
environmental  quality  improvement 
programs,  and  improving  effective- 
ness of  the  federal  construction 
grant  program  in  combating  water 
pollution. 


California  State  Environmental 
Legislation  ~~~ 

As  with  the  Congress,  a  number  of 
bills  concerning  the  environment 
have  been  passed  or  are  under  con- 
sideration by  the  Legislature. 
Three  legislative  acts  have  been 
recently  passed  that  have  direct 
bearing  on  water-related  environ- 
ment.  Moreover,  the  California 
Assembly  Select  Committee  on 
Environmental  Quality  was  appointed 
because  of  growing  concern  about 
California's  environmental  problems. 


California  Protected  Waterways  Act, 
This  Act,  passed  as  Chapter  127W, 
Statutes  of  I968,  has  two  major 
aspects.   First,  it  declares  that 
it  is  state  policy  to  conserve 
those  waterways  of  the  State 
possessed  of  extraordinary  scenic, 
fishery,  wildlife,  or  outdoor 
recreation  values.   Second,  it 


requires  the  Resources  Agency  to 
prepare  the  initial  elements  of  a 
plan  and  report  thereon  to  the 
Legislature  by  January  1971.   The 
Act  defines  waterways  as  "The  waters 
and  adjacent  lands  of  streams, 
channels,  lakes,  reservoirs,  bays, 
estuaries,  marshes,  wetlands,  and 
lagoons" . 


Assembly  Select  Committee  on 
Environmental  Quality^   The  growing 
concern  about  California's  environ- 
ment prompted  appointment  of  the 
Assembly  Select  Committee  on  Environ- 
mental Quality  in  January  1970. 
This  committee  reviewed  the  major 
environmental  problems  confronting 
California  and  published  a  report 
entitled  "Environmental  Bill  of 
Rights"  in  March  of  1970.   The  re- 
port includes  3^  recommendations 
covering  a  wide  range  of  recommended 
state  actions.   Major  conclusions  of 
the  report  cover  population  growth 
and  distribution,  land  use  patterns, 
need  for  a  greatly  expanded  public 
investment,  formation  of  regional 
planning  agencies  and  preparation  of 
regional  environmental  protection 
and  enhancement  plans,  abatement  of 
pollution  caused  by  the  automobile, 
and  protection  of  resources  of  the 
coastal  zone. 

Two  important  bills  resulting  from 
the  report  were  passed  during  the 
1970  Legislative  Session.   They  are 
AB  2045,  "The  Environmental  Quality 
Act  of  1970",  and  AB  207O,  which 
abolishes  the  existing  State  Office 
of  Planning  and  creates  an  Office  of 
Planning  and  Research  in  the 
Governor's  Office  to  assist  the 
Governor  in  developing  and  achieving 
environmental  goals . 

AB  2045  will  require  state  agencies 
to: 

1.  Include  a  detailed  statement 
of  specific  environmental 
information  in  any  report  on 
any  project  they  propose  to 
carry  out  which  could  signifi- 
cantly affect  the  environment. 

2.  Include  a  detailed  environ- 
mental statement  in  the  official 


-12- 


Californio's  "Environmental   Sill  of  Rights"   is  concerned  with  protection  of  resources  of  the  coastal  zone. 


In  .some  areas,  land  u.se  choice  fta.s  already  been  made 


^  ^4^^ 


jv-« 


.♦>.. 


1.  .:.^' 


-'it. 


DPW    -    Drvii,  lofi    v<    Ml 


In  other  areas,  opporlunities  lor  allernatlve  uses  still  exist 


state  review  of  any  proposed 
federal  project  which  could 
significantly  affect  the 
environment.   (This  also  is 
consistent  with  the  Federal 
Environmental  Policy  Act  of 
1969  requiring  federal 
agencies  to  present  similar 
environmental  information 
on  their  proposed  projects.) 

3.  Request  in  their  budgets, 
funds  necessary  to  protect 
the  environment  from  problems 
caused  by  its  activities. 

4.  Require  from  local  agencies 
detailed  statements  of 
specific  environmental  infor- 
mation prioi*  to  allocation 

of  state  or  federal  funds  for 
projects  which  may  have  a 
significant  effect  on  the 
environment . 

Under  AB  2070  the  new  Office  of 
Planning  and  Research  will  serve 
the  Governor  and  his  Cabinet  as 
staff  for  long-range  planning  and 
research,  and  constitute  the  compre- 
hensive state  planning  agency.   It 
will  have  authority  to  assist  in  the 
preparation  of  all  environment -related 
programs  of  state  departments  and 
agencies.  Including  water  develop- 
ment, and  to  assist  the  Department 
of  Finance  in  preparing  the  annual 
state  budget  as  it  relates  to 
environmental  goals  and  objectives. 


Progress  in  Interstate  and 

Federal-State  Water 

Relationships 

During  the  nast  several  years  a 
number  of  steps  have  been  taken  by 
California  in  cooperation  with  other 
states  or  with  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, and  by  the  Federal  Government, 
which  will  have  significant  influ- 
ence on  the  State's  water  develop- 
ment.  Three  of  the  most  important 
federal  laws  enacted  were :   the 
Water  Resources  Planning  Act  (P.L, 
89-80),  the  National  Water 
Commission  Act  (P.L,  9O-515),  and 
the  Colorado  River  Basin  Project 
Act  (P.L.  90-537).   California  and 
the  other  10  western  states  have 


moved  toward  better  understanding  by 
their  participation  in  the  Western 
States  Water  Council  and  in  the 
recently  authorized  Western  United 
States  Water  Plan  Study. 


The  Water  Resources  Planning 
Act  (P.L.  89-80) 

As  stated  in  the  preamble,  this  Act 
is: 

"  ...  to  provide  for  the  opti- 
mum development  of  the  Nation's 
natural  resources  through  the 
coordinated  planning  of  water 
and  related  land  resources, 
through  the  establishment  of  a 
water  resources  council  and 
river  basins  commission,  and 
by  providing  financial  assis- 
tance to  the  states  in  order 
to  increase  state  participation 
in  such  planning." 

Primary  responsibility  for  imple- 
mentation of  this  far-reaching  law 
rests  with  the  Water  Resources 
Council,  which  was  created  by  the 
Act  specifically  for  that  purpose. 
The  Council  consists  of  the 
Secretaries  of  the  Interior,  Agri- 
culture, the  Army,  and  Health, 
Education,  and  Welfare,  and  the 
Chairman  of  the  Federal  Power 
Commission. 

The  Water  Resources  Council  is  re- 
quired to  prepare  national  assess- 
ments of  the  adequacy  of  supplies  of 
water  necessary  to  meet  each  water 
resource  region  in  the  United  States 
and  the  national  interest  therein. 

The  "First  National  Assessment"  was 
published  by  the  Council  in 
November  1968. 


National  Water  Commission 
Act  CP.L.  9O-515J 

This  Act,  passed  by  the  Congress  in 
1968,  promises  to  be  of  importance 
to  western  water  development.   The 
Act  created  a  seven-member  National 
Water  Commission  which  is  responsi- 
ble for  (1)  review  of  present  and 
anticipated  national  water  resource 


-14- 


problems;  (2)  consideration  of 
economic  and  social  consequences  of 
water  resource  development,  includ- 
ing the  impact  of  water  resource 
development  on  regional  economic 
growth,  and  on  institutional 
arrangements  and  esthetic  values; 
and  (3)  advice  on  specific  water 
matters.   The  Commission  is  also 
required  to  consult  with  the  Water 
Resources  Council,  and  to  furnish 
its  reports  to  that  body  for  review 
and  comment  prior  to  submittal  to 
the  President  and  the  Congress. 

The  responsibilities  and  authority 
of  the  Commission  are  very  general. 
During  I969  it  sought  the  views  of 
federal  and  state  agencies,  private 
consultants,  and  the  public  in  an 
attempt  to  delineate  a  scope  of 
effort  in  which  it  could  produce  a 
report  that  would  give  more  meaning- 
ful direction  to  the  planning  and 
development  of  the  Nation's  water 
resources.   The  Commission  plans  to 
submit  its  final  report  to  the 
President  and  the  Congress  early  in 
1973. 

Colorado  River  Basin  Project 
Act  (P.L.  90-537) 

This  law  was  enacted  in  1968  after 
four  years  of  interstate  negotiations 
and  congressional  hearings.   It 
authorized  the  Central  Arizona  Proj- 
ect and  five  Upper  Colorado  River 
Basin  projects,  established  a  devel- 
opment fund,  delineated  principles 
and  priorities  for  operation  of 
Colorado  River  reservoirs,  condi- 
tionally authorized  one  project  and 
reauthorized  another  project  in  Utah, 
and  provided  for  assumption  of  the 
Mexican  Water  Treaty  burden  by  the 
United  States  when  the  Colorado 
River  is  augmented  by  2.5  million 
acre-feet.   The  Act  gave  existing 
California,  Arizona,  and  Nevada 
Colorado  River  water  contractors  a 
priority  over  the  Central  Arizona 
Project  whenever  the  annual  usable 
supply  is  less  than  7.5  million  acre- 
feet,  with  California's  priority 
limited  to  4.4  million  acre-feet  per 
year. 

The  Central  Arizona  Project  was 
authorized  with  reference  to  the 


1964  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  Decree 
which  apportions  the  waters  of  the 
Lower  Colorado  River  Basin  among  the 
States  of  California,  Nevada  and 
Arizona.   Under  that  decree,  Cali- 
fornia is  apportioned  4.4  million 
acre -feet  per  year  plus  50  percent 
of  any  surplus.   California  agencies 
have  contracts  with  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  for  5.362  million  acre- 
feet  per  year.   It  is  anticipated 
that  California's  supply  in  the 
Colorado  will  be  reduced  when  the 
Central  Arizona  Project  becomes 
operational,  which  is  expected  to  be 
sometime  during  the  1980s.   The 
principal  effect  of  this  reduction 
will  be  to  reduce  the  annual  deliv- 
eries to  the  Metropolitan  Viater 
District  of  Southern  California  from 
the  present  1,212,000  acre-feet  to 
550,000  acre -feet.   The  Imperial, 
Palo  Verde,  and  Coachella  Irrigation 
Districts  will  also  lose  rights  to 
300,000  acre-feet  of  second-priority 
water. 

The  Act  recognizes  the  shortage  of 
water  in  the  Colorado  River  Basin 
and  acknowledges  the  need  for  augmen- 
tation of  the  natural  water  resources 
of  the  Basin.   It  directs  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  conduct 
reconnaissance  investigations  for  the 
purpose  of  developing  a  general  plan 
to  meet  the  future  water  needs  of  the 
Western  United  States.  However,  the 
Act  imposes  a  10-year  moratorium  on 
studies  of  any  plan  for  importation 
of  water  into  the  Basin  from  any 
other  natural  drainage  basin  lying 
outside  the  States  of  Arizona, 
California,  Colorado,  and  New  Mexjco 
and  outside  of  those  portions  of 
Nevada,  Utah,  and  Wyoming  which  are 
in  the  Colorado  River  Basin,  until 
September  30,  I978.  The  Secretary  has 
assigned  responsibility  for  this  study 
to  the  Bureau  of  Reclamation,  which 
now  refers  to  it  as  the  "Western 
United  States  Water  Plan  Study". 

Federal -State  Framework  Studies 

The  Federal  Government  inaugurated  the 
Type  I  Framework  Studies  in  1966  under 
the  Water  Resources  Planning  Act,  with 
the  objective  of  providing  compre- 
hensive water  planning  in  all  regions 
of  the  Nation.  This  is  basically  a 


•15- 


federal  interagency  program  in 
which  the  states  are  encouraged  to 
participate.   The  responsibility 
for  initiation  and  overall  coordi- 
nation has  been  administratively 
assigned  to  the  Water  Resources 
Council. 

Framework  Studies  in  the  Pacific 
Southwest  area  cover  the  Great 
Basin,  the  Upper  and  Lower  Colorado 
Basins,  and  the  California  Region. 
The  State  of  California  is  the  lead 
agency  for  the  California  Region 
Study,  which  has  been  in  progress 
since  I967.   All  Framework  Study 
reports  for  the  Region  are  scheduled 
for  completion  by  June  30,  1971. 

The  Framework  Studies  are  being 
conducted  at  the  reconnaissance 
level,  with  the  objective  of  devel- 
oping a  framework  plan  to  meet  the 
projected  needs  for  water  and  re- 
lated land  resources  through  2020. 
The  state  agencies  participating  in 
the  California  Region  study  are  the 
Departments  of  Water  Resources, 
Pish  and  Game,  Parks  and  Recreation, 
Navigation  and  Ocean  Development, 
Conservation,  and  Public  Health, 
and  the  Reclamation  Board,  Colorado 
River  Board,  and  State  Water 
Resources  Control  Board. 


June  30,  1977.   Interregional  trans- 
fers of  water  from  the  Northwest  to 
the  Southwest  will  not  be  studied 
in  this  investigation  because  it 
will  conclude  before  the  10-year 
moratorium  in  P.L.  90-537  expires. 
However,  it  was  envisioned  by  the 
Congress,  in  enacting  P.L.  90-537, 
that  such  transfers  will  be  con- 
sidered and  a  comprehensive  water 
plan  for  the  entire  West  will  be 
formulated  by  the  Secretary  after 
September  30,  1978. 


Western  States  Water  Council 


The  33 -man  Western 
Council  was  create 
governors  of  the  1 
states  lying  wholl 
of  the  Continental 
purpose  is  to  fost 
cooperation  among 
States  in  planning 
leading  to  Integra 
of  water  resources 
and  other  agencies 
are  to: 


States  Water 
d  in  1965  by  the 
1  contiguous 
y  or  in  part  west 

Divide.   Its 
er  effective 
the  Western 

for  programs 
ted  development 

by  state,  federal. 
Its  functions 


Prepare  criteria  for  plans 
for  regional  development  of 
water  resources  to  protect 
and  further  state  and  local 
interests;  and 


Western  United  States 
Water  Plan 

The  Bureau  of  Reclamation  launched 
this  planning  study  early  in  1970. 
The  states  have  been  invited  and 
urged  to  participate  in  the  investi- 
gation.  Insofar  as  possible  the 
study  will  use  information  to  be 
provided  by  the  federal  Type  I 
Framework  Studies  and  any  other 
relevant  studies  for  the  Pacific 
Northwest  and  the  Pacific  Southwest. 

Progress  reports  are  to  be  submit- 
ted by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
to  the  President,  the  National  Water 
Commission  (while  it  is  In  existence), 
the  Water  Resources  Council,  and 
the  Congress  every  two  years .   The 
first  report  will  be  due  on  or 
before  June  30,  I971.   The  study  is 
to  terminate  with  a  final  recon- 
naissance report  not  later  than 


2.  Undertake  continuing  review 
of  all  large-scale  interstate 
and  interbasln  plans  and 
projects,  and  advise  the 
governors  regarding  their 
compatibility  with  the  orderly 
and  optimum  development  of 
the  water  resources  of  the 
Western  States. 


Progress  in 
Water  Resource  Development 

The  State  Water  Project,  the  federal 
Central  Valley  Project  and  other 
major  federal  projects  are  widely 
known,  because  of  both  the  public 
and  governmental  process  of  authori- 
zation and  the  financing  and  indi- 
vidual project  scope  and  magnitude. 
However,  the  extensive  efforts  of 
local  agencies,  largely  unhearalded, 
have  provided  the  backbone  of 


■16- 


California's  water  resource  devel- 
opment achievement  to  date.   Estima- 
tions have  been  made  that  local 
agencies  have  invested  nearly  $5 
billion  in  surface  water  and  ground 
water  projects.   This  estimate  is 
based  on  dollars  expended  over  the 
years,  and  would  be  substantiallj' 
greater  based  on  the  value  of  tlie 
dollar  today. 

It  is  estimated  that  local  agencies 
have  expended  more  than  $1  billion 
in  water  conservation,  conveyance, 
and  major  distribution  systems  over 
the  past  four  years.   The  State  has 
invested  a  similar  amount  on  the 
State  Water  Project,  and  the 
Federal  Government  has  expended 
about  plOO   million  on  the  Central 
Valley   Project  and  other  facilities. 
Although  state  and  federal  construc- 
tion expenditures  may  exceed  local 
agency  investment  in  the  future, 
because  of  the  increasing  scope  and 
magnitude  of  interbasin  projects, 
state  and  federal  water  development 
will  continue  to  supplement  rather 
than  supplant  local  development, 
fulfill  in-;  onlv  -  \.      ..   ■    I.:-    '\\' 


local  agencies  are  unable  to 
provide  for.   In  this  regard,  local 
agencies  will  play  the  lead  role  in 
developin,^  distribution  systems  for 
state  and  federal  water  facilities. 

This  concluding  section  presents  a 
brief  description  of  the  progress 
in  water  development  project  con- 
struction during  the  four  years 
since  pub-licatlon  of  Bulletin 
No.  I6O-66.   In  this  regard  a  map 
showing  existing  and  possible  future 
water  development  and  conveyance  sys- 
tem.s  in  California  is  enclosed  in  the 
jacket  at  the  back  of  this  bulletin 
as  Plate  1,  entitled  "Water  Resource 
Development  in  California". 


Local  Water  Development 

During  the  past  four  years  local 
agencies  completed  or  initiated 
construction  on  35  reservoir  proj- 
ects.  Major  projects  completed 
were  New  Bullards  Bar  on  the  North 
Yuba  River  by  the  Yuba  County  Water 
Agency;  New  Exchequer  on  the  Merced 


New  Bullards  Bar  Dam  -  North  Yuba  River 


Yuba   County  Water  Agency 


Local  projects  provide  the  backbone  lor  Calilornia's  water  resources  development 


■17- 


River  by  the  Merced  Irrigation 
District;  Hell  Hole  on  the  Rubicon 
River  by  Placer  County  Water  Agency; 
Lopez  on  Arroyo  Grande  Creek  by 
San  Luis  Obispo  County  Flood  Control 
and  Water  Conservation  District:  and 
New  Don  Pedro  Project  on  the 
Tuoluntne  River  by  the  City  and 
County  of  San  Francisco  and  the 
Turlock  and  Modesto  Irrigation 
Districts . 

In  addition,  major  aqueduct  and 
distribution  systems  were  completed 
or  are  in  progress.   The  City  of 
Los  Angeles  completed  the  second 
barrel  of  the  Los  Angeles  Aqueduct 
which  conveys  water  from  the  Owens 
River.   The  Metropolitan  Water 
District  of  Southern  California  is 
constructing  a  major  distribution 
system  to  deliver  water  from  the 
State  Water  Project  to  member 
agencies.   Some  $217  million  in 
construction  was  under  contract  on 
June  30,  1969.  The  completed 
facilities  are  expected  to  cost 
about  $1.4  billion. 

Several  major  water  districts  in 
the  San  Joaquin  Valley  have  com- 
pleted or  are  in  the  process  of  con- 
structing distribution  systems  to 
deliver  imported  water  to  individual 
users.   The  Arvin-Edison  Water 
Storage  District  in  eastern  Kern 
County  has  completed  a  $38  million 
system  for  distribution  of  water 
from  the  Central  Valley  Project. 
The  agencies  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Valley  are  constructing  similar 
facilities  for  distribution  of  water 
from  the  State  Water  Project,  with 
an  aggregate  expenditure  of  about 
$40  million  as  of  December  I968. 

The  foregoing  projects  by  no  means 
represent  the  total  local  agency 
construction  effort  over  the  past 
four  years.  But  they  do  serve  to 
indicate  the  very  important  role  of 
the  local  agencies  in  fulfilling 
California's  water  needs. 


Federal  Projects 

Highlights  of  progress  on  the 
Central  Valley  Project  during  the 
past  four  years  include  the 


completion  of  the  J 
state  San  Luis  Dam 
and  San  Luis  Canal, 
construction  of  the 
Canal,  and  initiati 
tion  of  the  San  Fel 
Construction  of  the 
South  Unit  (authori 
the  San  Luis  drain 
in  progress . 


oint  federal - 
and  Pumping  Plant 
initiation  of 
Tehama-Colusa 
on  of  construc- 
ipe  Division. 

Auburn-Folsom 
zed  in  I965)  and 
is  also  currently 


Central  Valley  Project  deliveries 
have  increased  50  percent  over  the 
past  four  years,  reaching  60  percent 
of  the  estimated  total  area  contem- 
plated under  the  presently  autho- 
rized project.   Water  deliveries  in 
1969  totalled  4.9  million  acre-feet 
as  compared  to  3.6  million  acre-feet 
in  1965.   Installed  hydroelectric 
capacity  also  increased  50  percent, 
currently  exceeding  1,500,000 
kilowatts.   This  represents  nearly 
85  percent  of  the  presently  autho- 
rized total  capacity. 

Other  noteworthy  construction  accom- 
plishments by  the  Bureau  of  Recla- 
mation include  completion  of 
Stampede  Reservoir  on  Little  Truckee 
River  and  first  power  transmission 
to  the  Central  Valley  Project  over 
the  Pacific  Northwest-Pacific 
Southwest  intertie . 

The  Corps  of  Engineers  continued  its 
construction  program  to  provide  for 
navigation,  beach  erosion  and  flood 
control  projects.   The  Corps  began 
construction  on  six  reservoir  proj- 
ects:  New  Melones  on  the  Stanislaus 
River,  Warm  Springs  in  the  Russian 
River  Basin,  Martis  on  the  Truckee 
River,  Mojave  on  the  Mojave  River, 
Hidden  on  the  Fresno  River,  and 
Buchanan  on  the  Chowchilla  River. 

The  Flood  Control  Act  of  I966  autho- 
rized Marysville  and  Knights  Valley 
Reservoir  Projects  on  the  Yuba 
River  and  in  the  Russian  River  Basin, 
respectively,  and  the  Flood  Control 
Act  of  1968  authorized  Butler  Valley 
Reservoir  Project  on  the  Mad  River 
in  Humboldt  County. 


-18- 


state  Water  Project 

Notable  progress  has  been  made  since 
1966  toward  completion  of  the  State 
Water  Project.   Oroville  Dam  has 
been  in  operation  for  over  three 
years  and  has  performed  very  suc- 
cessfully its  multi-purpose  duties 
of  flood  control,  conservation, 
power  generation,  and  recreation. 
In  fact,  Oroville  Reservoir  not 
only  completely  filled  during  its 
first  year  of  full  operation,  but 
also  performed  adm.irably  in  con- 
trolling the  substantial  floodflows 
during  January  and  February  of  I969 
and  January  of  1970. 

The  first  phase  of  the  North  Bay 
Aqueduct  was  completed  early  in 
1968.   Del  Valle  Dam  on  the  South 
Bay  Aqueduct  was  completed  in  1968 
and  Lake  Del  Valle  was  full  by  the 
spring  of  I969. 

The  favorable  water  conditions 
during  the  spring  of  I969  enabled 
the  complete  filling  of  San  Luis 
Reservoir,  the  key  facility  of  the 
San  Luis  features  which  were  com- 
pleted in  1968. 

Deliveries  of  project  water  to  con- 
tracting agencies  in  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley  began  in  I968,  and  a  total 
of  nearly  200,000  acre-feet  of  water 
was  delivered  to  nine  water  service 
agencies  along  the  west  side  of  the 
Valley  in  Kings  and  Kern  Counties  in 
both  1968  and  I969.   An  estimated 


300,000  acre-feet  was  delivered  in 
1970.   Of  the  75,000  acres  currently 
irrigated  from  project  deliveries, 
only  12,000  acres  had  previously 

been  irrigated. 

As  of  December  1970  the  California 
Aqueduct  was  operational  from 
Clifton  Court  Forebay  at  the  souther- 
ly edge  of  the  Delta  to  Wind  Gap 
Pumping  Plant,  some  28O  miles  to  the 
south.   Included  in  that  reach  are 
five  of  the  nine  major  pumping 
plants  on  the  aqueduct. 

The  Tehachapi  Crossing  facilities 
(Tunnels  Nos.  1,  2,  and  3,  and  the 
4 .7-mile-long  Carley  V.  Porter  Tun- 
nel) were  completed  during  1970. 
The  lengths  of  these  tunnels  total 
nearly  8  miles.  Water  will  begin 
flowing  through  the  Tehachapis  in 
June  1971.   The  West  Branch  facili- 
ties needed  for  Initial  water 
delivery  will  be  completed  in  the 
fall  of  1971,  and  water  deliveries 
are  expected  to  be  initiated  from 
Castaic  Dam  in  October  of  that  year. 

A  contract  for  construction  of 
Perris  Dam  at  the  terminus  of  the 
aqueduct  was  awarded  in  October 
1970.   The  project  is  on  schedule, 
and  the  prospects  of  meeting  the 
target  date  for  delivery  of  project 
water  to  the  West  Branch  contractors 
in  1971  and  the  East  Branch  contrac- 
tors in  1972  and  1973  seem  excellent 
indeed. 


-19- 


CHAPTER  III.   PLANNING  FOR 
WATER  RESOURCE  MANAGEMENT 


The  State  of  California  has  long 
recognized  that  the  growth  and  well- 
being  of  its  economy  require  ade- 
quate water  supplies.   The  State 
has  traditionally  assumed  responsi- 
bility for  providing  guidance  and 
leadership  in  planning  for  the 
orderly  use  and  development  of  its 
water  resources,  as  enunciated  in 
Section  105  of  the  California  Water 
Code,  which  states: 

"It  is  hereby  declared 
that  the  protection  of  the 
public  interest  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  water  resources 
of  the  State  is  of  vital  con- 
cern to  the  people  of  the  State 
and  that  the  State  shall  deter- 
mine in  what  way  the  water  of 
the  State,  both  surface  and 
underground,  should  be  devel- 
oped for  the  greatest  public 
benefit." 

This  policy  has  been  elaborated  and 
detailed  in  many  subsequent  pro- 
visions of  the  Water  Code  and  forms 
the  basic  and  primary  objective  of 
the  planning  program  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Water  Resources. 


Planning  Considerations 

Planning  for  resources  in  general  is 
influenced  by  public  goals  and 
values  as  reflected  in  laws,  rules, 
regulations  and  accepted  practices. 
In  the  case  of  water  resource  plan- 
ning, the  Flood  Control  Act  of  1936, 
which  declared  that  benefits  of 
federal  projects  should  at  least 
equal  costs,  provided  a  legal  basis 
for  an  era  of  planning  which  empha- 
sized "benefit-cost"  in  the  analysis 
of  river  basin  projects.   This  con- 
cept was  progressively  developed 
over  the  years  and  today,  as  defined 
in  Senate  Document  97  (adopted  by 
the  Eighty-seventh  Congress  in 
1962)  represents  what  might  be  con- 
sidered the  "traditional  approach 


to  water  development  planning.   This 
traditional  approach  encompasses 
both  the  established  concepts  and 
techniques  of  economic  and  financial 
analysis,  some  consideration  of 
recreational  and  social  benefits, 
and  specific  Informational  and 
technical  criteria  which  underlie 
the  project  formulation  process. 

Recent  events  reveal  that  social 
objectives  considered  desirable  by 
society  have  been  significantly 
expanded  and  that  certain  of  these 
may  not  be  consistent  with  the  most 
economically  efficient  use  of  re- 
sources.  The  public  interest  in 
recreation,  quality  of  environment, 
healthful  ecology,  and  esthetics 
Implies  a  willingness  to  forego 
opportunity  or  to  spend  money  in  a 
way  that  does  not  necessarily  yield 
the  highest  economic  efficiency  as 
it  is  now  computed.   The  extent  of 
public  commitment  to  some  of  the 
emerging  environmental  demands  has 
not  been  defined.   Trade-offs  of 
benefits  and/or  new  financial  obli- 
gations will  be  involved. 

Most  resources  planning  and  develop- 
ment have  been  Initiated  from 
essentially  a  single-purpose  view- 
point for  a  primary  resource,  even 
though  particular  developments  may 
have  multiple  uses  and  benefits, 
affecting  other  resources.  Water 
resource  projects  have  brought  into 
sharp  focus  the  interrelationships 
of  resources  and  resource  management 
problems  with  the  environment  and 
economic  development.   They  have 
emphasized  the  need  to  begin  to  con- 
sider how  to  carry  out  coordinated 
comprehensive  resource  management 
planning  in  the  total  context  of  the 
environment.   This  indicates  the 
need  for  a  statewide  land  use  policy 
as  a  prerequisite  to  the  management 
of  California's  resources. 

Planners  are  confronted  with  the 
need  to  develop  new  philosophies. 


-21- 


new  concepts,  new  methodology  and 
new  techniques.   The  rapid  develop- 
ment of  technology  has  opened  possi- 
bilities for  new  alternative 
approaches  to  water  development;  and 
the  increasing  concern  of  the  people 
regarding  environment  demands  the 
development  of  new  and  more  refined 
methods  of  evaluating  the  environ- 
mental benefits  and  detriments  of 
water  development. 

The  Department  of  Water  Resources  is 
broadening  its  planning  and  evalu- 
ation processes  and  techniques  to 
cover  a  wider  range  of  water  devel- 
opment alternatives  and  th_e  increased 
application  of  techniques  and  con- 
cepts of  systems  analysis.   Systems 
analysis  in  the  broader  sense  is  the 
process  of  explicitly  identifying  the 
fundamental  problems  requiring  solu- 
tion and  analyzing  a  wide  scope  of 
alternatives  from  the  standpoint  of 
both  monetary  and  nonmonetary  values 
for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the 
decision-makers  in  making  decisions. 
A  systems  approach  might  be  de- 
scribed as  a  sensitive,  analytical 
process  which  helps  in  formulating 
and  acting  upon  required  decisions. 

The  systems  analysis  methodology  has 
been  widely  applied  in  both  business 
and  government.   However,  full  use 
of  its  techniques  in  water  resource 
planning  must  be  further  explored 
and  developed.   Successful  applica- 
tion of  this  technique  holds  promise 
of  broadening  the  range  of  alterna- 
tives for  meeting  water  development 
and  other  resource  needs  of  the 
State,  and  in  incorporating  a  wider 
range  of  considerations  into  the 
evaluation  process. 

Decisions  regarding  management  and 
utilization  of  water  resources 
should  be  based  on  a  thorough  com- 
parison of  the  need  for  action  with 
the  virtues  of  retaining  options  for 
the  future.   Benefits  foregone  are 
real  and  every  effort  should  be  made 
to  evaluate  such  benefits  before 
final  decisions  are  made.   All  effort 
should  be  made  to  ensure  that  deci- 
sions made  now  will  minimize  delete- 
rious effects  that  might  have  been 
avoided  had  decisions  been  made  in 


such  a  way  as  to  retain  flexibility 
for  future  action. 

Water  quality  assumes  increasing 
importance  as  greater  pressures 
develop  on  the  resources  and  as  the 
environmental  objectives  considered 
desirable  by  society  are  broadened. 
The  Department  of  Water  Resources  is 
charged  with  broad  and  continuing 
responsibilities  toward  water  quality 
management  as  a  part  of  its  role  in 
water  resource  management.   In  order 
to  exercise  this  role,  new  methods 
and  techniques  must  be  developed  for 
evaluating  the  relationship  of  water 
quality  to  the  environment  and  de- 
fining benefits  and  equating 
consequences  of  water  resource 
management. 

Increased  communication  with  a  more 
environmentally  conscious  public  is 
also  important  to  focus  their  atten- 
tion on  water  quality  management 
alternatives  and  the  consequences  of 
management  strategy.   There  must  be 
an  expanded  range  of  alternatives 
available  to  meet  this  demand. 


Planning  Process 

The  planning  process  covers  the  full 
range  of  activities  in  which  objec- 
tives are  identified  and  evaluated, 
information  is  analyzed  and  inte- 
grated, plans  are  formulated  and 
updated,  alternative  approaches  are 
developed,  and  decisions  are  made. 
The  identified  objectives  are,  of 
course,  a  function  of  the  complex 
and  interrelated  social,  environ- 
mental, ecological,  and  physical 
factors,  constituting  both  forces 
and  constraints,  which  must  be  con- 
sidered in  developing  alternative 
management  approaches.   In  reference 
to  water  resources,  the  planning 
process  includes  not  only  the  phys- 
ical needs  for  urban  and  agricultural 
uses,  but  the  emerging  environmental 
needs  as  well.   Problems  of  environ- 
mental quality,  however,  have  made 
necessary  the  development  of  better 
methods  of  identifying  and  evaluating 
water-related  environmental  ob- 
jectives, which  requires  a  wider 
range  of  coordination  and  an 


-22- 


expansion  of  evaluation  procedures.     Policies,  Goals  and  Plans 


Finally,  the  planning  process 
provides  a  procedure  for  the  ratio- 
nal selection  of  specific  plans  and 
programs  which  leads  to  the  end 
product  of  planning--the  implemen- 
tation of  specific  courses  of  action 
to  meet  the  needs  of  the  people. 
Public  review  and  comment  is  an  im- 
portant aspect  of  the  planning 
process . 

Development  of  an  overall  planning 
concept  is  important  to  the  refine- 
ment of  the  planning  process.   In 
this  regard,  Figure  1  illustrates 
the  relationship  of  the  California 
Water  Plan  within  the  governmental 
organization,  including  policies 
and  plans;  and  Figure  2  at  the  end 
of  this  chapter  illustrates  the 
planning  concepts  and  process  for 
water  resource  management  in 
California.   Together,  these  figures 
indicate  the  relationship  of  water 
resource  management  to  overall 
statewide  planning,  and  present  the 
basic  concept  of  integrated  water 
resource  management  planning.   These 
charts  represent  both  established 
relationships  and  processes  and 
areas  where  developmental  efforts 
are  being  made. 

Figure  2  represents  the  idealized 
planning  process  which  generally 
guides  the  Department.   The  begin- 
ning point  and  foundation  of  the 
planning  process  is  the  California 
Water  Plan,  as  updated  and  supple- 
mented by  Bulletin  No.  I6O-66  and 
Bulletin  No.  16O-70.   The  studies 
and  analyses  which  provide  the 
basis  for  supplementing  the 
California  Water  Plan  are  largely 
represented  by  the  process  de- 
scribed in  this  schematic  chart. 
However,  several  significant  areas 
of  the  planning  concepts  and  tech- 
niques shown  in  the  schematic  are 
being  improved  and  refined. 

The  overall  water  resource  management 
planning  process  as  illustrated  in 
Figure  2  consists  of  three  major 
sections.   These  are  described  in 
the  following  sections. 


Although  planning  is  a  continuous 
process  with  feedback  and  readjust- 
ment of  earlier  phases,  this  portion 
of  the  diagram  in  Figure  2  is  the 
beginning  point.   It  is  represented 
by  the  California  Water  Plan  as 
supplemented  and  updated  by  the 
Bulletin  I60  series;  and  the  various 
policies,  goals  and  statewide  plans 
which  have  impacts  upon  water 
resource  management. 

The  policies  and  plans  of  the  State 
of  California  as  a  whole  and  the 
specific  state  development  policies, 
shown  in  Figure  1,  provide  the  basic 
framework,  within  which  the  state 
water  resource  management  planning 
process  may  be  conducted  in  proper 
perspective.   The  state  development 
policies  embrace  five  major  areas: 
population  and  human  resources; 
economic  development;  land  use  and 
resources;  environment;  transpor- 
tation.  These  policies  provide  the 
foundation  for  the  development  of 
the  various  state  agency  management 
plans.   Other  departments  in  the 
Resources  Agency  are  in  the  process 
of  developing  their  specific  de- 
partment plans.   The  California 
Water  Plan,  as  updated  by  Bulletin 
No.  160  of  the  Department  of  Water 
Resources  and  supplemented  by  the 
water  quality  control  policies  and 
water  quality  control  plans  of  the 
State  Water  Resources  Control 
Board,   represents  the  master  plan 
for  water  resource  management  in 
California. 

Although  the  state  planning  process 
and  the  State  Development  Plan 
Program  have  not  been  completed, 
developments  in  this  direction  will 
substantially  improve  the  total 
planning  process  of  the  State,  and 
will  have  important  influences  upon 
water  resource  management.   It  is 
through  the  further  integration  of 
these  policies  and  plans  that  the 
State  of  California  will  be  able  to 
consider  the  problems  of  resources 
management  and  environment  as  a 
totality,  and  to  develop  plans  and 
programs  which  are  more  capable  of 


-23- 


FIGURE  1 
RELATIONSHIP  OF  CALIFORNIA  WATER  PLAN  TO  OTHER 
STATE  ENVIRONMENTAL  AND  DEVELOPMENT  POLICIES  AND  PLANS 


CONSERVATION 


NAVIGATION 

AND 

OCEAN 

DEVELOPMENT 

FISH 
AND 
GAME 

WATER  RESOURCES 


CALIFORNIA  WATER  PLAN  (2) 

(As  supplemented  and  updated 
by  Bulletin  160  Series) 


(1)  The  California  State  Development  Plan  Program  Report  discusses  these  environmental  and  development 
policies  in  terms  of  a  comprehensive  state  planning  process. 

(2)  California  Water  Plan  takes  into  account  the  impact  of  the  plans  of  other  resources  agencies  and  other 
State  Departments.  Sec.  13141  of  the  Water  Code  states  that  state  policy  for  water  quality  control  and 
regional  water  quolity  control  plons  shall  become  a  part  of  the  California  Water  Plan.  Sees.  13145  and 
13225  require  consideration  of  effect  of  water  quality  actions  on  the  California  Water  Plan. 


Ik- 


meeting  the  interrelated  and  complex 
problems  of  an  expanding  technolog- 
ical society.  The  refinement  of 
the  water  resource  planning  process 
and  the  integration  of  this  process 
into  the  total  state  planning 
process  is  a  major  step  in  this 
direction. 


Water  Resource  Management 
Analysis  Process 

This  process  constitutes  the 
formulation  of  alternative  water 
resource  management  plans  and  pro- 
grams and  is  diagramed  in  the  central 
part  of  Figure  2.   The  central  anal- 
ysis is  carried  as  a  central  coordi- 
nated statewide  planning  activity. 
At  this  point  in  the  process  all 
pertinent  information  relating  to 
water  management  in  California  is 
collected,  integrated  and  analyzed. 
This  analytical  process  results  in 
changes  in  the  California  Water 
Plan  based  upon  existing  conditions, 
and  provides  the  necessary  infor- 
mation for  the  specific  alternative 
plans  and  programs  to  meet  the  pre- 
sent and  emerging  water  management 
needs  of  the  State.   It  takes  into 
account  water  resource  management 
activities  at  all  levels — federal, 
state,  local  and  private.  Through 
the  analytical  process,  existing 
conditions,  the  emerging  problems, 
environmental  and  technological 
factors  and  constraints,  and  public 
policies  are  brought  together  and 
analyzed  from  the  standpoint  of 
their  impacts  upon  water  resource 
management  needs  and  possible 
solutions. 

The  process  is  carried  out  simulta- 
neously at  two  levels  of  planning 
studies.   First,  on  a  statewide 
basis,  overall  systems  analysis  is 
provided,  incorporating  those  fac- 
tors affecting  water  availability, 
use,  and  disposal,  and  the  economic 
and  environmental-ecological  conse- 
quences of  changes  in  availability, 
quality,  use,  and  disposal  of  water. 
The  second  level  is  concentrated  on 
a  more  detailed  analysis,  focused 
on  the  local  regions,  service  areas, 
and  individual  streams.   This 


detailed  information  is  required 
as  input  and  parameters  necessary 
for  statewide  systems  analysis  of 
water  management. 

The  specific  factors  which  go  into 
the  water  resource  management  anal- 
ysis are  shown  in  Figure  2  by  the 
type  of  studies  which  are  carried 
out.   The  analysis  takes  into 
account  all  relevant  water  resource 
management  alternatives  and  the 
estimated  consequences  of  their 
implementation . 

Formulation  of  water  resource  man- 
agement plans  and  prograjns  through 
continuous  coordinated  statewide 
planning  analysis  (broad  white 
central  arrow)  is  the  process  in 
which  all  of  the  information  is 
integrated  and  synthesized  in  a 
systems  analysis  approach.   Through 
various  analytical  techniques,  in- 
cluding simulation,  input-output, 
and  other  models,  it  brings  together 
projections  of  future  economic  de- 
velopment, analysis  of  present  land 
use  patterns  and  projections  of 
future  trends ,  water  supply-demand 
relationships,  projection  of  demand 
for  water-associated  services,  in- 
tegration of  water  supply  disposal 
considerations,  and  other  relevant 
factors  for  identification  of  those 
specific  alternative  plans  and  pro- 
grams to  be  considered  in  meeting 
the  water  management  needs  of  the 
State.  At  many  points  in  the 
process,  information  and  opinion 
from  the  public  will  be  sought. 

The  major  areas  of  expansion  and 
refinement  of  the  evaluation  process 
are  in  the  analysis  of  environmental, 
ecological,  social,  economic,  water 
quality,  beneficial  use,  and  insti- 
tutional factors  that  are  pertinent 
to  water  management  plans.  Advanced 
techniques,  utilizing  computer 
technology  and  associated  modeling 
techniques,  will  facilitate  consid- 
eration of  these  interrelated 
factors.   Further,  expanded  use  of 
the  systems  analysis  approach  will 
provide  additional  input  for  the 
analysis  of  alternative  plans  and 
programs  and  the  selection  of 
specific  plans  and  programs  for 
implementation . 


-25- 


other  Resources  Agency  studies  of 
water  resources  (upper  left  arrow) 
cover  the  monitoring,  coordination 
where  appropriate,  and  interpreta- 
tion of  the  studies  and  plans  of 
federal,  state,  and  local  agencies 
that  have  an  impact  on  the 
Department's  water  resource  manage- 
ment planning  responsibilities. 

Definition  of  future  services 
(lower  left  box)  is  the  activity 
defining  the  requirements  and  objec- 
tives for  water  management  plans. 
Included  in  this  activity  are 
studies  of  the  magnitude  and  timing 
of  future  water  demand  and  water 
management  needs.   Consideration  of 
water-associated  recreation  plans, 
water  quality  control  plans ,  flood 
control,  and  floodplain  management 
are  all  important  aspects  of  this 
phase  of  planning  process. 

Capability  of  major  water  development 
options  (lower  right  box)  includes 
studies  to  determine  the  yield, 
physical  configuration,  and  poten- 
tial accomplishments  of  those  options 
that  can  physically  provide  signifi- 
cant additional  water  supplies. 
Options  available  include  surface 
water  impoundment  and  related  convey- 
ance systems,  ground  water  basin 
operational  schemes,  interstate 
water  development  (Department  par- 
ticipation in  the  U.  S.  Department 
of  the  Interior's  Western  United 
States  Water  Plan  Study)  which 
might  lead  to  an  out-of-state  supply 
of  supplemental  water  to  California, 
desalting,  and  any  other  techno- 
logical development  that  might  make 
available  a  large  supply  of  fresh 
water. 

Effect  of  major  changes  in  social, 
economic,  environmental,  techno-~ 
logical,  and  governmental  factors 
on  water  demand  (upper  center  box) 
is  basically  the  study  of  "non- 
structural" alternatives  to  water 
development.   Studies  cover  investi- 
gation of  the  extent  to  which  major 
changes  in  present  institutional 
arrangements  would  reduce  or  post- 
pone the  need  for  additional  water 
development  in  California,  the 
economic  and  environmental 


consequences  of  such  changes,  and 
the  political  and  legal  practicality 
of  attempting  to  implement  them. 
Studies  would  include  consideration 
of:  (1)  reallocation  of  existing 
water  supplies  and  water  rights; 
(2)  planned  location  of  industries, 
educational  facilities  and  other 
public  services;  (3)  technological 
research  and  development;  (4)  re- 
duction in  water  use,  demand,  and 
waste  water  disposal  through 
pricing  policies;  and  (5)  land  use 
policies. 

Effects  of  water  reuse  and  conser- 
vation on  water  supply,  demand,  and 
environmental  quality  (upper  right 
box)  is  an  evaluation  of  the  roles 
of  water  reclamation,  watershed 
management,  evaporation  and  seepage 
suppression,  and  phreatophyte  erad- 
ication or  control  in  water  resource 
management  plans.   Most  of  these 
options  would  have  economic  benefits 
of  extending  the  use  of  an  existing 
developed  water  supply.   However, 
they  also  have  the  potential  of 
greatly  affecting  the  environment. 

Water  reclamation  may  offer  the 
opportunity  to  reduce  overall  water 
supply  and  waste  treatment  costs  or 
to  realize  significant  environmental 
benefits  by  irrigating  recreational 
areas  and  agricultural  greenbelts 
adjacent  to  metropolitan  areas. 
Other  options,  such  as  phreatophyte 
eradication  or  watershed  management, 
can  have  detrimental  ecological  con- 
sequences by  eliminating  or  reducing 
wildlife  habitat.   Comprehensive 
evaluation  of  each  of  these  options 
is  important  to  ensure  that  all 
benefits  and  detriments  are  iden- 
tified and  evaluated,  including  all 
environmental  and  ecological 
consequences. 


Decision  and  Implementation 
Activity 

This  is  an  objective  of  the  planning 
process,  resulting  in  specific  plans 
and  programs  to  meet  the  water 
resource  management  needs  of  the 
State.   It  is  in  this  phase  that  the 
planning  process  enters  into  the 


-26- 


area  of  decision-making .   Also  it 
is  at  this  point  that  the  tradi- 
tional planning  process  encounters 
a  major  criticism--the  criticism 
that  a  broader  range  of  technically 
feasible  alternatives  for  meeting 
water  development  objectives  should 
be  made  available  to  the  public  for 
consideration,  along  with  both 
tangible  and  intangible  costs  and 
benefits  for  each  alternative. 

Through  the  use  of  advanced  analyt- 
ical techniques  it  is  possible  to 

analyze  alternative  approaches, 
particularly  those  based  upon  devel- 
oping technology,  and  to  provide  a 
more  intensive  analysis  of  the 
environmental,  social  and  economic 
impact  of  these  alternatives  for 
public  review.   Thus,  an  essential 
product  of  the  analytical  process 
is  to  provide  a  broad  range  of 
alternatives  which  may  be  considered 
by  the  public  and  the  Legislature. 
These  alternatives  or  options  would 
be  presented  in  terms  of  economic, 
social,  and  physical  consequences. 
An  important  consideration  at  this 
point  of  the  process  is  that  the 
final  decisions  should  provide  a 
wide  degree  of  flexibility  for  the 
future,  and  foreclose  as  few  choices 
as  practicable. 

The  identification  of  alternative 
plans  and  programs  lays  the  founda- 
tion for  the  necessary  public  and 
legislative  reviews  which  lead  to 
the  selection  of  specific  water 
resources  proposals  and  plans. 
Selected  plans  and  programs  would 
be  implemented  to  meet  the  water 
resource  management  needs  of  the 
State  after  review  and  comment  by 
the  public. 

At  each  step  of  the  process--whether 
it  be  in  the  analytical  process 
where  information  is  fed  into  the 
system,  the  identification  of  alter- 
native plans  or  programs,  the 


selection  of  specific  water  resources 
plans  and  programs,  or  the  actual 
implementation  of  such  plans  and 
programs--and  at  whatever  govern- 
mental level  this  may  take  place, 
the  resulting  information,  decisions 
and  actions  influence  the  developing 
California  Water  Plan.   Periodically 
in  the  Bulletin  l60  series,  the 
Department  of  Water  Resources  ana- 
lyzes and  evaluates  all  of  the 
changes,  present  and  projected,  and 
supplements  the  California  Water 
Plan  as  best  it  can  be  foreseen  at 
the  time  of  publication. 

In  Summary,  as  we  enter  the  decade 
of  the  '70s  the  planning  program 
of  the  Department  must  be  and  will 
be  further  broadened  to  reflect 
adequately  the  increasing  concern 
for  environmental  and  ecological 
considerations.   Many  of  the  tra- 
ditional concepts  and  techniques 
that  were  both  relevant  and  suffi- 
cient for  water  development  planning 
in  the  past  must  be  scrutinized  and 
reevaluated  to  reflect  both  changing 
technology  and  changing  values. 

The  Department  must  provide  for  the 
water  needs  of  the  State  in  such  a 
way  as  to  minimize  the  adverse 
effects  of  project  construction  on 
the  natural  environment  and,  at  the 
same  time,  to  enhance  the  environ- 
ment.  This  approach  necessitates 
the  broadening  of  choice  among 
alternatives  to  consider  parameters 
other  than  maximization  of  net 
economic  benefits  and  least  cost 
only.   It  also  requires  flexibility 
in  the  planning  process  so  as  not 
to  foreclose  the  available  options 
by  premature  selection  of  a  course 
of  action.   The  concepts  of  re- 
duction of  damage  to  the  environ- 
ment and  enhancement  of  the 
environment  will  loom  large  in  the 
decision-making  process  in  the 
future. 


-27- 


FIGURE  2 


POLICIES,  GOALS 
AND  PLANS 


WATER  RESOURCES  MANAGEMENT  ANALYSIS  PROCESS       ' 


PREPARATION 

OF 

BULLETIN 


REVISION  OF  CALIFORNIA  WATER  PLAN  BASED  ON  PLANNING  PROCESS.      ^ 


EFFECT  OF  MAJOR  CHANGES  IN 
SOCIAL,  ECONOMie,  ENVIRON- 
MENTAL, TECHNOLOGICAL  AND 
GOVERNMENTAL  FACTORS   ON 
WATER  DEMAND 


EFFECTS  OF  WATER 

REUSE  AND  CONSERVATION 

UN  WATER  SUPPLY,  DEMAND. 

AND  ENVIRONMENTAL 

QUALITY 


FORMULATION  OF  WATER  RESOURCES  MANAGEMENT  PLANS  AND  PROGRAMS 
THROUGH  CONTINUOUS  STATEWIDE  PLANNING  ANALYSIS 


PROJECTION  OF  FUTURE  ECONOMIC 

DEVELOPMENT. 

ANALYSISOF  PRESENT  LANDUSE 

PATTERNS  AND  PROJECTION  OF 

FUTURE    TRENDS. 


WATER  SUPPLY  ■  DEMAND  RELATION- 
SHIPS 

PROJECTION  OF  DEMANDS  FOR  WATER 
ASSOCIATED  SERVICES 
INTER-RELATIONSHIP  OF  WATER  USE 
AND  WATER  QUALITY. 


INTEGRATION  OF  WATER  SUPFL 
.DISPOSAL  CONSIDERATIONS  IN 
MANAGEMENT  PLANS- 
SIMULATION.  INPUT-OUTPUT,  AND| 
OTHER  MODEL  STUDIES. 
ENVIRONMENTAL  AND  ECONOMIC  , 
IMPACT  STUDIES  OF  WATER  USE  j ' 
AND  DEVELOPMENT  OPTIONS. 


DEFINITION  OF  FUTURE  SERVICES 

A.  MAGNITUDE  AND  TIMING  OF  FUTURE  WATER  DEMAND  AND 
WATER  MANAGEMENT  NEEDS. 

B.  LAND  USE  PATTERNS  AND  TRENDS. 

C.  WATER  QUALITY  CONTROL  PLANS. 

D.  FISH  AND  WILDLIFE  PLANS. 

E.  FLOOD  CONTROL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

F.  RECREATION  PLANS. 


CAPABILITY  OF  MAJOR  WATER  DEVELOPMENT  OPTIONS 

A.  SURFACE  WATER 

B.  GROUND  WATER 

C-    INTERSTATE  WATER  DEVELOPMENT 

D.  DESALTING 

E.  OTHERS 


INPUT  FROM  PUBLIC 
ENTERS  THIS  PROCESS 
AT  A  NUMBER  OF  POINTS. 


PLANNING  FOR  WATER  RESOURCES 
MANAGEMENT  IN  CALIFORNIA 


DECISION  AND  IMPLEMENTATION 
OF  WATER  MANAGEMENT  PROGRAMS  AND  PLANS 


DECISIONS  AND  NEW  PROGRAMS  AND  PLANS 


alternative 
specific  plans  an 
'rograhs  for  hj-e 

managemen- 


SELECTION  OF 
SPECIFIC  WATER 

RESOURCES 

PROGRAMS  AND 

PLANS 


my 


CONTINUOUS  PROCESS 


INFORMATIONAL  INPUT 
BASED  ON  STUDIES  BY 
DEPARTMENTS  ANDOTHERS) 


.29- 


CHAPTER  IV.   WATER  DEMANDS 


Following  publication  of  Bulletin 
No.  16O-66  the  Department  undertook 
a  four-year  study  and  analysis  of 
demands  for  water  service  through- 
out the  State.   These  demands  were 
projected  to  years  1990  and  2020  to 
provide  an  analytical  framework  for 
long-range  planning  necessary  for 
the  most  effective  development  and 
use  of  additional  water  supplies 
from  the  various  potential  sources. 

This  chapter  summarizes  the  demands 
for  water  on  a  statewide  basis. 
Some  of  the  principal  determinants 
of  future  demands  such  as  popula- 
tion and  irrigated  agriculture  are 
discussed,  as  are  the  important 
aspects  of  recreation,  fish  and 
wildlife,  flood  control,  and  water 
quality. 


Future  Economic 
Development 

Urban  and  agricultural  uses  of 
water  account  for  nearly  all  of  the 
water  presently  consumed  in 
California.   Estimates  of  popula- 
tion and  related  industrial  and 
commercial  development  provide  the 
basis  for  determining  urban  water 
demands.   Agricultural  water  needs 
are  dependent  upon  food  and  fiber 
requirements  and  irrigated  acreages 
considered  necessary  to  meet  those 
requirements.   This  section  dis- 
cusses these  aspects  of  water  use. 


Population 

Projection  of  population  is  basic 
to  water  planning  studies.   In 
many  respects  it  is  the  key  to 
other  water  development  needs  such 
as  agricultural  production,  flood 
control,  electric  power,  recreation, 
fisheries,  wildlife  and  water 
quality.   Population  growth  has 
become  the  focal  point  for  many 
environmental  and  ecological  con- 
siderations which  are  becoming  of 


increasing  concern.   For  these 
reasons  it  is  important  to  under- 
stand the  direction  and  general 
level  of  present  and  anticipated 
future  population  trends. 

Between  1940  and  197O  the  State's 
population  more  than  tripled,  grow- 
ing from  about  6  million  people  to 
slightly  under  20  million.   Gener- 
ally California's  population  has 
doubled  every  20  years  since  i860. 
A  continuation  of  such  rates  would 
suggest  a  state  population  of 
40  million  in  I99O  and  about  60 
million  by  the  turn  of  the  century. 
Two  factors  have  occurred  in  the 
past  decade  which  indicate  that  such 
levels  of  population  growth  in 
California  are  unlikely.   The  first 
relates  to  a  national  phenomenon-- 
people's  attitudes  toward  population 
and  family  size  in  particular.   The 
second  relates  to  a  particularly 
important  component  of  California's 
growth- -namely,  massive  in-migration. 

As  to  the  first,  the  rapid  decline 
in  fertility  rates  during  the  past 
decade  is  one  of  the  most  striking 
of  recent  demographic  trends.   As 
recently  as  I967  the  U.  S.  Bureau 
of  the  Census  published  a  series  of 
population  projections  for  the 
Country  as  a  whole,  corresponding 
to  four  birthrate  series.   These 
are  depicted  in  Figure  3  as  A  through 
D.   Each  has  been  experienced  at 
some  time  in  the  past.   In  August 
1970  the  Bureau  revised  its  esti- 
mates, dropping  series  A  as  unreal- 
istic and  adding  series  E  which 
would  result  in  a  more  or  less 
stable  population  The  magnitude  of 
the  difference  in  total  population 
may  be  seen  in  the  tabulation  at  the 
top  of  the  following  page. 

A  constant  net  migration  of  200,000 
was  used  to  depict  the  impact  of  the 
change  in  birthrates  on  the  popula- 
tion projections  for  the  State.   The 
200,000  figure  is  quite  significant 
in  that  it  reflects  a  reduction 


-31- 


U.  S. 

Population 

:     Correspond! 

ng  California 

Series 

(millions ) 

:      Population 

(millions ) 

:  1980 

:  1990 

:  2000  :  2020 

:   1980 

:  1990  : 

2000  : 

2020 

A 

240 

286 

337    488 

25.6 

32.8 

41.0 

65.8 

B 

237 

277 

321    440 

25.2 

31.8 

38.9 

59.1 

C 

232 

266 

301    386 

24.7 

30.4 

36.4 

51.5 

D 

228 

255 

281    336 

24.2 

29.0 

33.9 

44.7 

E 

226 

248 

266    299 

23.9 

28.3 

32.1 

39.6 

from  300,000  vjhich  for  so  many  years 
was  typical  in  California.   However, 
in  the  period  since  1964  there  has 
been  a  progressive  and  substantial 
drop  in  annual  net  migration  to 
California,  leading  to  the  choice  of 
the  lower  level  as  the  basis  for 
the  Department's  presently  adopted 
projections,  as  Indicated  in  the 
following  paragraph. 

In  view  of  the  changes  occurring  in 
fertility  rates  and  migration  levels, 
the  California  Department  of  Finance 
made  extensive  revisions  of  popu- 


lation estimates  for  California  in 
January  1970.   Projections  were 
made  for  five-year  intervals  to 
year  2000.   Series  D  birthrates  and 
an  average  annual  net  migration  of 
200,000  were  assumed  throughout  the 
period.   These  estimates  were 
adopted  by  the  Department  as  repre- 
senting the  "official"  projections 
of  the  State  and  are  so  reported  in 
this  bulletin.   They  are  the  basis 
upon  which  the  water  demands  for  the 
State  have  been  determined. 


F.gur, 


UNITED    STATES   FERTILITY   SERIES 
THOUSANDS    OF  CHILDREN    PER  1000    CHILDBEARING  WOMEN 


3,350 


3,100 


2,775 


2,450 


FERTILITY    SERIES 


'series     D     used     for    making     CALIFORNIA    POPULATION    PROJECTIONS 

-32- 


T 
T 


5^%j*-^^^  ^^  "^-  ^: 


Wildlife an  important  water  demand  consideration 


:;f'-'i>; 


U.S.   Bureau  of  Reclamati 


Since  the  Department  of  Water 
Resources'  planning  period  extends 
to  2020,  it  was  necessary  to 
extrapolate  the  Department  of 
Finance  population  estimates  to  that 
date.   It  was  also  necessary  for  the 
Department  to  distribute  the  state 
totals  among  the  11  hydrologic  areas 
adopted  for  the  studies  reported  on 
in  this  bulletin  and  depicted  in 
Figure  4.   Allocations  to  the  study 
areas  were  based  on  an  analysis  of 
trends,  including  natural  increase 
and  net  migration  for  individual 
counties  within  the  appropriate 
hydrologic  areas .   The  projections 
of  population  for  California  and 


the  11  hydrologic  study  areas  are 
summarized  in  Table  1  and  Figure  5. 

In  general,  the  projections  reflect 
a  continuation  of  historic  growth 
patterns.   Those  areas  with  large 
present  populations  that  have  under- 
gone the  largest  growth  in  the  past 
are  expected  to  record  the  largest 
gains  in  the  future.   The  coastal 
area  of  California,  extending  from 
San  Francisco  Bay  southward  to  the 
Mexican  border,  is  the  prime  growth 
area,  accounting  for  all  but 
5  million  of  the  expected  25  million 
increase  in  population  between  1970 
and  2020. 


TABLE 

1 

TOTAL 
BY 

POPULATION 
HYDROLOGIC 
1967,  1990, 

IN  CALIFORNIA 
STUDY  AREA 
2020 

(in  1,000 

s) 

Hydrologic  Study  Area 

1967 

1990 

2020 

North  Coastal 

180 

210 

300 

San  Francisco  Bay 

4,320 

6,500 

10,100 

Central  Coastal 

750 

1,200 

2,200 

South  Coastal 

10,510 

16,000 

23,900 

Sacramento  Basin 

1,140 

1,600 

2,300 

Delta-Central  Sierra 

400 

650 

1,100 

San  Joaquin  Basin 

410 

610 

1,0  00 

Tulare  Basin 

910 

1,200 

1,800 

North  Lahontan 

40 

70 

100 

South  Lahontan 

220 

590 

1,300 

Colorado  Desert 

220 

370 

600 

TOTAL 

19,100 

29,000 

44,700 

-34- 


F  igure  4 


STATE  OF  CALIFORNIA 

THE  RESOURCES  AGENCY 

DEPARTMENT   OF   WATER   RESOURCES 

HYDROLOGIC     STUDY    AREAS 
OF     CALIFORNIA 


NC  -    NORTH    COASTAL 


SF  - 
CC  - 
SC  - 
SB  - 


SAN    FRANCISCO    BAY 
CENTRAL    COASTAL 
SOUTH    COASTAL 
SACRAMENTO   BASIN 


DC  -    DELTA- CENTRAL  SIERRA 
SAN   JOAQUIN  BASIN 
TULARE    BASIN 

NL  -    NORTH    LAHONTAN 
SOUTH    LAHONTAN 

CD  -    COLORADO   DESERT 


_,7 


"^ 


■35- 


Figures 

CALIFORNIA'S     HISTORICAL    and   PROJECTED 
POPULATION       GROWTH 


Stretch-out  of  some  10  years  before 
an  additional  source  of  water  is 
needed  to  augment  the  initial  facili- 
ties of  the  State  Water  Project. 
This  will  be  discussed  in 
Chapter  VII.   The  impact  involves 
not  only  the  reduction  of  urban 
water  demands,  but  also  a  lower 
agricultural  water  demand.   On  the 
other  hand,  if  there  is  a  resurgence 
in  California's  growth,  as  there  has 
so  often  been  in  the  past,  an  addi- 
tional water  supply  could  be  needed 
at  an  earlier  date. 

Other  aspects  of  future  population 
growth  should  be  recognized.   There 
are  many  pressures,  problems,  and 
concerns  growing  out  of  the  con- 
gestion and  pollution  associated 
with  large  urban  areas .   It  is 
possible  that  changing  federal, 
state,  and  local  planning  policies 
would  significantly  affect  future 
urban  development.   One  approach 
might  be  a  redistribution  of  people. 
This  possibility  is  explored  in 
some  detail  in  Chapter  VIII  with 
emphasis  on  its  impact  on  water 
development  needs,  use,  waste  dis- 
posal, and  other  possible  impacts 
such  as  air  pollution.   It  also 
serves  to  illustrate  the  possible 
Impact  on  water  demands  in  highly 
urbanized  areas  as  a  result  of  a 
drastic  change  in  population  growth. 


The  projections  shown  in  Table  1 
represent  the  Department's  best 
Judgment  at  this  time.   Although 
the  listed  projections  reflect 
recent  downward  trends  in  birthrates 
and  net  migration  to  California, 
they  should  not  be  considered  either 
the  possible  high  or  possible  low, 
but  a  median  projection.   As  shown 
in  Figure  6,  the  general  range  of 
possibilities  has  shifted  downward. 
The  median  projection  now  approxi- 
mates very  closely  the  low  projec- 
tion made  by  the  Department  some 
12  years  ago. 

The  impact  of  future  population 
levels  on  the  timing  of  need  for 
future  water  supplies  can  be  quite 
significant.   The  difference 
between  earlier  estimates  published 
in  Bulletin  No.  160-65  and  those 
in  this  bulletin  suggest  a 


Industrial  Development 

Employment  is  expected  to  grow  at 
about  the  same  rate  as  population, 
resulting  in  approximately  4  million 
new  Jobs  by  1990.   At  the  same  time 
shifts  in  employment  are  expected  to 
continue  between  major  industrial 
categories.   On-farm  employment, 
reflecting  further  technological 
advances,  wLll  show  declines  while 
other  natural  resource-based 
Industries  such  as  mining,  forestry, 
and  fisheries,  may  reflect  modest 
gains.   Manufacturing  employment 
will  have  increased  by  about  700,000 
over  the  next  25  years,  but  the 
largest  increases  are  expected  to 
occur  in  the  service  and  govern- 
mental categories  in  response  to 
the  demands  of  an  expanding  and 
affluent  society. 


-36- 


HIGH  ,  MEDIAN   and     LOW    POPULATION    PROJECTION 
STATE    OF   CALIFORNIA 


PRIOR    STUDIES  CURRENT    STUDIES 

1990 


PRIOR    STUDIES  CURRENT   STUDIES 

2020 


Industries  requiring  large  quantities 
of  water  will  reflect  the  general 
growth  trends.   For  the  most  part 
the  most  significant  water-using 
industries  are  directly  related  to 
Califor-iiia's  population  and  its 
growth  in  the  demands  for  goods  and 
services.   Ten  industries  are  either 
related  to  agricultural  or  timber 
production. 

In  preparing  estimates  of  urban 
water  demands,  the  general  practice 
is  to  include  industrial  water  needs 
with  the  other  components  of  urban 


use,  making  Judgments  concerning 
overall  per  capita  water  use  in 
each  area.  However,  in  certain 
areas,  analysis  indicated  that 
specific  high-water-using  industries, 
independent  of  the  size  of  the 
local  population,  would  account  for 
large  proportions  of  the  total 
urban  water  use.   In  these  cases 
growth  and  needs  of  such  industries 
were  evaluated  separately.  The 
resulting  industrial  water  demands 
were  added  to  the  water  needs 
related  directly  to  population  to 
determine  total  urban  water  demands. 


-37- 


Electric  Power  Development 

Increases  in  population  per  capita 
consumption,  and  industrial- 
commercial  uses  of  electricity  have 
resulted  in  a  phenomenal  rate  of 
growth  in  electric  power  demands, 
especially  in  recent  years.   These 
same  factors  will  contribute  to  the 
very  substantial  growth  in  genera- 
ting requirements  shown  in  the 
tabulation  at  the  bottom  of  this 
page. 

Until  the  1950s,  the  chief  source 
of  electrical  power  in  California 
was  hydroelectric  generation. 
However,  as  hydroelectric  sites 
have  become  more  scarce  and  costly, 
other  sources  of  power  have  become 
increasingly  important  in  meeting 
the  growing  power  demands.  While 
it  is  anticipated  that  some  addi- 
tional capacity  will  be  realized 
through  enlargement  of  existing 
facilities,  the  major  sources  of 
additional  hydroelectric  power 
during  the  next  50  years  will  prob- 
ably come  from  the  installation  of 
pumped  storage  plants. 

A  pumped-storage  plant  uses  lower- 
cost  energy  available  from  other 
generating  sources  during  periods 
of  low  power  demand  to  pump  water 
from  a  lower  to  an  upper  reservoir. 
When  additional  generating  capacity 
is  required,  the  water  is  allowed 
to  flow  from  the  upper  to  the  lower 
reservoir  through  a  pumplng- 
generating  unit  and  thus  generate 
higher-value  electric  power. 

The  quick  response  and  generally 
superior  operating  flexibility  and 
reliability  of  hydroelectric  equip- 
ment make  the  pumped-storage  unit 


ideal  for  peaking  operation  and  for 
system  reserve  service. 

Steam  electric  plants  will  be  relied 
upon  to  supply  a  greater  portion  of 
total  power  requirements  in  the 
future.   Of  the  estimated  412,000 
megawatts  of  the  power  resources 
required  in  2020,  more  than  300,000 
megawatts  or  over  80  percent  may  have 
to  be  provided  by  additional  thermal 
plants.   In  1970  fossil  fuel  plants 
were  the  primary  source  of  energy 
with  a  generating  capability  of 
about  20,000  megawatts.   Nuclear- 
fueled  plants  had  a  capacity  of 
about  493  megawatts.   In  all  prob- 
ability nuclear-fueled  plants  will 
be  emphasized  in  the  coming  decades 
for  environmental  and  economic 
reasons . 

The  projected  emphasis  on  nuclear- 
fueled  plants  will  enhance  the 
desirability  of  pumped  storage. 
Nuclear  plants  are  relatively  high 
capital  cost  and  low  energy  cost. 
To  obtain  their  full  economic  poten- 
tial, nuclear  plants  must  be  kept 
operating  at  or  near  maximum  plant 
capability  to  the  extent  possible. 
Pumped-storage  plants  require  low- 
cost  pumping  energy  for  economical 
operation.   Thus,  when  a  power  sys- 
tem includes  both  nuclear  and 
pumped-storage  units  the  nuclear 
units  can  be  kept  operating  at  or 
near  full  capability  during  periods 
of  low  power  demand, and  furnish 
energy  for  operation  of  the  pumped- 
storage  plants.   Also,  the  nuclear 
units  provide  the  low-cost  energy 
necessary  to  make  the  pumped- 
storage  operation  economical. 

The  projections  of  electricity 
generated  by  primary  sources  of 
power  is  illustp?ated  in  Figure  7. 


Generating  requirements 

(megawatts ) 
Peak  Demand  (megawatts) 
Population  (millions) 
Per  Capita  Energy  Require- 
ment ( megawatt -hours ) 


1970 


32,100 

25,000 

20 


1990 


110,000 

92,000 

29 

18 


2020 


412,000 

340,000 

45 

46 


-3,8- 


F  igure  7 

GENERATION     OF     ELECTRIC    ENERGY     BY     PRIME     SOURCE 
TO     MEET     FUTURE     POWER     DEMANDS 


500 


400 


300 


200 


Careful  consideration  will  be  neces- 
sary in  siting  future  plants.   Until 
recently,  utilities  have  been  able 
to  find  suitable  locations  for  steam 
plants.   However,  serious  problems 
exist  at  this  time  for  a  number  of 
reasons:   land  area  requirements; 
waste  heat  discharges;  air  pollution 
from  fossil-fuel-fired  plants; 
seismic  design  requirements;  and 
required  distances  from  population 
centers  for  nuclear  plants.  Because 
of  the  many  and  varied  siting 


YEAR 

problems  involved,  a  State  of 
California  Powerplant  Siting  Commit- 
tee has  been  established.   The  Com- 
mittee is  charged  with  evaluating 
all  proposed  steam  electric  power- 
plant  sites. 

The  availability  of  land  will  be  an 
important  consideration.  The  tabu- 
lation below  indicates  the  land 
requirements  for  three  types  of 
thermal  powerplants  of  6,000  megawatts 
using  various  cooling  arrangements. 


Cooling  System 


Plant  Type  (acreage  requirements) 


Nuclear 


Gas  and  Oil 


Coal 


Once-through 
Cooling  Towers 
Cooling  Pond 


400-800 
500-1,000 
6,000-12,000 


200 

400 
4,000-6,000 


800-1,000 
1,000-1,200 
5,000-9,000 


-39- 


Spence    Air   Pho 


1954 


r  ft 


Spence  Air  Pho 


1960 


"/n  Los  Angeles,  Orange,  Riverside 
taken  place  on  agricultural  lands.  " 


Counties  over  90  percent  of  urban  expansion  .  .  .  has 


Agricultural  Development 

California  has  been  the  Nation's 
leading  agricultural  state  for  more 
than  20  years.   In  1970  the  value  of 
production  approximated  $^  billion. 
V/hile  California  is  expected  to 
retain  Its  prominence  in  agriculture 
during  the  ' 70s  and  beyond,  the 
Industry  will  undoubtedly  experience 
substantial  problems,  including:   a 
dampening  of  prices  caused  by  over- 
production of  som.e  commodities; 
rising  production  costs;  a  highly 
competitive  market  for  credit;  and 
continued  pressure  on  land  resources 
with  attendant  rises  in  land  values 
and  taxes.   In  fact,  urban  pressures 
are  one  of  the  foremost  problems 
facing  the  industry. 

During  the  past  two  decades  30,000 
to  40,000   acres  a  year  have  been 
required  to  accommodate  California's 
growth  in  population  and  commercial 
developments.   Generally,  about  half 
of  this  growth  has  occurred  on 
highly  productive  agricultural 
lands.   In  Los  Angeles,  Orange, 
Riverside,  and  Santa  Clara  Counties 
over  90  percent  of  the  urban  expan- 
sion, or  14,000  acres  annually,  has 
taken  place  on  agricultural  lands. 
In  some  counties  during  the  past 
few  years  all  additional  urban 
development  took  place  on  crop-land. 

Anticipated  reductions  in  the  future 
rate  of  population  growth,  coupled 
with  higher  densities,  will  reduce 
the  absorption  rate  somewhat.  But 
the  value  of  land  will  remain  high 
and  there  will  be  increasing  pres- 
sures from  an  assortment  of  uses 
including  recreation,  wildlife 
habitat  and  preserves.   Figure  8 
illustrates  the  decrease  in  remain- 
ing irrigable  lands  (lands  suitable 
for  crop  production)  over  the  next 
50  years . 

It  will  be  noted  in  Figure  8  that 
in  2020  California  will  still  have 
a  significant  supply  of  lands  avail- 
able for  agricultural  development. 
However,  in  the  major  agricultural 
regions  of  the  State  much  of  the 
best  agricultural  land  will  have 
been  put  to  some  use  by  2020  if  pres- 
ent trends  continue.   In  the  San 


Joaquin  and  Tulare  Basins  an  esti- 
mated 72  percent  of  total  irrigable 
lands  will  be  developed  by  that 
date.   In  prime  agricultural  areas 
such  as  Yolo  and  Sutter  Counties 
and  in  Salinas  Valley  there  probably 
will  be  practically  no  remaining 
undeveloped  agricultural  areas.   In 
the  highly  urbanized  regions  of  the 
San  Francisco  Bay  and  South  Coast, 
agriculture  will  be  virtually  elimi- 
nated by  urban  encroachment. 

Because  of  the  many  and  varied  pres- 
sures on  agriculture,  it  is  antici- 
pated that  California  farming  will 
continue  to  evolve  Into  larger  more 
efficient  operations.   Crop  patterns 
will  become  even  more  Intensive  with 
an  emphasis  on  high-value  crops. 
Generally,  the  trend  is  expected  to 
be  toward  the  vegetables,  fruit, 
and  nuts  categories  in  which  Califor- 
nia has  a  proven  competitive 
advantage . 

The  present  (I967)  and  projected 
irrigated  acreage  in  California  is 
shown  by  hydrologic  study  areas  in 
Table  2.   The  location  of  presently 
irrigated  and  potentially  irrigable 
lands  is  shown  on  Plate  2  entitled 
"Irrigated,  Irrigable,  and  Urban 
Lands^. 

The  specter  of  overproduction  men- 
tioned at  the  beginning  of  this 
section  will  be  a  matter  of  periodic 
market  adjustments  as  it  has  been  in 
the  past.   The  next  few  years  are 
expected  to  be  particularly  difficult 
for  the  producers  of  commodities 
such  as  fruit,  nuts,  cotton,  and 
perhaps  others.   Adjustments  are 
expected  to  take  place  either  in  the 
form  of  price  reductions,  reduced 
acreages,  changing  crop  patterns,  or 
an  increase  in  California's  share  of 
market. 

The  longer-ran^^e  projections  of  Irri- 
gated acreage  appearing  in  this 
bulletin  presume  that  the  adjustments 
will  have  been  made  and  that  there 
will  be  a  need  for  the  additional 
irrigated  acreages  shown  in  Table  2. 
This  has  been  accomplished  by  relat- 
ing the  supply  of  food  and  fiber  to 
demand.   The  latter  has  been  deter- 
mined from  Increases  in  the  projected 


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Figure  8 

PRESENT  AND  PROJECTED  LAND  USE 


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1967 


1990 


2020 


population,  changes  in  per  capita 
consumption,  and  export  requirements. 
Taken  together,  these  factors  result 
in  a  total  production  requirement 
for  food  and  fiber.  Based  upon  work 
of  the  University  of  California 
Agricultural  Extension  Service  an 
allowance  was  made  for  increasing 
future  crop  yields.   Acreages 
necessary  to  meet  anticipated  food 
consumption  were  derived  by  dividing 
production  requirements  by  the 
yields  per  acre. 

In  summary,  the  projected  Increase 
in  irrigated  acreage  over  the  next 
50  years  will  show  a  marked  de- 
crease from  projections  based  on 
earlier  trends.   Historical 
increases  from  19^0  to  the  present 


and  projected  increases  to  2020  are 
shown  in  Figure  9. 

The  lower  projections  result  from 
continued  improvements  in  crop 
yields,  enabling  increased  produc- 
tion on  less  acreage,  and  lower 
trends  in  the  State's  and  the 
Nation's  population. 


Water  Demand 

Future  urban  and  agricultural  water 
demands  for  199O  and  2020  were 
derived  as  the  product  of  economic 
growth,  as  discussed  in  the  previous 
section,  and  appropriate  water  use 
factors.   Needs  for  other  uses  such 
as  recreation,  fish  and  wildlife  are 


-43- 


CALIFORNIA  S     HISTORICAL  ond    PROJECTED 
NET     IRRIGATED     ACREAGE 
1930  —  2020 


AVERAGE     ANNUAL     INCREASE     IN     1000  S     OF     ACRES. 


also  Included.   The  statewide  sum- 
mary of  water  demands  presented  in 
this  section  is  actually  a  composite 
of  regional  studies  conducted  by 
the  Department  and  presented  in 
Chapter  VI.   The  possible  ways  and 
means  of  meeting  the  projected 
water  demands  are  discussed  in 
Chapters  V  and  VI.   The  resulting 
impact  on  the  need  for  future  facil- 
ities in  the  State  Water  Project  and 
Central  Valley  Project  is  presented  in 
Chapter  VII. 

In  total,  the  Department's  findings 
indicate  that  water  demands  in  the 
State  are  expected  to  increase 
between  11  and  12  million  acre-feet 
from  1967  to  2020.   The  historical 
and  projected  growth  pattern  of 
applied  water  demands  for  urban  and 
agricultural  purposes  is  shown  in 
Figure  10. 

The  remainder  of  this  chapter  dis- 
cusses the  principal  uses  contrib- 
uting to  increased  water  demand, 
namely  for  urban  and  irrigated 


agricultural  uses.   It  also  covers 
other  uses  of  water  including  recre- 
ation, fish  and  wildlife,  and  flood 
control.   The  chapter  concludes  with 
a  discussion  of  water  quality 
considerations . 

It  will  be  noted  in  the  discussion 
that  water  demands  have  been  refer- 
red to  as  either  applied  or  net. 
In  water  resource  planning  it  is 
necessary  to  know  and  understand 
both.   Applied  water  is  an  expression 
of  the  quantity  of  water  that  must 
be  made  available  at  the  actual 
place  of  use.   Net  water  demand  is 
the  quantity  of  water  that  must  be 
delivered  to  a  service  area  as  a 
whole,  including  conveyance  losses 
within  the  area  that  are  not  recov- 
ered for  reuse.   As  a  general  rule, 
net  demand  is  less  than  applied  de- 
mand due  to  the  possibilities  of 
reuse  within  the  service  area.   An 
exception  to  this  definition  occurs 


Figure  10 

CALIFORNIA'S      HISTORICAL    and    PROJECTED 

APPLIED    WATER    DEMANDS 

1930  —  2020 


.14  n. 


in  the  Colorado  Desert  where  very 
little  reuse  is  possible  because  of 
water  quality  considerations.   In 
this  case  net  demands  at  the  actual 
place  of  use  are  essentially  the 
same  as  applied  demands.   However, 
conveyance  losses,  amounting  to 
about  one-half  million  acre-feet, 
do  not  reach  the  place  of  use, 
thereby  constituting  an  increment 
of  net  demand.   This  results  in  the 
net  diversion  demand  being  greater 
than  the  applied  demand. 


Urban  Water  Demands 

California  is  a  highly  urbanized 
and  industrialized  state.   The  need 
for  water  to  meet  requirements  for 
household  uses,  fire  protection, 
irrigation  of  lawns  and  gardens, 
parks,  golf  courses,  and  indus- 
try and  commerce  has  generally 
increased  with  the  population  and 
growth  of  the  economy. 

Over  the  years  the  Department  has 
collected  urban  use  values  for 
cities  throughout  the  State  and 
from  a  large  number  of  water 
agencies  and  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments.  Per  capita  water  use, 
or  average  water  used  per  person, 
has  been  determined  by  relating 
total  water  deliveries  for  all 
urban  purposes  to  the  population 
served.   Historical  data  identify 
trends  in  water  use;  when  combined 
with  the  many  factors  influencing 
use,  such  as  climate,  urban  densi- 
ties, and  industrialization,  they 
serve  as  a  basis  for  projecting  per 
capita  use. 

Generally,  the  historical  trend  in 
per  capita  water  use  has  been  up- 
ward.  The  evidence  seems  to  indi- 
cate that  use  increases  with  a 
rising  standard  of  living.  The 
projections,  however,  have  been 
tempered  by  several  considerations. 
Anticipated  pressures  on  land  and 
attendant  development  costs  will 
tend  to  increase  densities  and  de- 
crease average  lawn  and  garden 
areas,  thereby  decreasing  outside 
water  use.   There  is  also  some 
likelihood  of  reduced  water  use  in 
the  industrial  sector.   The  growing 


concern  over  pollution  and  stronger 
effluent  controls  may  result  in 
less  water  intake.   Increasing  water 
costs  and  waste  water  treatment  will 
encourage  technological  changes  and 
economies  in  water  use. 

On  a  more  localized  basis,  water 
use  varies  considerably  from  city 
to  city,  region  to  region.  The  per 
capita  projections  shown  in  Table  3 
are  weighted  average  values  derived 
from  historical  data  and  Judgments 
regarding  a  number  of  factors  influ- 
encing water  use  in  each  region. 
These  factors  include  the  nature  of 
the  urban  complex,  whether  heavily 
industrialized  or  primarily  resi- 
dential; densities  as  related  to 
average  lot  size;  climate;  and 
others,   A  more  complete  discussion 
on  this  subject  is  published  in 
Department  of  Water  Resources 
Bulletin  No,  166-1,  "Municipal  and 
Industrial  Water  Use". 

The  combination  of  changes  in  per 
capita  use,  increases  in  population, 
and  expansion  of  the  economy  results 
in  an  applied  urban  water  demand  of 
nearly  12  million  acre-feet  by  2020. 
This  compares  to  4,4  million  acre- 
feet  in  1967  and  7.4  million  acre- 
feet  in  1990.   Applied  and  corres- 
ponding net  water  demands  are 
summarized  in  Table  4,   Unless  there 
are  drastic  reductions  in  Califor- 
nia's future  growth  or  a  dramatic 
shift  in  population  distribution  as 
suggested  in  Chapter  VIII,  most  of 
the  increased  water  demands  will 
occur  in  regions  that  are  already 
importing  water.   Even  if  population 
shifts  occur,  the  findings  in 
Chapter  VIII  indicate  that  further 
water  developments  will  be  necessary. 
However,  the  date  at  which  addi- 
tional water  must  be  made  available 
for  urban  use  has  been  affec1;ed  by 
the  general  reduction  in  population 
increase . 

In  the  South  Coastal  area,  a  very 
important  water  import  area,  the 
combination  of  a  slower  buildup  in 
urban  growth  and  less  per  capita 
water  use  has  contributed  greatly 
to  lower  net  water  demands  than  pre- 
sented in  Bulletin  No.  I6O-66.   As 
stated  earlier,  these  considerations 


-45- 


TABLE  3 

ESTIMATED  URBAN  WATER  USE 

(gallons  per  capita—  per  day) 


Hydrologlc  Study  Area 
North  Coastal^ 
San  Francisco  Bay 
Central  Coastal 
South  Coastal 


Sacramento  Basin—' 


/ 


3/ 


1967 

1990 

2020 

160 

140 

130 

170 

200 

220 

200 

210 

210 

180 

190 

200 

350 

350 

350 

320 

280 

260 

370 

390 

420 

370 

350 

350 

^ 

V 

V 

280 

320 

320 

380 

400 

400 

Delta-Central  Sierra—' 
San  Joaquin  Basin 
Tulare  Basin 
North  Lahontan 
South  Lahontan 
Colorado  Desert 


1/  Average  number  of  gallons  of  water  used  per  person,  per  day. 

Based  on  projected  urban  water  demands  and  urban  population  served, 

2j   VJater  demands  for  pulp  and  paper  production  not  included  in  per 

capita  values. 

^/  Based  on  urban  use  in  valley  floor  portion  only.   Recreational 

and  "second  home"  use  in  Sierra  foothills  not  Included. 

4/  Total  urban  water  demands  for  this  area,  as  shown  in  Table  4, 

were  determined  by  means  other  than  per  capita  water  use  values. 

Note:   The  above  figures  are  weighted  averages  and 
reflect  a  considerable  range  of  per  capita 
values  for  communities  within  the  study  areas. 
The  Department's  Bulletin  No.  I66-I  should  be 
referred  to  for  a  more  detailed  breakdown  of 
urban  water  values  and  discussion  regarding 
the  various  factors  affecting  urban  water  use. 


will  delay  the  timing  of  need  for  an 
additional  water  supply  in  relation 
to  the  timing  estimated  in  Bulletin 
No.  160-66. 

The  significance  of  the  projected 
growth  in  urban  demands  may  be  seen 
in  Figure  11.   Comprising  only 


13  percent  of  total  water  demands 
in  the  State  in  I967,  urban  needs 
will  account  for  25  percent  by  2020. 
On  an  incremented  basis,  total 
applied  water  demands  are  expected 
to  increase  about  12  million  acre- 
feet  during  the  I967-202O  period. 
Of  this  amount,  7.5  million 


-46- 


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-47- 


FIGURE  n 

1967 

URBAN    WATER   DEMAND  4,370,000  A.F 

AGRICULTURAL  WATER  DEMAND  31,080,000  A.F 

MISCELLANEOUS  475,000  AF 

TOTAL   WATER   DEMAND         35,925,000  A.F 


1990 

URBAN    WATER   DEMAND  7,370,000  A.F 

AGRICULTURAL   WATER   DEMAND  34,060,000  AE 

MISCELLANEOUS  745,000  AF 

TOTAL    WATER  DEMAND  42,175,000  A.F 


2020 
2   URBAN    WATER    DEMAND 


11,850,000  A.F 


I  I   AGRICULTURAL    WATER    DEMAND  35,260,000  A.F 

HH  MISCELLANEOUS  925,000  A.F 

TOTAL  WATER    DEMAND         48,035,000  AF 


PROJECTED    GROWTH    OF  APPLIED    WATER    DEMANDS 
STATE    OF  CALIFORNIA 


-U8- 


acre-feet,  or  more  than  60  percent, 
will  be  due  to  population  and 
related  urban  growth. 


Agricultural  Water  Demands 

Agriculture  remains  far  and  away  the 
largest  water  user  in  California  and 
is  expected  to  remain  so  throughout 
the  period  of  analysis.   Total 
applied  water  demands  for  irrigated 
agriculture  amounted  to  31  million 
acre-feet  in  I967  and  is  projected 
to  increase  to  3^  million  acre-feet 
in  1990  and  to  more  than  35  million 
acre-feet  in  2020.   Although  this 
increase  is  only  about  half  that 
expected  for  urban  purposes,  irri- 
gated crops  will  still  account  for 
73  percent  of  total  applied  water 
demands  in  2020  (Figure  11). 


Applied  water  requirements  for  irri- 
gated agriculture  are  determined  by 
multiplying  the  estimates  of  irri- 
gated acreage  for  specific  crops  by 
appropriate  unit  water  use  values. 
Like  urban  per  capita  water  use 
values,  crop  requirements  vary  from 
area  to  area  depending  on  climate, 
farming  practices,  and  soil  con- 
ditions.  Weighted  averages  reflect 
the  crop  pattern  In  each  region  and 
are  summarized  in  Table  5. 

In  general,  comparatively  little 
change  in  unit  water  use  values  is 
expected  during  the  study  period. 
Change  that  does  occur  will  result, 
to  a  large  extent,  from  changes  in 
cropping  patterns  and  increases  In 
irrigation  efficiencies,  especially 
in  areas  having  high  water  costs. 


TABLE  5 

IRRIGATED  AGRICULTURE 

APPLIED  UNIT 

WATER 

JSE  VALUES 

* 

(acre-feet  per 

acre) 

Hydrologic  Study  Area 

1967 

2020 

North  Coastal 

2.7 

2.7 

San  Francisco  Bay 

2.6 

2.2 

Central  Coastal 

2.3 

2.4 

South  Coastal 

2.0 

2.3 

Sacramento  Basin 

4.0 

4.0 

Delta-Central  Sierra 

3.0 

2.9 

San  Joaquin  Basin 

4.4 

3.8 

Tulare  Basin 

3.1 

3.2 

North  Lahontan 

2.9 

3.4 

South  Lahontan 

6.1 

5.4 

Colorado  Desert 

4.9 

4.8 

■^Weighted  average  for 

all  present  and 

probable 

future  crops. 

1 

-49- 


March  1968 


.•*-*.'. 


October  1970 


Impact  of  water  on  agricultural  development State  Water  Project  serving  western  Kern  County 


Total  applied  agricultural  water 
demands  summarized  in  Table  4  exceed 
those  in  Bulletin  No.  I6O-66  by  more 
than  one  and  a  half  million  acre- 
feet  in  1990.   This  occurs  in  spite 
of  a  reduction  in  projected  irri- 
gated acreage.   Field  studies  con- 
ducted over  the  past  four  years 
Indicate  that  the  consumptive  use 
of  water  of  some  crops  is  signifi- 
cantly greater  than  earlier  esti- 
mated values.   By  2020  the  reducticn 
in  projected  irrigated  acreage  is 
significant  enough  to  more  than 
offset  the  increase  in  unit  use 
values  and  applied  water  demands 
are  less  than  previously 
estimated. 

Bulletin  No.  I6O-66  did  not  report 
net  values  for  individual  purposes. 
Therefore,  a  comparison  of  net  agri- 
cultural water  demands  cannot  be 
made.    With  a  few  exceptions, 
however,  agricultural  water  demands 
are  far  and  away  the  most  signifi- 
cant element  of  a  region's  total 
demand,  and  changes  in  total  net 
demands  largely  reflect  changes  in 
that  sector.   For  the  most  part,  the 
implication  is  that  net  agricultural 
water  demands  are  greater  than 
reported  in  Bulletin  No.  I6O-66. 

The  reason  for  this  increase  is 
that  the  Department's  studies 
since  publication  of  that  Bulletin 
have  provided  much  new  and  addi- 
tional information  regarding  return 
flows  in  areas  throughout  the 
State.   This  information,  in  combi- 
nation with  additional  knowledge  of 
consumptive  use  of  water  and  on- 
farm  irrigation  efficiencies, 
served  as  a  basis  for  making  sig- 
nificant changes  in  some  areas. 

Since  the  need  for  additionally 
developed  water  supplies  is  con- 
tingent upon  the  needs  of  a  service 
area  (represented  by  net  water 
demands),  the  determination  of  the 
latter  carries  great  importance. 
Chapter  VI  describes  the  relation- 
ship of  net  water  demands  and  sup- 
plies in  each  hydrologlc  region, 
and  Chapter  VII  discusses  the 
impact  of  the  projections  In  re- 
lation to  water  supplies  on  the 
timing  of  future  facilities  to  the 


State  Water  Project  and  the  Central 
Valley  Project. 


Water  Demands  for  Electric 
Powei*  Generation 

All  large  thermal  powerplants  con- 
tain condensers  requiring  large 
quantities  of  water  for  cooling 
purposes.   Once-through  cooling, 
the  most  economical  cooling  process, 
requires  a  large  body  of  water  from 
which  the  water  is  withdrawn  and 
returned.   To  reduce  costs  it  is 
desirable  that  such  plants  be 
located  close  to  a  water  supply. 

Today,  the  cooling  water  required 
for  a  1,000  megawatt  unit  is 
roughly  1,500  cubic  feet  per  second. 
The  amount  of  water  actually  con- 
sumed In  the  cooling  process  is 
considerably  less.   A  modern  1,000 
megawatt  unit  operating  essentially 
continuously  will  use  between 
15,000  and  20,000  acre-feet  of  water 
per  year. 

The  unit  amount  of  water  required 
for  cooling  will  undoubtedly  de- 
crease with  more  efficient  plants 
in  the  future.   While  waste  water 
can  provide  a  limited  supply,  the 
limited  supply  of  fresh  water  and 
the  availability  of  sea  water 
coupled  with  the  expected  growth  In 
population  along  California's  coast 
will  influence  the  siting  of  a 
significant  portion  of  future 
thermal  plants . 

The  amount  of  fresh  water  to  be  used 
for  cooling  in  thermal  powerplants 
will  be  dependent  on  a  large  number 
of  factors,  such  as  siting  consid- 
eration, cost  and  availability  of 
water.   However,  it  is  presently 
estimated  that  only  about  100,000 
acre-feet  of  fresh  water  will  be 
used  annually  for  powerplant  cool- 
ing by  2020,  on  the  premise  that 
powerplants  will  be  located  near  the 
ocean. 


-51- 


Recreation,  Fish  and 

Wildlife  and  Related 

VJater  Development 

It  is  the  policy  of  the  State  of 
California  to  provide  its  citizens 
with  the  fullest  possible  oppor- 
tunity for  recreation.   This 
involves  a  variety  of  facilities 
throughout  the  State.   The  task 
required  to  meet  this  obligation 
will  be  formidable.   Estimates 
place  outdoor  use  at  1.5  billion 
recreation-days  a  year  by  1990  and 
2.5  billion  in  2020.   This  compares 
to  218  million  in  196O.   The 
increase  in  demand  for  recreational 
facilities  comes  at  a  time  when  the 
competition  among  land  and  monetary 
resources  is  very  keen.   Government 
at  all  levels,  the  private  sector 
and  a  general  willingness  of  people 
to  spend  additional  dollars  for 
recreation  will  be  required  to  meet 
the  growing  demand. 

Since  about  60  percent  of  all  out- 
door recreation  involves  water- 
associated  activities,  water  devel- 
opments have  a  major  role  to  play. 
This  section  discusses  some  of  the 
more  important  policy  and  financial 
considerations  affecting  this  role. 


Major  Policies  of 
federal  and  State 
Water  Development  Agencies 

Both  the  Federal  Government  and  the 
State  of  California  have  had  long- 
standing policies  with  regard  to  the 
incorporation  of  recreation  services 
into  water  development  projects.   At 
the  federal  level,  the  most  recent 
policy  statement  having  far-reaching 
implications  is  P.L,  89-72.  Very 
briefly,  the  document  states  that 
outdoor  recreation  and  fish  and 
wildlife  development  will  receive 
full  consideration  as  purposes  in 
project  formulation  and  evaluation, 
and  provides  for  federal  financial 
participation  in  the  development  and 
operation  of  recreation  and  fisheries 
and  wildlife  enhancement  features, 
if  there  is  major  financial  partici- 
pation by  nonfederal  activities. 


In  California,  the  Davis -Dolwlg  Act 
of  1961  serves  as  the  primary  source 
of  state  policy  concerning  recreation 
and  fish  and  wildlife  at  state- 
constructed  water  projects.   The  Act 
declares  recreation  and  fish  and 
wildlife  enhancement  to  be  among  the 
purposes  of  state  water  projects, 
and  requires  that  all  reasonable 
actions  be  taken  to  preserve  fish 
and  wildlife.   It  makes  clear  the 
legislative  intent  of  substantial 
action  to  promote  recreation  develop- 
ment.  A  more  complete  discussion  of 
the  Act  and  the  implementation  of 
Its  provisions  may  be  found  in 
Department  of  V/ater  Resources  Bulle- 
tin No.  117,  "Recreation  and  Fish 
and  Wildlife  Program  for  the  State 
Water  Project",  1968. 


Recreation  Financing 

Lack  of  money  poses  the  major 
obstacle  to  recreation  development 
and  the  fulfillment  of  the  State's 
objective  to  provide  its  people  with 
the  fullest  possible  recreational 
opportunities.   The  seriousness  of 
the  situation  has  been  recognized 
by  the  State  Legislature  which  is 
attempting  to  find  ways  and  means 
of  meeting  the  problem.   It  is 
generally  recognized  that  it  will 
require  the  cooperative  efforts  of 
governmental  and  nongovernmental 
agencies  alike.   In  spite  of  large 
expenditures  of  funds  by  the  govern- 
ment and  private  sectors  in  the 
past,  the  need  for  recreational 
facilities  remains  larger  than  the 
supply. 

This  "dollar  shortage"  has  necessi- 
tated a  critical  review  of  the  state 
program  for  the  planning  and  develop- 
ment of  recreation  and  fish  and  wild- 
life enhancement  facilities  in 
connection  with  the  State  Water 
Project.   A  task  force  was  appointed 
by  the  Secretary  for  Resources  of 
California's  Resources  Agency  to 
study  this  problem,  and  its  findings 
and  recommendations  have  been  pub- 
lished in  the  "Report  of  the  Recre- 
ation Task  Force  on  the  State  Water 
Project",  August  I967.   Further 


-52- 


discussion  on   this  matter  appears 
in  Department  of  Water  Resources 
Bulletin  No.  117. 

The  State  Electorate  on  November  3j 
1970  approved  an  amendment  to  the 
Davis-Dolwig  Act  which  provides  for 
a  total  of  $60  million  in  general 
obligation  bonds  to  finance  the 
design  and  construction  of  recre- 
ation, fish  and  wildlife  enhancement 
features  for  the  State  Water  Project — 
$5^  million  to  be  allocated  to  the 
Department  of  Parks  and  Recreation 
and  $6  million  to  be  allocated  to 
the  Department  of  Fish  and  Game  and 
the  Wildlife  Conservation  Board.  To 
carry  out  this  program,  the  legis- 
lation created  a  Recreation  and 
Fish  and  Wildlife  Enhancement  Com- 
mittee consisting  of  the  Governor  or 
his  designee,  the  State  Controller, 
the  Director  of  Finance,  the  State 
Treasurer,  and  the  Secretary  for 
Resources . 

Design  and  construction  of  recreation 
facilities  at  the  State  Water  Proj- 
ects will  be  implemented  by  the 
Department  of  Parks  and  Recreation. 
It  is  estimated  that  these  water- 
oriented  recreation  facilities 
built  In  the  next  5  to  7  years  will 
provide  for  an  additional  I6  million 
recreation  visitors.   Activities  to 
be  provided  for  Include  boating, 
fishing,  water  skiing,  camping, 
picnicking,  riding,  hiking,  sight- 
seeing', and  swimming. 

The  $6  million  specifically  allo- 
cated to  fish  and  wildlife  enhance- 
ment includes  the  expansion  of  fish 
hatcheries  for  production  of  trout 
and  warmwater  fisheries,  and  the 
provision  of  angler  access  to  fish- 
ing waters  which  has  a  potential  of 
realizing  millions  of  recreation 
days. 

Some  17  reservoirs  and  more  than 
500  miles  of  canals  and  streams  will 
benefit  from  the  "Recreation  and 
Fish  and  Wildlife  Enhancement  Bond 
Act  Program".   The  tentative 
schedule  for  development  in  the  next 
5  years  is  to  expend  $8  million  on 
facilities  in  Northern  California, 
$4.5  million  In  Central  California, 
and  $42  million  in  Southern  California. 


The  Legislature  has  declared  that 
state  costs  for  enhancement  of  fish 
and  wildlife  and  recreation  should 
be  nonreimbursable  as  distinguished 
from  other  water  project  purposes 
which  must  be  repaid  by  the  water 
and  power  users.   Furthermore,  plan- 
ning, land  acquisition,  and  the 
Joint  project  costs  allocated  to 
recreation  are  repaid  to  the  extent 
available  from  tidelands  oil  reve- 
nues.  Such  repayment  is  limited  to 
$5  million  per  year. 

Because  of  the  magnitude  of  recre- 
ation expenditures  and  allocations, 
the  Department  expects  the  full 
$5  million  of  reimbursements  to  be 
required  each  year  for  the  fore- 
seeable future.   In  the  long  run, 
the  Department's  expenditure  of 
funds  for  recreation  will  be  repaid 
In  full.   But  there  is  a  delay 
between  actual  outlay  and  repayment. 
When  funds  are  in  short  supply,  as 
they  have  been  in  recent  years,  such 
a  delay  puts  a  tight  squeeze  on  the 
availability  of  project  funds, 
intensifying  the  financing  problem. 

Solution  of  the  financing  problem 
will  not  come  easy  or  without  cost 
to  the  user.   The  implications  of 
the  projected  demands  for  recreation 
suggest  that  annual  expenditures 
over  the  next  20  years  should  in- 
crease sevenfold  over  present  levels, 
This  allows  for  Just  the  Increase  in 
demand  and  does  not  include  making 
up  deficiencies  that  now  exist. 


Fish  and  Wildlife  Planning 

Prevailing  state  and  federal  law  and 
policy  (Water  Code  233>  Davis -Dolwig 
Act,  and  P.L.  85-624,  P.L.  89-72) 
prescribe  that  fish  and  wildlife  be 
given  full  and  equal  consideration 
with  other  project  purposes  In  the 
planning  and  design  of  water  devel- 
opment projects.   These  laws  and 
policies  have  evolved  in  realization 
that  the  past  role  of  fish  and  wild- 
life interests  in  earlier  water 
development  olanning,  was  largely 
ineffective  in  implementing  project 
modifications  in  the  Interest  of  pro- 
tecting or  enhancing  fish  and  wild- 
life resources. 


-53- 


Current  planning  efforts  are  direc- 
ted toward  assessment  of  the  impact 
of  proposed  water  development  proj- 
ects on  fish  and  wildlife,  and  the 
recommendation  of  measures  necessary 
for  preservation  and  enhancement  of 
these  resources.   Special  attention 
is  being  directed  toward  future 
water  needs  for  fisheries,  and 
measures  necessary  for  the  preser- 
vation of  wildlife  habitat. 


Streamflow  Maintenance  for  Fish  and 
Wildlife:   In  addition  to  the  water 
reserved  for  wildlife  management 
areas  shown  in  Table  4,  various 
governmental,  public,  and  private 
water  and  utility  agencies  have 
entered  into  agreements  with  the 
California  Department  of  Pish  and 
Game  to  ensure  adequate  streamflows 
and  reservoir  water  levels  to  pro- 
tect and  improve  fishery,  wildlife, 
and  recreational  values.   Agreements 
currently  in  force  cover  virtually 
all  the  major  developed  watersheds 
in  California.   It  is  most  desirable 


that  these  agreements  be  developed 
early  in  the  planning  process  so 
that  adequate  steps  may  be  taken  to 
ensure  maintenance  of  water  quality 
in  the  project  area  and  downstream 
during  project  construction.   Like- 
wise, periodic  review  and  revision 
of  flow  schedules  can  improve  proj- 
ect operations  and  optimize  flow 
regimens  in  the  interests  of  fishery, 
wildlife  and  recreation.   Table  6 
lists  current  streamflow  amounts  by 
hydrologic  area  to  indicate  the 
extent  of  this  important  phase  of 
water  project  operations. 

Existing  agreements  are  as  varied 
as  the  watersheds  they  covero   Mini- 
mum flows  may  be  for  a  stipulated 
amount  for  a  specified  time  period, 
or  adjusted  flows  may  be  called  for 
to  raise  existing  flows  to  desirable 
levels.   Some  stipulate  the  level  of 
water  withdrawal  from  a  reservoir 
to  bring  downstream  water  tempera- 
tures to  optimum  levels  for  spawning. 
A  few  provide  for  hatchery  water 
supplies  or  spawning  channels  or  for 


TABLE  6 

STREAMFLOV* 

MAINTENANCE 

AGREEMENTS 

BY 

HYDROLOGIC  AREA 

Annual 

Water 

Alloca 

tions 

for  > 

Streamflow  Maintenance*        | 

Hydrologic  Area 
Sacramento  Basin 

[acre-feet) 

3,900, 

000 

Delta-Central  Sierra 

14, 

000 

San  Joaquin 

258, 

000 

Tulare  Basin 

114, 

000 

North  Coastal 

677, 

000 

San  Francisco 

115, 

000 

Central  Coastal 

22, 

000 

North  Lahontan 

54, 

000 

South  Lahontan 

54, 

000 

*Water  allocations  shown  are  based 

Dn 

'normal 

year" 

runoff. 

Actual  releases  may  be 

considerably 

less  where  agreements         | 

provide  for  the  alternative  release 

of 

the  natural 

flow   in 

lieu  of  a  stipulated  fl 

ow . 

-54. 


U.S.  Bureou  o(  Reclamation 
Sprinklers  are  becoming  increasingly  popular  as  a  method  lor  improving  irrigation  efficiency 


waterfowl  management  areas .   Where 
possible  and  desirable,  certain  flows 
over  and  above  those  stipulated  are 
released  to  optimize  spawning  flows 
for  salmon  and  steelhead. 

While  streamflow  maintenance  agree- 
ments have  obviously  alleviated 
critical  water  shortages  that  would 
have  otherwise  occurred  in  many 
streams,  water  allocated  for  these 
purposes,  in  some  instances,  has  not 
been  sufficient  to  maintain  fisheries 
resources  at  satisfactory  levels. 
Turbidity,  sediment,  and  temperature 
problems  have  arisen  under  condi- 
tions of  controlled  flows.   Correc- 
tive measures  are  being  sought  by 
the  State  where  such  problems  exist. 


Fish  and  Wildlife  and  Recreation 
Water  Demands .   The  present  and  pro- 
jected applied  and  net  water  demands 


for  recreation  and  fish  and  wildlife, 
shown  in  Table  4,  are  for  water  used 
in  fish  and  wildlife  management  areas 
and  refuges,  and  that  used  consump- 
tively by  recreationists.   In  total, 
the  consumptive  uses  of  water  for 
these  purposes  are  comparatively 
small,  amounting  to  only  2  percent 
of  the  2020  state  total  water  re- 
quirements.  However,  in  individual 
areas,  they  can  be  very  important 
and  create  serious  water  problems. 
Another  very  important  demand  for 
water  not  reflected  in  the  projec- 
tions is  the  demand  for  water  for 
various  environmental  purposes,  such 
as  water  quality,  fishery  or  recre- 
ational enhancement,  and  instream 
requirements  for  fish,  wildlife,  and 
recreation. 

The  explosive  growth  in  recreational 
homesites  throughout  much  of  the 
State  is  illustrative  of  impact  of 


-55- 


man's  activities  on  the  resources  of 
an  area,  and  the  need  for  new  local 
water  supplies.   In  the  Tahoe  Basin, 
for  example,  the  nonresident  popu- 
lation accounts  for  about  three- 
quarters  of  the  area's  water 
requirements.   In  Nevada  County,  a 
popular  mountain  recreation  area, 
it  is  estimated  that  36,000  new 
lots  covering  48,000  acres  have 
been  formed  through  subdivision 
since  1964.   When  all  of  the  exist- 
ing lots  are  occupied,  the  treated 
effluent  discharge  is  expected  to 
exceed  the  normal  minimum  stream- 
flows  in  the  area.   Major  new  water 
supplies  will  have  to  be  developed, 
not  only  to  meet  domestic  needs, 
but  also  to  maintain  suitable  water 
quality  standards  in  streams  and 
rivers  where  such  development  occurs. 


Flood  Damage  Prevention 

Despite  extensive  planning  and  con- 
struction of  flood  control  works 
over  a  period  of  many  years  in 
California,  considerable  flood 
damage  continues  to  occur  as  a  con- 
sequence of  the  State's  continued 
growth  and  occupation  of  active 
floodplains . 

All  levels  of  government  in  the 
State  have  assumed  some  degree  of 
responsibility  in  an  effort  to  pre- 
vent flood  damage.   Since  the  pas- 
sage of  the  federal  Flood  Control 
Act  of  1936,  however,  the  U.  S.  Amy 
Corps  of  Engineers  has  taken  the 
lead  in  planning  and  constructing 
flood  control  measures  for  major 
basins  with  financial  aid  from  the 
State  for  the  cost  of  lands,  ease- 
ments, and  rights-of-way.   Means  of 
mitigating  urban  flood  drainage 
problems  have  been  left  to  the 
resources  of  local  agencies. 

Examination  of  future  flood  control 
needs  in  California  conducted  under 
the  Comprehensive  Framework  Study, 
California  Region,  mentioned  briefly 
in  Chapter  II,  indicates  the  1965 
average  annual  flood  damage  of 
around  $100  million  will  increase 
to  about  $160  million  by  I98O  if 
no  additional  flood  control  measures 
are  implemented.   This  means  that  a 


vigorous  flood  control  program  will 
be  needed  to  reduce  these  potential 
future  flood  damages. 

Despite  a  continued  project-oriented 
flood  control  program,  the  histori- 
cal increase  in  flood  damages  sug- 
gests a  need  to  adopt  a  more  bal- 
anced approach  to  mitigating  future 
flood  damage.   This  approach  should 
Incorporate  more  nonstructural 
measures  either  as  alternatives  to, 
where  circumstances  permit,  or  in 
conjunction  with  structural 
measures . 

In  this  regard,  the  Cobey-Alquist 
Flood  Plain  Management  Act  of  1965 
mandates  local  government  to  regu- 
late floodplain  use  within  desig- 
nated floodways  prior  to  construc- 
tion of  economically  justified 
projects  as  a  prerequisite  to  state 
financial  assistance  in  the  cost  of 
lands,  easements  and  rights-of-way. 

When  considering  future  flood  con- 
trol measures,  greater  attention 
should  be  directed  to  desires  of 
the  beneficiaries  for  environmental 
enhancement.   This  suggests  a 
responsibility  on  the  part  of  local 
beneficiaries  to  become  more  in- 
volved in  the  planning  and  selection 
of  such  measures  and  in  financial 
participation  where  costs  are 
involved. 


Water  Quality 

Water  quality  is  an  essential  and 
critical  element  of  water  resource 
planning  and  management  in  Califor- 
nia.  Water  of  suitable  quality 
must  be  available  in  adequate 
quantity  at  the  times  and  places 
needed  for  all  intended  beneficial 
uses  which  may  Include  domestic, 
industrial,  agricultural,  recre- 
ational, fish  and  wildlife,  and 
other  requirements. 


Water  Quality  and  Water  Use 

The  term  "water  quality"  has  practi- 
cal meaning  only  when  associated 
with  specific  beneficial  water  uses. 
A  suitable  water  supply  is  one  which 


-56- 


satisfies  water  quality  criteria 
for  the  intended  uses.   Quality, 
therefore,  is  inseparable  from 
quantity  and  must  be  evaluated  along 
with  the  purposes  and  uses  for  which 
water  supplies  are  developed. 

Adequate  planning  for  maximum  use 
and  preservation  and  enhancement 
takes  into  consideration  the  complex 
interrelations  of  water  quantity 
and  quality,  of  supply,  use,  and 
disposal.  Water  systems  are 
dynamic .   Changes  in  one  part  of  a 
water  system  may  materially  affect 
other  parts,  whether  those  changes 
are  in  the  water  or  on  the  sur- 
rounding land. 

Water  management  and  development 
implies  quality  changes.  The  dams 
on  a  river  which  are  essential  for 
reliable  water  supplies  also  result 
in  a  changed  water  environment, 
such  as  different  water  temperatures, 
alteration  of  turbidity,  and  changes 
in  aquatic  habitat.   Changes  in  land 
use  under  different  water  use  con- 
ditions may  alter  the  runoff  pat- 
terns and  erosion  characteristics. 


Water  use  is  clos 
waste  disposal, 
contain  not  only 
of  the  original  s 
trated  form,  but 
added  or  properti 
the  use.   Moreove 
area  may  influenc 
water  supply  to  a 


ely  related  to 
The  wastes  often 
the  constituents 
upply  in  concen- 
also  materials 
es  changed  during 
r,  wastes  from  an 
the  quality  of 
downstream  area. 


The  effects  of  water  use  and  waste 
disposal  on  the  water  resources  may 
be  reflected  in  depletion  of  dis- 
solved oxygen  in  streams  and  estu- 
aries, toxic  effects  on  aquatic 
life,  mineralization  which  renders 
the  supply  unfit  for  further  use, 
and  the  m.ore  subtle  changes  of 
eutrophication.   They  can  include 
increased  nitrates  in  ground  water, 
sea  water  intrusion,  or  compaction 
of  ground  water  aquifers  by  lower- 
ing water  levels . 

Environmental  changes  may  not  be 
detrimental.   In  fact,  any  water 
resource  management  program  is 
designed  to  change  the  environment 
for  the  benefit  of  mankind.   The 


major  concern  is  to  predict  and  con- 
trol changes  which  will  occur. 


Municipal  and  Industrial  Use.  Water 
for  municipal  supplies  is  used  for 
drinking,  bathing,  washing  cars, 
irrigating  lawns,  flowers  and  trees, 
waste  disposal,  manufacturing  pro- 
cesses, and  other  purposes,  some  of 
which  may  require  special  treatment 
to  meet  particular  needs.   Drinking 
water  should  be  clear,  colorless, 
odorless,  and  pleasant  tasting.   It 
must  be  free  from  disease-causing 
organisms  and  other  impurities  which 
endanger  public  health  and  should 
not  contain  excessive  amounts  of 
dissolved  minerals.   The  most  widely- 
used  guide,  or  criterion,  for  deter- 
mining the  suitability  of  water  for 
municipal  use  is  the  U.  S.  Public 
Health  Service  Drinking  Water  Stan- 
dards.  These  standards  specify 
limits  for  bacteriological,  physical, 
radiological,  and  chemical  constitu- 
ents in  a  water  supply. 

Industrial  water  supplies  vary 
widely  in  water  quality  requirements, 
depending  upon  the  types  of  indus- 
trial processes  involved.   In  gen- 
eral, water  suitable  for  drinking  is 
also  suitable  for  most  industrial 
uses.   Cost  of  treatment  is  an 
important  factor.   Treatment  costs 
to  soften  hard  water  to  desirable 
levels  may  range  from  ^h    to  more 
than  $20  per  acre-foot,  depending 
upon  the  use  of  water  and  the 
method  of  softening. 


Agricultural  Use.   Quality  require- 
ments  for  agriculture  (irrigation) 
depend  upon  many  factors  such  as 
crop  types,  so,il  and  drainage  con- 
ditions, climate,  and  irrigation 
practices.   Some  crops  are  particu- 
larly sensitive  to  certain  constitu- 
ents, especially  boron. 

Drainage  of  irrigated  lands  is  of 
major  importance  for  continuing 
successful  irrigation.   In  irrigaticn 
use  relatively  insignificant  amounts 
of  dissolved  minerals  are  consumed 
in  processes  of  evaporation  and 
plant  growth,  and  salts  are  left 
behind.   Excess  salts  must  be 


-57- 


leached  from  the  soil  and  carried 
off  in  drainage  water.   The  content 
of  dissolved  minerals  in  applied 
irrigation  water  can  have  a  signi- 
ficant influence  on  the  amounts  of 
irrigation  water  required  for 
leaching.   In  general,  the  lower 
the  total  dissolved  mineral  concen- 
tration in  the  water  supply,  the 
lower  the  leaching  water  require- 
ments.  Also,  the  possibilities  for 
reuse  of  the  return  water  are 
enhanced. 


Recreation.   For  recreational  pur- 
poses,  clarity,  color,  temperature, 
and  bacterial  quality  are  especially 
important.   The  best  quality  of 
water  is  needed  for  swimming  and 
other  water  contact  sports.  Bacte- 
riological safety  is  of  primary 
importance  for  those  activities. 

General  esthetics  at  water  recre- 
ation sites  also  may  be  affected 
by  water  quality  conditions.   The 
water  must  be  protected  from 
obnoxious  sights  such  as  floating 
oil,  grease,  foam  and  debris,  and 
from  unpleasant  odors.   Levels  of 
turbidity,  alkalinity  and  dissolved 
oxygen  must  be  held  within  desir- 
able limits. 


Fish  and  Aquatic  Life.  Water 
quality  considerations  for  main- 
taining suitable  environments  for 
fish  and  aquatic  life  include  con- 
trol of  dissolved  oxygen,  tempera- 
ture, turbidity,  pH,  and  prohi- 
bition of  toxic  materials  or  lethal 
concentrations  of  trace  constitu- 
ents.  Spawning  or  propagation  of 
fish  also  requires  consideration  of 
bottom  deposits  and  careful  selec- 
tion of  temperature  levels  which 
maintain  optimum  spawning  conditions. 

The  aquatic  environment  has  re- 
ceived increased  attention  in 
recent  years  because  of  the  recog- 
nition that  accelerated  changes  in 
the  environment  to  meet  population 
needs  can  radically  change  the 
habitat  upon  which  fish,  wildlife, 
and  the  aquatic  community  are 
dependent  for  their  continued  sur- 
vival.  Habitat  is  the  collective 


conditions  in  an  area  contributing 
to  the  particular  needs  of  an 
animal  for  food,  cover,  space,  and 
reproduction.   Each  species  has  its 
own  highly  restricted  habitat  needs. 
Often  the  disruption  of  one  small 
but  key  element  in  the  environment 
can  result  in  complete  elimination 
of  desirable  species. 

Isolated  occurrences  of  accidental 
pollution  such  as  oil  spills  or  the 
discharge  of  toxic  materials  into 
receiving  waters  get  most  of  the 
publicity:  and,  of  course,  they  are 
cause fbr  concern.   However,  chronic 
pollution  can  occur  without  the 
realization  that  harmful  alterations 
are  taking  place;  and  this  In  the 
long  run  could  cause  more  lasting 
detriments  to  the  aquatic  environ- 
ment.  Changes  caused  by  chronic 
pollution  may  result  in  a  "domino 
effect"  where  the  elimination  or 
change  of  one  critical  factor  may 
trigger  a  vjhole  series  of  reactions 
leading  to  the  eventual  destruction 
of  a  healthy  aquatic  community. 


Water  Quality  and  Water  Reuse 

The  quality  of  a  water  supply  is 
directly  related  to  its  reuse  capa- 
bility.  A  single  cycle  of  domestic 
use  generally  results  in  an  Increase 
of  100  to  300  parts  per  million  of 
dissolved  mineral  content.   As  pre- 
viously noted  irrigation  return 
water  also  becomes  more  saline  than 
the  supply  water.   Therefore,  in 
terms  of  total  mineral  content, 
water  containing  100  to  200  ppm  dis- 
solved salts  could  successfully  be 
used  and  reused  two,  three,  or  even 
four  times,  as  compared  to  water 
which  Initially  contains  700  to 
800  ppm  of  dissolved  salts,  which 
may  not  be  used  feasibly  more  than 
once.   Of  course,  reuse  could  also 
be  limited  by  the  accumulation  of 
toxic  materials  or  the  presence  of 
individual  mineral  constituents  even 
though  the  total  mineral  concentra- 
tion might  be  relatively  low. 

In  the  southern  part  of  the  State, 
the  Departmentof  Water  Resources  is 
engaged  in  a  number  of  programs  to 
protect  and  conserve  the  quality  of 


-58- 


Oroville  Reservoir 

High  quality  water  is  essential  lor  water  contact  sports 


local  water  supplies  and  to  encour- 
age reclamation  and  reuse  of  waste 
water  for  the  ultimate  purpose  of 
reducing  the  quantities  of  supple- 
mental fresh  water.   These  programs 
range  from  monitoring  and  surveil- 
lance of  surface  and  ground  water 
and  waste  discharges,  to  working 
with  local  water  entities  in  the 
formulation  of  plans  and  criteria 
for  conserving  and  improving  ground 
water  quality,  and  developing  plans 
for  ground  water  basin  operation 
and  use. 

Some  areas  in  California  contain 
ground  water  that  is  virtually 
unused  because  of  its  marginal  or 
brackish  quality.   Such  is  the  case 
in  the  Lower  San  Dieguito  and  Lower 
San  Diego  River  Valleys  of  San  Diego 
County.   It  may  be  possible  to  blend 
this  poor  quality  water  with  North- 
ern California  or  other  water  sour- 
ces to  produce  an  acceptable  water 
supply  at  reasonable  cost.   By 
Judicious  operation  of  these  ground 
water  basins  it  is  also  possible 
that  water  quality  might  eventually 
be  so  improved  that  the  basins  them- 
selves could  be  used  as  storage 
reservoirs . 


term  "beneficial  uses"  of  California's 
waters  to  include  esthetic  enjoyment 
and  the  preservation  and  enhancement 
of  fish,  wildlife  and  other  aquatic 
resources  or  preserves.   Practically, 
the  addition  of  these  beneficial 
uses  will  enable  more  stringent 
regulation  of  water  use  and  waste 
disposal  to  protect  and  enhance 
water  quality.   Philosophically,  the 
inclusion  of  esthetic  enjoyment  and 
enhancement  of  fish  and  wildlife  is 
a  major  departure  from  most  existing 
regulatory  statutes.   It  recognizes 
a  new  environmental  awareness  and 
the  growing  public  concern  over  the 
water  resources  of  California. 

A  most  significant  element  of  the 
Water  Quality  Control  Act  provides 
for  development  by  the  State  Water 
Resources  Control  Board  of  state 
policy  for  water  quality  control  and 
regional  water  quality  control  plans. 
"State  policy"  includes: 

1.  Water  quality  principles  and 
guidelines  for  long-range 
water  resource  planning, 
including  ground  water  and 
surface  water  management  pro- 
grams and  control  and  use  of 
reclaimed  water. 


Water  Quality  Control 

The  State  Water  Resources  Control 
Board  and  the  nine  Regional  Water 
Quality  Control  Boards  are  the 
principal  state  agencies  with 
primary  responsibility  for  the  coor- 
dination and  control  of  water 
quality  (VJater  Code  Section  13OOI). 
The  Department  of  Water  Resources 
is  also  mutually  involved  with  the 
water  quality  control  agencies  but 
in  a  separate  area  of  responsibility. 
While  the  control  agencies  are 
responsible  for  regulation  of  water 
resources  in  a  quasi- judicial  sense, 
the  Department  provides  for  develop- 
ment and  utilization  of  the  resource 
through  planning  and  implementation 
of  physical  works  or  management 
techniques. 

The  new  Porter-Cologne  Water  Quality 
Control  Act  protects  water  quality 
from  both  a  practical  and  a  philo- 
sophical standpoint  by  expanding  the 


2.  Water  quality  objectives  at 
key  locations  for  planning 
and  operation  of  water 
resource  development  projects 
and  for  water  quality  control 
activities. 

3.  Water  quality  control  plans 
adopted  by  the  State  Board 
for  interstate  or  coastal 
waters  or  other  waters  of 
interregional  or  statewide 
interest . 

4.  Other  principles  and  guide- 
lines deemed  essential  by 
the  State  Board  for  water 
quality  control. 

The  regional  water  quality  control 
plans  for  each  hydrographic  area  of 
the  State  encompass  (l)  the  bene- 
ficial uses  to  be  protected, 
(2)  water  quality  objectives  neces- 
sary to  ensure  the  reasonable  protec- 
tion of  beneficial  uses  and  the 


-60- 


prevention  of  nuisance,  and  (3)  a 
program  of  implementation  and 
enforcement . 

These  policies  and  plans  become  a 
part  of  the  California  Water  Plan 
upon  submission  to  the  Legislature. 

The  Act  also  provides  for  regulation 
of  wastes  which  could  affect  the 
waters  of  the  State.   Any  person 
proposing  such  a  discharge,  includ- 
ing disposal  of  solid  waste,  must 
file  a  report  of  discharge  with  the 
appropriate  regional  board.   That 
board  establishes,  in  accordance 
with  state  policy  and  water  quality 
control  plans,  requirements  under 
which  a  waste  discharge  may  be  made. 
The  requirements  may  prescribe  the 
quality  of  the  discharge,  the  effect 
upon  the  receiving  water,  or  both. 
They  may  include  a  monitoring  system 
and  a  time  schedule.   The  Board  may 
specify  conditions  on  areas  whei'e 
no  discharge  is  permitted.  Viola- 
tion of  requirements  may  be  abated 
through  board  and  court  actions. 
The  violator  may  be  subject  to  a 
fine  up  to  $6,000  for  each  day  of 


violation,  or  in  the  case  of  a 
public  sewage  facility,  may  be  pre- 
vented from  adding  services  to  the 
system  until  the  discharge  is  in 
compliance  with  requiremients . 

Waste  discharges  into  waters  of  the 
State  are  privileges  and  not  rights. 

Thus,  in  addition  to  combining  the 
water  rights  and  water  quality 
policy  and  regulatory  functions  Into 
a  single  board,  the  Water  Quality 
Control  Act  strengthens  and  broadens 
the  integration  of  quantity-qual J ty 
planning  relations .   It  provides  a 
focal  point  through  the  California 
V/ater  Plan  to  ensure,  in  accordance 
with  the  original  precept  of  the 
Plan,  that  the  waters  of  the  State 
will  serve  the  needs  of  the  people. 
As  basic  policy  It  provides  that 
activities  which  may  affect  the 
waters  of  the  State  shall  be  so  • 
regulated  to  attain  the  highest 
reasonable  water  quality  levels,  the 
various  needs  to  be  met,  and 
related  economic,  social  and  other 
considerations . 


■61- 


CHAPTER  V.   POTENTIAL  WATER 
SUPPLY  SOURCES 


California's  water  demands  generally 
have  been  met  from  traditional  water 
developments  by  storage  and/or 
diversion  and  transportation  of 
surface  supplies,  and  extraction  of 
underground  supplies.   As  the 
State's  economy  has  expanded,  sur- 
face water  supply  systems  have 
expanded  from  local  developments  to 
large-scale  systems  involving 
storage  and  long-distance  conveyance 
of  water  from  intrastate  and  inter- 
state streams. 

However,  rapidly  advancing  technol- 
ogy has  focused  considerable  atten- 
tion on  other  possible  sources  of 
water  which  are  being  studied 
seriously  as  potential  economic 
water  supplies.   Most  notable  of 
these  are  desalting  of  the  inexhaust- 
ible supply  of  sea  water  bordering 
California's  1,200  miles  of  coast- 
line, and  reuse  of  reclaimed  waters 
instead  of  sewering  them  to  the 
ocean  after  a  single  use. 

This  chapter  discusses  various  possi- 
ble water  supply  sources  which  could 
provide  for  increasing  needs  for 
beneficial  uses  and  purposes.   It 
covers  development  and  transporta- 
tion of  additional  surface  water 
supplies,  the  significance  of  ground 
water  and  its  relation  to  local  and 
imported  surface  water  supplies,  de- 
salting, water  reclamation,  weather 
modification,  geothermal  water, 
watershed  management.  Western  States 
water  development,  and  possible  non- 
structural alternatives. 

The  potential  water  supply  sources 
described  in  this  chapter  are  not 
presented  in  the  sense  of  one  alter- 
native to  be  developed  at  the 
exclusion  of  another.   The  antici- 
pated rate  of  growth  in  California's 
demand  for  water  and  water-related 
services  in  relation  to  the  various 
potential  sources  of  supply  indi- 
cates that  a  combination  of  the 
water  supply  sources  discussed  may 


well  be  required;  and  the  selection 
of  that  combination  will  be  based  on 
the  determination  of  how  best  to 
schedule  the  development  and  use  of 
the  various  sources  to  effect  the 
optimal  overall  long-range  satis- 
faction of  demands. 

As  we  begin  the  1970s,  the  accent  on 
environmental  considerations  requires 
that  a  careful  balance  be  maintained 
between  the  preservation  and  protec- 
tion of  the  water  resource  and  the 
development  and  use  of  that  resource. 
Moreover,  as  Indicated  in  Chapter  IV, 
the  slowdown  in  growth  of  future 
water  demands  In  comparison  with 
earlier  projections  suggests  that 
more  time  is  available  for  making 
decisions  regarding  further  conserva- 
tion projects.   These  considerations 
emphasize  the  need  for  maintaining 
flexibility  in  the  analysis  and 
choice  of  future  options  from  among 
the  various  alternatives. 


Surface  Water  Development 

While  surface  water  resources  are 
ample  to  meet  foreseeable  statewide 
needs  on  an  overall  basis,  they  are 
maldistrlbuted  geographically  with 
respect  to  the  areas  of  need.  For 
example,  about  75  percent  of  the 
water  resources  occur  north  of  the 
Sacramento-San  Joaquin  Delta,  while 
some  75  percent  of  the  requirements 
occur  south  of  the  Delta.   The  geo- 
graphical distribution  of  runoff 
originating  within  the  State  is 
illustrated  in  Figure  12. 

About  60  percent  of  the  total  pres- 
ent statewide  applied  water  demands 
is  supplied  from  surface  water 
sources,  comprised  primarily  of 
local  agency  surface  water  develop- 
ment, local  agency  imports,  the 
federal  Central  Valley  Project  and 
other  federal  water  developments. 


-63- 


FIGURE  12 


AVERAGE      ANNUAL 
FULL     NATURAL      RUNOFF 
IN    MILLION    ACRE -FEET 


HYDROLOGIC     STUDY     AREAS 

-  NORTH    COASTAL 

-  SAN    FRANCISCO    BAY 

-  CENTRAL    COASTAL 

-  SOUTH    COASTAL 

-  SACRAMENTO   BASIN 

-  DELTA- CENTRAL  SIERRA 

-  SAN   JOAQUIN   BASIN 

-  TULARE     BASIN 

-  NORTH    LAHONTAN 

-  SOUTH    LAHONTAN 

-  COLORADO   DESERT 


-64- 


Imports  by  local  agencies  include 
the  Hatch  Hotchy,  Mokelumne, 
Los  Angeles  and  Colorado  Aqueducts. 
The  "other  federal  water  develop- 
ments" category  Includes  imports 
from  the  Colorado  River  for  irri- 
gation in  the  Imperial  and  Coachella 
Valleys.   The  local  surface  water 
developments  will  be  specifically 
identified  in  Chapter  VI  which  will 
present  a  comparison  of  demands  and 
supplies  on  a  regional  basis.   A 
number  of  existing  and  possible 
local  and  major  projects  are  shown 
on  Plate  1. 

The  potential  for  major  additional 
development  of  water  supplies  in 
California  is  for  the  most  part 
limited  to  the  Sacramento  Basin  and 
the  North  Coastal  regions.   In  the 
other  regions  the  available  surface 
supplies  from  the  principal  river 
systems  will  have  been  largely 
developed  by  existing  reservoirs  or 
by  those  presently  under  co-is truction. 

The  potential  remains  for  many 
localized  surface  water  develop- 
ments on  the  smaller  streams. 
However,  as  with  major  develop- 
ments, opportunities  for  such 
developments  occur  primarily  in  the 
North  Coast  and   Sacramento  Valley, 
with  limited  potential  in  the  North 
San  Francisco  Bay  area  and  the 
Central  Coastal  area. 

In  addition  to  on-stream  develop- 
ment, a  further  conservation  of 
surface  water  resources  could  be 
provided  through  the  development  of 
off -stream  storage  facilities  within 
the  Central  Valley  Basin.   Off- 
stream  storage  consists  of  a  diver- 
sion from  a  stream  and  conveyance 
to  a  storage  site  where  adequate 
capacity  is  available.   San  Luis 
Reservoir  on  the  west  side  of  the 
San  Joaquin  Valley  is  an  excellent 
example  of  an  off -stream  storage 
facility.   Such  reservoirs  have 
been  proposed  in  connection  with 
the  V/est  Sacramento  Canals  Unit 
(Sites  Reservoir);  the  East 
Side  Division  (Montgomery  and 
Hungry  Hollow  Reservoirs);  and  the 
Delta  Division  (Kellogg  Reservoir) 
of  the  Central  Valley  Project. 
Investigations  have  already  been 


made  of  the  possibility  of  construc- 
ting additional  off -stream  storage 
sites  at  locations  along  the  align- 
ment of  the  California  Aqueduct  to 
complement  that  presently  provided 
at  San  Luis  Reservoir.   Potential 
storage  facilities  could  be  located 
at  the  Los  Banos  site  in  western 
Merced  County  or  the  Sunflower  site 
in  Kings  County. 


Sacramento  Valley  Development 
Potential 

Two  major  streams  with  potential  for 
storage  remain  in  the  Sacramento 
Valley.   These  are  Cottonwood  Creek, 
the  largest  remaining  unregulated 
tributary  of  the  Sacramento  River, 
and  the  Ihomes -Stony  Creek  system. 

The  Corps  of  Engineers  has  proposed 
two  reservoirs  within  the  Cottonwood 
Creek  Basin  at  the  Dutch  Gulch  and 
Tehama  sites.   These  storage  facili- 
ties could  provide  a  high  degree  of 
flood  protection  and  a  new  water 
supply  of  some  260,000  acre-feet 
annually  for  local  and  statewide 
service.   The  two  reservoirs  could 
also  provide  fisheries  enhancement 
through  control  of  the  flows  in  the 
principal  spawning  areas  of  the 
Cottonwood  Creek  Basin  located  down- 
stream from  the  damsites. 

The  Bureau  of  Reclamation  has  investi- 
gated a  reservoir  development  at  the 
Paskenta-Newville  site  on  Thomes  and 
North  Pork  Stony  Creeks.   This  poten- 
tial facility  could  develop  a  new 
water  supply  of  as  much  as  300,000 
acre-feet  annually  if  coordinated 
with  existing  features  of  the  Central 
Valley  Project  and  the  State  Water 
Project. 

Additional  large  storage  could  also 
be  provided  on  Stony  Creek  at  the 
Rancheria  site.   Rancheria  Reservoir 
has  been  studied  by  the  Department  of 
Water  Resources  both  as  an  indepen- 
dent project  and  as  a  part  of  a 
Middle  Fork  Eel  River  development. 
Rancheria  Reservoir  also  has  potential 
for  development  of  an  economical  addi- 
tional vater  supply  by  a  pump- storage  oper- 
ation, with  a  diversion  of  Sacramento 
River  floodflows.   Studies  of  the 


-65- 


n^imm^ 


San  Lui.-5  Kcocfioir  —  —    an  c\cimpU-  ut  ull-^treaiii  .^lur-if^i.- 

latter  possibility  are  in  progress. 


North  Coastal  Area 

Development  Po"te"ntial 

The  long-term  mean  annual  runoff 
from  the  large  river  basins  in 
northwestern  California  is  approxi- 
mately 27  million  acre-feet,  most 
of  which  is  unregulated.   Prior 
Department  studies  have  indicated 
that  a  physical  potential  exists 
for  the  development  of  a  total 
dependable  water  yield  within  the 
North  Coastal  region  of  up  to  10-12 
million  acre-feet  annually.   Those 
studies  have  also  indicated  that 
such  development  could  be  adverse 
to  fisheries  and  wildlife  resources, 
particularly  in  relation  to  the 
construction  of  large  storage 
facilities  within  the  lower  Klamath 
River  Basin. 


Other  problems  of  an  environmental 
and  ecological  nature  may  also  be 
created  by  traditional  surface  water 
development  through  reservoirs  with- 
in the  Klamath  River  Basin  and  else- 
where in  the  North  Coast.   The 
Department  and  the  federal  water 
agencies  are  well  aware  of  these 
problems  and  of  the  need  for  more 
sensitive  analysis  of  the  conse- 
quences on  the  ecology  and  environ- 
ment of  future  surface  water  devel- 
opment within  the  North  Coastal 
area. 

Within  the  upper  Eel  River  Basin 
two  major  developments  have  received 
considerable  study  since  I965. 
These  are  the  English  Ridge  Project 
on  the  upper  main  Eel  River,  investi- 
gated by  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Reclamation,  and  the  Dos  Rios  Proj- 
ect on  the  Middle  Pork  Eel  River 
which  was  proposed  for  authorization 
in  1968  by  the  U.  S.  Army  Corps  of 
Engineers .  The  Dos  Rios  Reservoir 


-66- 


proposal  generated  considerable 
controversy,  particularly  because 
of  the  inundation  of  Round  Valley 
in  Mendocino  County,  and  the 
necessity  of  relocating  the  com- 
munity of  Covelo  and  the  local 
Indian  population. 

In  1969  Governor  Reagan  expressed 
his  concern  for  these  displacements 
and  directed  the  Department  of 
Water  Resources  to  work  with  the 
Corps  of  EIngineers  to  develop 
further  information  on  alternatives 
to  the  proposed  large  Dos  Rios 
Reservoir.  These  alternatives  to 
the  Dos  Rlos  Project,  involving  I6 
project  configurations,  are  pre- 
sented in  the  Department's  Bulletin 
No.  172  entitled  "Eel  River  Develop- 
ment Alternatives",  December  I969. 

The  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Reclamation  is 
engaged  in  a  reconnaissance-level 
study  of  possible  project  configu- 
rations within  the  lower  Trinity 
River  Basin.   The  study  also  in- 
cludes consideration  of  possible 
diversions  from  the  Mad  and  Van 
Duzen  Rivers  to  the  Trinity  River 
system.   The  work  to  date  has  been 
concentrated  on  three  reservoirs -- 
Eltapom  Reservoir  on  South  Fork 
Trinity  and  Helena  and  Schneiders 
Bar  Reservoirs  on  the  main  stem  of 
the  Trinity  River. 

Very  preliminary  studies  are  also 
being  made  by  the  Bureau  of  Recla- 
mation of  plans  for  direct  diver- 
sion from  the  Klamath  and  Trinity 
Basins.   Such  plans  would  avoid  the 
need  for  main-stem  reservoirs  on 
the  Klamath  and  Trinity  Rivers  and 
would  appear  to  be  the  least  dis- 
ruptive to  the  fisheries  and  wild- 
life environment.  Holdover  storage 
would  be  provided  in  the  Sacramento 
Valley.   These  direct  diversion 
possibilities  would  involve  extremely 
large  tunnels  and  would  be  more 
costly  than  the  previously  examined 
on-stream  storage  plans.   However, 
they  could  possess  certain  advan- 
tages from  the  standpoint  of  main- 
taining the  Trinity-Klamath  River 
systems  more  nearly  in  their  natural 
environment,  while  at  the  same  time 
conserving  the  floodflows  for  con- 
sumptive use  purposes  in  other 


regions  of  California. 


Ground  Water  Development 


Use  of  ground  wa 
began  about  I87O 
Coastal  area  whe 
approximately  10 
drilled.  Since 
century,  use  of 
resources  has  sp 
State  and  now  pr 
40  percent  of  th 
of  the  State. 


ter  in  California 

in  the  South 
re,  by  I9OO, 
,000  wells  had  been 
the  turn  of  the 
underground  water 
read  throughout  the 
ovides  about 
e  total  water  needs 


Continued  and  extensive  use  of  this 
vast  resource  has  not  been  without 
effects,  the  most  apparent  of  which 
are  increased  pump  lifts  and  the 
"drying  up"  of  some  surface  streams 
and  ponds  and  swampy  areas.   Less 
obvious  are  sea  water  intrusion 
into  coastal  aquifers,  migration  to 
wells  of  sea  water  entrapped  inland 
from  earlier  geologic  periods,  and 
local  subsidence  of  some  land  sur- 
faces.  In  addition,  legal  actions 
associated  with  ground  water  use 
have  occurred. 

The  characteristics  of  a  ground 
water  basin  must  be  deduced  from 
well  water  level  measurements,  well 
logs,  and  other  hydrologlc  and 
geologic  data.   This  is  a  lengthy 
and  costly  process  which  frequently 
has  led  investigators  to  recommend 
a  decrease  in  ground  water  pumping 
to  stabilize  pumping  llfts--or  to 
import  supplemental  surface  water 
supplies,  without  fully  understand- 
ing the  storage  and  transmissive 
potential  of  underground  aquifers. 
However,  the  successes  realized 
from  such  actions  have  demonstrated 
that  ground  wq.ter  resources  are, 
indeed,  subject  to  deliberate 
planned  management  to  achieve  a  set 
of  established  goals. 


Availability  of  Ground  Water 

Ground  water  can  be  obtained  in 
many  areas  in  California.   Produc- 
tion varies  from  a  few  gallons  per 
day  to  several  thousand  gallons  per 
minute.   Interest  of  the  Department 
of  Water  Resources  has  been  directed 


-67- 


FIGURE  13 


THE   RESOURCES  AGENCY 
DEPARTMENT   OF   WATER    RESOURCES 

AREAS    OF  GROUND   WATER 
OCCURRENCE 


LEGEND 

ALLUVIAL     FILL     AREAS  /^^ 

AREA     OF    VOLCANICS 


"m> 


\ 


-68- 


to  those  areas  in  which  ground  water 
is  a  significant  water  supply  source. 

Recent  alluvial  material  (the  valley 
fill  areas  of  the  State)  provides 
the  most  prolific  areas  of  occur- 
rence of  ground  water.   Alluvial 
fill  areas  and  other  areas  of  occur- 
rence of  ground  water  are  shown  in 
Figure  13.  Most  ground  water 
studies  have  been  made  in  these 
areas.   Older  alluvial  materials 
which  frequently  underlie  and  are 
adjacent  to  the  recent  alluvium 
have  also  been  studied  where  they 
are  significant  producers  of  ground 
water. 

Measures  of  the  availability  of 
ground  water  include  (l)  annual 


natural  replenishment  or  recharge 
(a  measure  of  the  annual  yield), 
which  is  generally  about  half  the 
permissible  sustained  pumpage;  (2) 
total  storage  capacity,  a  relatively 
small  portion  of  which  is  used  to 
develop  the  annual  yield;  (3)  total 
water  in  storage,  which  measures 
the  magnitude  of  possible  extraction 
of  ground  water  in  excess  of  annual 
yield;  and  (4)  usable  storage  capac- 
ity, which  indicates  the  portion  of 
total  storage  capacity  usable  in 
conjunction  with  surface  storage  to 
develop  a  reliable  system  yield. 

The  measures  of  availability  of 
ground  water  in  known  ground  water 
basins  are  summarized  by  regions  in 
Table  7 . 


TABLE  7 

3R0UND  WATER  IN  CALIFORNIA 

(1,000 

Acre-Feet ) 

Region 

Known  Ground  Water  Areas             | 

Storage 

Capacity 

Water 
in  Storage 

:   Annual  , 
:   Primary^./ 
:  Recharge 

Total 

:   Usable 

North  Coastal  Area 

2,000 

700 

2,000 

150 

San  Francisco  Bay  Area 

3,000 

1,100 

1,000 

310 

Central  Coastal  Area 

20,000 

7,600 

18,000 

730 

South  Coastal  Area 

100,000 

7,000 

95,000 

900 

2/ 
Central  Valley  Area— 

608, 000 

102,000 

540,000 

2,760 

Lahontan  Area 

157,000 

700 

100,000 

190 

Colorado  Desert 
Total 

158,000 
1,048,000 

3,600 

122,700 

100,000 

60 

856,000 

5,100 

1/  Includes  natural  recharge  plus  recharge  from  local  reserve 
operated  to  augment  natural  stream  channel  percolation. 

irs 

2/  Combined  areas  of  Sacramento  Basin,  Delta-Central  Sierra  area, 
San  Joaquin  Basin,  and  Tulare  Basin. 

-69- 


The  table  Indicates  a  total  state- 
wide ground  water  storage  capacity 
of  more  than  1  billion  acre-feet. 
This  estimate  is  compiled  from  pub- 
lished data  based  on  varying  depth 
criteria,  ranging  from  200  feet  in 
the  Sacramento  Valley  to  1,000  feet 
in  other  areas,  except  where     / 
limited  by  the  occurrence  of  saline 
water  or  by  non-water-bearing 
materials.  The  table  also  indi- 
cates that  more  than  800  million 
acre -feet  of  ground  water  is  in 
storage.  These  large  values  are 
in  a  sense  academic,  as  they  do  not 
represent  a  measure  of  availability 
of  the  ground  water  resource.  Sub- 
stantial withdrawal  from  the  800 
million  acre-feet  of  ground  water 
in  storage  is  analagous  to  the 
mining  of  oil  or  natural  gas  re- 
serves, as  it  would  not  be  replen- 
ished. 

The  two  items  of  most  significance 
in  Table  7  are  the  usable  ground 
water  storage  capacity  and  the 
annual  primary  recharge.  Usable 
capacity,  totaling  about  123 
million  acre-feet,  is  only  a  frac- 
tion of  total  storage  capacity. 
This  estimate  has  been  developed 
from  studies  of  varying  intensity. 
Limitations  of  usable  storage 
capacity  reflect  economic,  legal, 
quality  (such  as  sea  water  Intrusion 
into  coastal  basins),  and  other 
constraints.  Further,  more  detailed 
studies  are  needed  for  refinement 
of  estimates  of  usable  ground  water 
storage  capacity  in  the  individual 
major  ground  water  basins,  taking 
into  account  the  various  constraints. 

The  annual  primary  recharge  shown 
in  Table  7  Includes  natural  ground 
water  replenishment  under  present 
conditions  and  the  recharge  accom- 
plished by  operation  of  local  reser- 
voirs for  detention  and  gradual 
release  of  water  to  augment  natural 
stream  channel  percolation.  It 
does  not  Include  the  incidental 
recharge  resulting  from  the  distri- 
bution and  application  of  surface 
water  supplies,  which  is  considered 
reuse.  Such  incidental  recharge  is 
substantial,  and  will  become  more 
significant  in  the  future  as  greater 


amounts  of  surface  water  supplies 
are  used.   In  addition,  recharge 
from  deliberate  spreading  of  local 
and  Imported  water  will  increase. 


Ground  Water  Management 

Management  of  a  ground  water  basin 
Involves  the  planned  use  of  ground 
water  storage  in  conjunction  with 
local  and  Imported  surface  water 
supplies  to  effect  the  most  econom- 
ical use  of  total  available  storage 
in  meeting  overall  water  demands. 
Such  management  requires  deliberate 
augmentation  of  recharge  to  place 
necessary  quantities  of  water  under- 
ground, which  necessitates  planned 
extraction  patterns  and  facilities 
to  control  internal  transmission. 
It  also  will  necessitate  measures 
for  protection  of  the  ground  water 
resource  from  degradation  from 
accumulation  of  salts,  sea  water 
intrusion  into  coastal  aquifers,  or 
from  pollution. 

Increased  ground  water  basin  re- 
charge often  will  require  the  use 
of  additional  storage  capacity. 
Thus,  while  ground  water  replenish- 
ment is  a  most  important  resource, 
the  availability  of  usable  storage 
capacity,  which  can  provide  regu- 
lation to  both  local  and  Imported 
water  supplies  to  develop  additional 
yield,  is  an  equally  valuable 
resource. 

The  use  of  ground  water  storage 
capacity  can  be  divided  into  three 
general  categories  which  relate  to 
certain  areas  of  the  State. 

In  water-deficient  areas,  such  as 
Southern  California  and  the  San 
Francisco  Bay  area,  ground  water 
storage  capacity  may  be  required  to 
provide  terminal  regulation  to 
Imported  water  supplies.   In  this 
case  ground  water  storage  capacity 
provides  regulation  of  uniform 
deliveries  to  varying  monthly  demand 
schedules. 

In  the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  ground 
water  storage  can  be  used  to  provide 
regulation  of  surplus  water  Imported 


-70- 


from  Northern  California  during  wet 
years  for  later  local  and  possible 
export  use  during  subsequent  drier 
periods,  thus  complementing  off- 
stream  surface  reservoir  storage. 
In  the  Sacramento  Valley,  ground 
water  storage  capacity  similarly 
could  be  operated  in  conjunction 
with  surface  storage  facilities. 
This  would  allow  some  additional 
storage  of  flood  waters  with  an 
increased  firm  water  yield  to  meet 
local  and  statewide  needs. 

With  regard  to  augmentation  of  re- 
charge, planned  ground  water  replen- 
ishment has  been  practiced  on  a  sub- 
stantial scale  for  a  number  of 
years .   The  spreading  of  water  by 
the  Los  Angeles  County  Flood  Control 
District  in  the  Montibello  Forebay 
in  coastal  Los  Angeles  County  is  a 
notable  example  of  such  operation. 
The  principal  areas  of  deliberate 
recharge  on  a  large  scale  are  the 
South  Coastal  area,  San  Joaquin 
Valley,  and  the  Santa  Clara  Valley 
south  of  San  Francisco  Bay.  Spread- 
ing basins,  pits,  and  modified 
channels  are  the  principal  methods 
of  placing  water  underground. 

Prevention  of  sea  water  Intrusion 
is  an  essential  management  element 
in  coastal  ground  water  basins. 
Tills  involves  the  operation  of  a 
hydraulic  barrier  to  create  a  sea- 
ward gradient  along  the  coast.  This 
gradient  can  be  established  by 
injection  of  fresh  water  into  the 
aquifer,  such  as  is  being  accom- 
plished in  the  Los  Angeles  Coastal 
Plain  by  the  Los  Angeles  County 
Flood  Control  District;  a  combined 
injection-pumping  extraction  system, 
such  as  is  being  employed  at  the 
Alamitos  Gap  by  the  Orange  County 
Water  District  and  the  Los  Angeles 
County  Flood  Control  District;  and 
a  ground  water  extraction  barrier, 
such  as  constructed  on  an  experi- 
mental basis  in  the  Oxnard  Plain 
near  Ventura  by  the  Department  of 
Water  Resources. 

During  the  early  1960s  the  Depart- 
ment of  Water  Resources  developed  a 
ground  water  model  which  permitted 
studies  of  the  integrated  use  of 
surface  and  ground  water  facilities 


by  providing  information  enabling  an 
economic  comparison  of  a  range  of 
alternative  plans.  The  computer- 
ized model  has  been  and  is  being  used 
in  a  number  of  cooperative  ground 
water  basin  management  studies 
jointly  funded  by  the  Department  and 
local  agencies.   The  purpose  of  the 
studies  is  to  provide  a  basis  for 
local  agency  selection  and  imple- 
mentation of  the  most  advantageous 
plan. 

Such  studies  are  being  used  by  local 
agencies  to  determine  questions  of 
zones  of  benefit  (Kern  County), 
benefits  of  possible  modification  of 
classic  court  decrees  for  ground 
water  operation  (Raymond  Basin), 
optimization  of  a  water  distribution 
system  (San  Bernardino  Valley 
Municipal  Water  District),  and 
selection  of  a  ground  water  storage 
system  rather  than  a  dam  and  reser- 
voir for  regulation  of  imported 
water  (San  Diego  County). 

The  delivery  of  water  from  the  State 
Water  Project  aqueduct  will  provide 
an  opportunity  for  an  additional 
application  of  ground  water  manage- 
ment practices.   It  involves  the  use 
of  excess  aqueduct  capacity  during 
the  earlier  years  to  deliver  surplus 
water  for  recharge  and  storage  under- 
ground as  a  reserve  to  meet  future 
Increased  needs.   Examples  of  such 
practices  are  indicated  in  the 
operations  presently  being  conducted 
in  Santa  Clara  and  Alameda  Counties 
in  the  San  Francisco  Bay  area,  in 
the  San  Joaquin  Valley,  and  in  San 
Bernardino  County  and  the  San  Gabriel 
Valley  in  the  South  Coastal  area. 
Such  an  operation  could  enable  the 
deferral  of  capital  investment  for  a 
subsequent  water  supply  facility. 

The  foregoing  ground  water  management 
possibility  is  the  opposite  of 
practices  of  the  past,  wherein  vigor- 
ous economies  have  developed  by  con- 
tinued ground  water  overdraft, 
thereby  developing  a  financial  base 
for  construction  cfan  importation 
project.   Carefully  planned  over- 
draft of  a  ground  water  basin  could 
be  practiced  until  a  supplemental 
water  supply  could  be  made  available. 
However,  this  could  be  only  an  interim 


-71- 


measure,  as  an  additional  water  sup- 
ply would  be  necessary  to  sustain 
the  economy  and  provide  for  future 
growth. 


Future  Ground  Water  Use 

The  widespread  availability  of  ground 
water  in  California  and  the  increas- 
ing cost  of  the  development  of  sur- 
face sources  suggest  a  larger  role 
of  ground  water  in  the  future. 
However,  a  number  of  physical, 
economic,  legal,  legislative,  and 
political  factors  must  be  identified 
and  resolved  before  broad-scale 
planned  management  can  be  realized. 

Management  of  ground  water  resources 
within  the  framework  of  an  adopted 
management  plan  requires  that  the 
local  agency  be  able  to:   (l)  use 
ground  water  basin  storage  capacity 
to  regulate  local  or  imported  sur- 
face waters;  (2)  take  steps  to  con- 
trol sea  water  intrusion  in  coastal 
areas;  (3)  regulate  extraction 
patterns;  (k)    finance  needed  facili- 
ties; and  (5)  distribute  benefits 
equitably.   Procedures  are  already 
available  for  distribution  of  the 
annual  yield  of  the  ground  water 
basin. 

Some  local  agencies  have  powers  to 
create  hydraulic  barriers  to  sea 
water  intrusion,  but  no  local  agency 
has  the  power  to  control  extraction 
patterns,  except  as  accomplished 
through  the  economic  pressures  of  a 
pump  tax.   A  variety  of  financing 
measures,  from  direct  taxation  to  a 
tax  or  assessment  on  water  pumped, 
are  available  to  local  districts. 
In  the  future,  financing  methods 
and  a  method  of  distributing  bene- 
fits could  evolve  into  a  single 
financial  system  accomplishing  both 
purposes . 

Finally,  California's  statutes  are 
not  clear  regarding  ownership  of,  or 
rights  to,  the  use  of  ground  water 
storage  capacity.  The  only  laws  and 
regulations  In  this  regard  are  those 
established  by  the  courts  as  prob- 
lems have  arisen  and  suits  have  been 
filed  by  the  aggrieved.   A  constitu- 
tional amendment  might  be  necessary 


to  define  the  right  to  withdraw 
water  that  has  been  conserved  through 
use  of  this  storage. 

Agencies  that  are  operating  artifi- 
cial recharge  projects  at  this  time 
record  the  amounts  of  water  placed 
In  storage  as  a  basis  for  later 
withdrawal,  but  no  legal  basis 
exists  for  such  withdrawal.   Little 
has  been  done  to  determine  the 
losses  connected  with  use  of  under- 
ground storage,  or  the  apportionment 
of  losses  among  those  agencies  using 
storage  capacity.   There  have  been 
a  number  of  proposals  for  a  permit 
or  license  system  to  use  underground 
storage,  but  no  proposal  is  univer- 
sally supported. 

In  summary,  ground  water  in  storage 
and  ground  water  storage  capacity 
constitute  an  extremely  valuable 
resource  at  present  and  will  con- 
tinue to  be  in  the  future.   The 
value  of  ground  water  resources  lies 
in  the  use  of  ground  water  in  stor- 
age and  underground  storage  capacity 
(l)  to  provide  regulation  of  natural 
replenishment,  and  (2)  operated 
coordlnatedly  with  both  local  and 
imported  surface  supplies,  to  effect 
the  most  economical  use  of  total 
available  storage,  both  surface  and 
underground,  as  an  Integrated  sys- 
tem.  Full  realization  of  such  inte- 
grated surface  water-ground  water 
system  operations  in  areas  where  the 
ground  water  resource  is  available 
will  require  legal  and  legislative 
action  and  social  and  political 
acceptance. 


Desalting 

Desalting  is  undoubtedly  the  most 
talked-about  potential  source  of 
water  supply  to  meet  future  needs 
not  only  in  California  but  also  in 
other  areas  of  the  Nation  and  the 
world.   The  prospects  for  desalting 
depend  considerably  on  one's  point  of 
view.   In  some  arid  regions  of  the 
world  adjacent  to  the  ocean, 
literally  the  only  alternative  to 
desalting  is  water  delivered  by 
barge.   In  such  areas  the  art  of 
desalting  has  been  practiced  for 
many  years .   Many  of  these 


-72- 


Installations  have  very  small  capac- 
ities, and  relatively  large-capacity 
plants  were  ordered  only  recently, 
during  the  19dOs . 

In  California,  with  an  abundant 
water  supply  from  surface  and 
ground  water,  desalting  has  played 
essentially  no  part  to  date  in 
water  development.   From  the  stand- 
point of  economics  it  is  not  con- 
sidered that  desalting  will  play  a 
significant  role  in  supplying  sub- 
stantial quantities  of  water  in 
California  much  before  the  turn  of 
the  century.   Large -capacity  de- 
salting is  expected  to  be  by  that 
time  a  technical  alternative  and, 
possibly,  an  economical  alternative 
to  other  water  supply  sources, 
particularly  in  coastal  areas. 
Already,  however,  existing  or 
planned  coastal  cities  with  a  popu- 
lation of  up  to  50,000  and  isolated 
inland  communities  could  be  provided 
with  a  supply  of  high  quality  de- 
salted water  from  commercially 
available  apparatus  at  costs  accept- 
able for  municipal  and  industrial 
uses.   The  subject  of  desalting  has 
been  reported  on  in  depth  in  the 
Department's  Bulletin  No.  134-69, 
"Desalting--State  of  the  Art". 


Department's  Desalting  Program 

The  Department  of  Water  Resources 
has  had  a  program  in  desalting 
since  1957.   Close  cooperation  has 
been  maintained  with  the  federal 
Office  of  Saline  Water  in  an  attempt 
to  develop  and  expand  desalting 
technology.   The  Department  was 
authorized  to  cooperate  with  the 
Office  of  Saline  Water,  and  the 
California  Legislature  appropriated 
funds  for  a  50-50  sharing  of  capital 
costs  for  the  federal  Office  of 
Saline  Water  Demonstration  Plant  at 
Point  Loma  in  San  Diego.   The  State 
of  California  contributed  about 
$820,000  to  the  project  during  its 
construction.   After  the  United 
States  moved  the  plant  to  Guantanamo 
Bay  in  Cuba,  California,  by  mutual 
agreement,  transferred  its  interest 
in  the  Point  Loma  plant  to  the 
Office  of  Saline  Water  test  facility 
in  San  Diego. 


Under  provision  of  the  Cobey-Porter 
Saline  Water  Conversion  Law  desalted 
water  from  this  test  facility  is 
delivered  to  the  City  of  San  Diego 
through  a  pipeline  constructed  by 
the  Department  of  Water  Resources. 
The  desalted  water  is  used  in  the 
San  Diego  area.   By  the  end  of  fiscal 
year  I969-7O  the  Department  had  de- 
livered over  650  million  gallons 
(2,000  acre-feet)  of  desalted  water. 
In  addition  to  gaining  experience 
from  handling  the  desalted  water, 
the  Department  is  gaining  experience 
regarding  the  effect  of  desalted 
water  on  various  materials  and 
coatings  from  the  study  of  10  differ- 
ent test  sections  in  the  pipeline. 

In  furtherance  of  its  cooperative 
efforts  in  areas  of  mutual  interest 
with  the  Office  of  Saline  Water,  the 
Department  of  Water  Resources  updated 
on  November  17,  I969  its  1958  coop- 
erative agreement  for  mutual  assis- 
tance in  the  development  and  appli- 
cation of  desalting.   Under  the 
current  agreement  the  Department 
will  intensify  its  cooperative 
efforts  in  the  development  of  poten- 
tial desalting  applications  and 
sites,  and  in  the  development  of  a 
large -capacity  prototype  desalter. 
One  of  the  early  efforts  will  be  to 
explore  thoroughly  the  possibilities 
for  the  construction  and  operation 
of  a  prototype  desalter  in  Califor- 
nia.  Toward  that  end  the  Department 
signed  an  agreement  with  the  Office 
of  Saline  Water  on  May  1,  1970  to 
undertake  a  siting  study  for  a 
prototype  desalting  plant. 

The  prototype  desalter  program  is 
intended  to  develop  a  desalting 
plant  with  a  nominal  capacity  of  up 
to  50  million  gallons  per  day  (equi- 
valent to  50,060  acre-feet  per  year). 
The  exact  capacity  will  be  a  balance 
between  the  need  for  technology  and 
the  market  for  the  desalted  water. 
Several  years  will  be  required  in 
the  selection  of  a  water  service  area 
and  a  site;  in  obtaining  authoriza- 
tion; and  in  the  design  and  construc- 
tion of  the  plant. 

This  program  Is  needed  in  the  1970s 
to  develop  large-capacity  desalting 
technology  so  that  operating  and 


-73- 


cost  information  can  be  available 
for  decision-making  purposes  in  the 
1980s  concerning  the  role  desalting 
may  play  in  meeting  some  of 
California's  future  water  require- 
ments.  Specifically,  the  program 
is  intended  to  accomplish: 

1.  Determination  of  technical 
and  operating  information 
from  a  prototype  desalter 
needed  for  the  design  and 
cost  estimate  of  large- 
capacity  desalters; 

2.  Operation  of  a  prototype 
desalter  in  conjunction 
with  an  electric  generation 
unit  to  evaluate  interface 
problems  between  water  and 
power  production; 

3.  Utilization  of  the  water  In 
a  water  service  area  in 
order  to  gain  experience  in 
the  best  means  of  integrat- 
ing a  supply  of  desalted 
water  with  other  water 
supplies ; 

4.  Establishing  means  of  environ- 
mentally acceptable  operation, 
especially  in  connection  with 
the  discharge  of  warm  sea 
water  and  brine  back  into  the 
ocean. 


Federal  Desalting  Program 

Since  congressional  enactment  of  the 
Saline  Water  Act  in  1952,  the 
Federal  Government  has  been  actively 
developing  desalting  technology.  The 
Act  provides  for  the  development  of 
practicable  low -cost  means  of  pro- 
ducing water  of  a  quality  suitable 
for  various  beneficial  uses  on  a 
scale  sufficient  to  determine  the 
feasibility  of  production  and  distri- 
bution on  a  large-scale  basis.  The 
term  saline  water  includes  sea  water, 
brackish  water,  and  other  mineral- 
ized or  chemically  charged  water. 

Federal  expenditures  for  desali- 
nation were  modest  until  the  mid- 
1960s  when  a  large  expansion  was 
made  in  the  program.   Expenditures 


during;  fiscal  year  I969-7O  were 
about  $25  million.   The  larger 
budget  has  permitted  the  federal 
Office  of  Saline  Water  to  substan- 
tially expand  the  reserach  and  de- 
velopment work  it  can  support. 

Current  Status  and  Cost  of 
Desaltirig 

The  aggregate  capacity  of  desalters 
on  a  worldwide  basis  has  increased 
from  60  million  gallons  per  day  in 
1961  to  about  310  million  gallons 
per  day  at  the  start  of  1970,  for 
an  annual  growth  rate  of  18  percent. 
The  total  desalting  capacity  by  1975 
is  projected  to  increase  to  1,250 
million  gallons  per  day. 

Prior  to  1967  the  largest  single- 
unit  sea  water  desalter  had  a  capa- 
bility of  producing  about  1.7 
million  gallons  per  day  (1,700  acre- 
feet  per  year).   In  I967  a  desalter 
was  placed  in  operation  in  Key  West, 
Florida,  with  a  capability  of  pro- 
ducing 2.6  million  gallons  per  day 
(2,600  acre-feet  per  year)  in  a 
single-unit  plant.  The  Key  West 
plant  desalts  sea  water  for  about 
85  cents  per  1,000  gallons,  or  $280 
per  acre-foot.   It  was  the  largest 
in  the  world  until  late  1968  when  a 
plant  was  completed  at  Rosarito 
Beach,  Mexico.   It  has  a  capability 
of  7.5  million  gallons  per  day 
(7,500  acre-feet  per  year)  from 
twin-unit  desalters,  each  with  a 
capacity  of  3-75  million  gallons  per 
day.   Desalted  water  from  the 
Rosarito  Beach  plant  has  been  esti- 
mated to  cost  in  the  65-to-75-cents- 
per-thousand-gallon  range  ($210-245 
per  acre-foot). 

In  1969  Kuwait  purchased  five  desalt- 
ing units,  each  with  a  capacity  of 
6  million  gallons  per  day  for  a 
total  capacity  of  30  million  gallons 
per  day.  These  plants  are  expected 
to  be  placed  on  the  line  starting  in 
1971.  The  projected  cost  of  desalted 
water  from  the  6-million-gpd  plants 
is  expected  to  be  about  $100  per 
acre -foot.  However,  in  Kuwait  the 
cost  of  fuel  is  only  about  one-tenth 
the  cost  in  California. 


-74- 


studies  and  plans  are  under  way  in 
many  countries  for  much  larger  de- 
salting plants,  usually  in  combina- 
tion with  power  production.  A 
nuclear  reactor  is  the  most  likely 
energy  source  for  these  very  large 
plants. 

One  of  the  most  complete  studies 
for  determining  the  probable  cost 
of  desalted  water  in  large-capacity 
plants  was  the  Bolsa  Island  Project, 
a  dual-purpose  nuclear  power  and 
desalting  plant,  studied  by  the 
Metropolitan  Water  District  of 
Southern  California,  local  power 
utilities,  the  U.  S.  Office  of 
Saline  Water,  and  the  U.  S.  Atomic 
Energy  Commission. 

The  desalted  water  from  the  Bolsa 
Project  delivered  to  the  Diemer 
filtration  plant  for  distribution 
was  estimated  in  1965  to  cost  $88 
per  acre-foot  ($0.27  per  thousand 
gallons),  and  estimated  in  1968  to 
cost  $143  per  acre-foot  ($0.44  per 
thousand  gallons).   This  project 
did  not  proceed  largely  because  of 
escalation  and  the  cost  and  uncer- 
tainties associated  with  licensing 
of  the  nuclear  reactors. 


Desalting  in  the  Future 

As  the  technology  of  removing 
dissolved  solids  from  water  is  de- 
veloped and  the  cost  of  such  proces- 
ses is  lowered,  the  economic  feasi- 
bility of  supplying  desalted  water 
to  more  areas  of  the  State  will  in- 
crease.  It  is  anticipated  that 
developments  in  desalting  will  pro- 
vide new  and  promising  means  to 
assist  in  the  future  development  of 
California's  water  resources  and 
must  be  considered  as  an  option  in 
the  development  of  future  water 
supply  sources. 

Reduction  in  the  cost  of  desalted 
water  from  large -capacity  plants  of 
the  future  can  be  achieved  through 
the  application  of  nuclear  energy, 
most  likely  in  dual-purpose  plants. 
However,  nuclear  desalters  will 
encounter  the  same  licensing  and 
safety  problems  as  will  nuclear 
power-only  plants.   A  satisfactory 


solution  to  siting  on  the  California 
coast  will  not  be  easy.   Failure  to 
achieve  resolution  of  the  siting 
problems  may  add  materially  to  the 
cost  of  desalting  as  an  alternative 
source  of  supply  to  meet  future 
needs  in  California. 

At  the  present  time  the  distillation 
methods  (the  use  of  heat  to  boil 
water)  of  desalting  show  the  most 
promise  for  large-capacity  sea  water 
desalting.   Developments  have  been 
substantial  with  the  reverse  osmosis 
process  (the  separation  of  water 
from  the  salt  solution  by  passage 
through  an  organic  membrane).   It 
seems  entirely  possible  that  con- 
tinued developments  in  this  tech- 
nology could  substantially  widen 
desalting  options  in  the  future  in 
terms  of  sea  water,  brackish  water, 
and  waste  water  desalting  and  in  the 
flexibility  of  plant  locations. 

The  distillation  method  of  desalting 
produces  almost  salt-free  water. 
This  high-quality  water  would  have 
a  value  in  "stretching"  existing 
supplies  and  in  water  quality 
management  in  general .   This  poten- 
tial exists  in  several  areas  of 
California  where  the  water  supplies 
presently  available  are  slightly 
brackish  but  could  be  made  more 
usable  through  a  blending  process. 

Looking  into  the  future,  the  expec- 
tation is  that  the  technology  needed 
to  build  dual-purpose  nuclear  sys- 
tems could  be  developed  so  that  con- 
struction of  large-capacity  sea 
water  desalters  might  be  initiated 
in  the  mid-1980s  for  operation  in 
the  1990s.   Also  in  the  1990  time 
frame  the  reverse  osmosis  process 
utilizing  electro-energy  may  be 
developed  so  that  such  desalters  for 
sea  water  and  other  salt  waters, 
including  waste  waters,  can  be 
located  close  to  the  point  of  water 
demand  and  at  the  same  time  at  a 
considerable  distance  from  the 
necessary  power  source.   As  larger 
capacity  facilities  are  built, 
brine  disposal  problems  will  become 
more  f  ormi  dab 1 e . 

Many  factors  that  will  Influence  the 
cost  of  desalted  water  In  the  future 


-75- 


cannot  be  determined  with  certainty, 
Expectations,  however,  appear  to  be 
sufficiently  attractive  to  warrant 
continued  consideration  of  desalt- 
ing as  an  alternative  for  future 
augmentation  or  supplementation  of 
water  supply. 


Water  Reclamation 

The  2  million  acre-feet  of  munici- 
pal waste  water  discharged  annu- 
ally in  California  represents  a 
significant  flow  of  water  to  be 
considered  in  planning  for  future 
water  supplies.   At  the  present 
time  less  than  8  percent  of  this 
waste  water  is  reclaimed  for  bene- 
ficial uses.   Although  certain 
technical,  economic  and  other  fac- 
tors would  preclude  renovation  and 
reuse  of  all  waste  water  generated, 
there  would  still  be  an  Important 
residual  that  could  be  put  to  bene- 
ficial use,  thereby  stretching  the 
use  of  a  primary  water  supply  to 
meet  increasing  water  demands  in  a 
region.   Water  reclamation  also  can 
reduce  overall  waste  disposal  costs 
and  translate  potential  water 
quality  control  problems  into  en- 
vironmental enhancement. 

Conditions  are  becoming  increasing- 
ly more  favorable  for  water  recla- 
mation.  Current  emphasis  on  "clean 
water",  for  example,  necessitates 
higher  levels  of  treatment  solely 
for  the  purpose  of  waste  water  dis- 
posal.  Also  the  public  is  becoming 
more  receptive  to  the  idea  of  water 
reclamation  and  reuse.   In  consid- 
ering the  feasibility  of  water 
reclamation  as  a  potential  source 
of  additional  water  supply,  all 
benefits,  costs,  constraints,  and 
other  factors  must  be  evaluated,  as 
Is  done  with  any  other  potential 
water  supply  source. 

This  section  discusses  the  role  of 
the  Department  of  Water  Resources 
and  the  potential  and  present  status 
of  water  reclamation  In  California. 


The  Department's  Role  in 
Water  Reclamation 

In  planning  for  water  supplies  to 
meet  future  needs  the  Department  of 
Water  Resources  considers  water 
reclamation  of  significant  potential. 
Since  1952  the  Department  has  col- 
lected Information  on  waste  treatment 
facilities,  quality  and  quantity  of 
major  waste  discharges,  and  waste 
water  reclamation  projects  in 
California.   At  the  present  time  an 
inventory  is  maintained  on  the  quan- 
tity of  significant  waste  discharges 
in  the  metropolitan  areas  of  the 
South  Coastal  and  the  San  Francisco 
Bay  areas . 

This  inventory  serves  as  a  basis  for 
more  detailed  studies  of  the  feasi- 
bility of  waste  water  reclamation  to 
meet  a  part  of  the  demand  for  addi- 
tional water  supplies.   Data  are 
obtained  on  the  quantity  of  reclaim- 
able  water,  beneficial  uses,  and 
costs  of  producing  reclaimed  water. 
The  objectives  of  such  studies  are 
to  evaluate  the  practicality  of  re- 
claiming water  from  waste  flows  and 
to  encourage  and  stimulate  the  plan- 
ned reuse  of  waste  waters  of  suitable 
quality,  where  warranted. 

The  Department  considers  three 
general  ways  in  which  waste  water  Is 
recovered  for  beneficial  use:   (l) 
by  discharging  effluent  into  a 
natural  water  course  such  as  a  river 
or  ground  water  basin,  without 
deliberately  intending  to  reclaim  the 
water,  (2)  by  constructing  and  oper- 
ating facilities  for  the  express 
purpose  of  reclaiming  water  from 
wastes,  and  (3)  by  directly  putting 
to  beneficial  use  effluent  from  a 
treatment  facility  intended  primarily 
for  sewage  disposal . 

Water  reclamation  as  defined  under 
item  (l)  occurs  incidentally  in 
nonnal  water  use  and  waste  water  dis- 
posal practices  In  Inland  areas  and 
is  not  included  in  any  estimates  of 
quantity  or  cost  In  this  section. 
Items  (2)  and  (3),  but  primarily 
item  (2),  deliberate  renovation  of 
water,  are  of  concern  In  this  dis- 
cussion.  The  major  factors  of  con- 
cern in  deliberate  renovation  and 


-76- 


reuse  of  waste  water  are  protection 
of  public  health,  concentration  of 
dissolved  minerals,  costs,  and 
public  acceptance. 

Most  existing  water  reclamation 
projects  employ  conventional  sewage 
treatment  processes  to  remove  objec- 
tionable materials  from  the  waste 
water.   For  example,  the  secondary- 
sewage  treatment  process,  if  proper- 
ly designed  and  operated,  can  pro- 
duce a  clear,  odorless  effluent, 
almost  completely  free  of  organic 
and  bacterial  content.   Additional 
treatment,  such  as  filtration  and 
disinfection,  can  ensure  destruction 
of  most  disease  agents;  however, 
these  processes  produce  very  little 
change  in  the  mineral  content  of 
the  water.   Reclaimed  wateris  not 
used  directly  to  meet  domestic 
water  demands  because  of  problems 
of  detection,  identification,  and 
removal  of  virus  and  other  disease 
agents . 


Potential  Future  of 
Water  Reclamation 

The  most  favorable  opportunity  for 
economical  direct  reclamation  of 
waste  water  appears  to  be  in  those 
locations  in  the  State  where  import- 
ed primary  water  supplies  are  expen- 
sive, and  where  large  quantities  of 
water  with  low  mineral  content  are 
discharged  to  the  ocean  after  only 
one  use.   These  conditions  prevail 
largely  in  California's  South 
Coastal  and  San  Francisco  Bay  areas. 
Moreover,  the  present  national, 
state  and  general  public  interest  in 
high  levels  of  water  quality  impose 
increasingly  stringent  waste  dis- 
charge requirements.   Compliance 
with  these  high  standards  will 
necessitate  expensive  and  more 
advance  treatment  facilities  whether 
or  not  water  reclamation  is  intended. 
Any  additional  costs  for  reclamation 
should  be  relatively  small  and  this 
should  encourage  a  trend  for  more 
waste  water  reuse. 

In  the  Central  Valley  and  other  in- 
land regions  of  California  almost 
all  waste  water  is  reused  inciden- 
tally.  Quantities  are  taken  into 


account  in  planning  for  future  water 
supplies  to  serve  these  regions,  but 
are  not  identified  specifically  as 
water  reclamation.   Also,  agricul- 
tural return  flows  are  not  con- 
sidered as  waste  water  in  the  context 
of  this  discussion,  as  flows,  for 
the  most  part,  are  retained  in  the 
water  supply  system  and  are  avail- 
able for  reuse.   Accordingly,  they 
are  regarded  as  part  of  the  avail- 
able supply  in  the  Department's 
planning  studies. 

In  the  North  Coastal  region,  water 
supplies  are  basically  plentiful: 
therefore,  the  necessity  for  recla- 
mation and  reuse  of  waste  water  is 
not  considered  of  immediate  impor- 
tance.  As  in  the  Central  Valley, 
water  is  indirectly  reclaimed  where 
waste  water  is  returned  to  streams 
and  becomes  a  part  of  the  downstream 
water  supply. 

In  evaluating  the  potential  of  water 
reclamation  a  determination  must  be 
made  of  the  quantities  of  water  that 
can  be  feasibly  reclaimed  from  waste 
discharges  in  each  area.   Feasible 
water  reclamation  may  be  defined  as 
the  amount  of  water  produced  by  the 
waste  water  treatment  process  that 
can  be  reclaimed  and  directly  used 
in  an  area  to  meet  the  economic 
demand  for  water  without  causing 
physical,  economic,  and  public 
health  detriments.   Feasible  water 
reclamation  quantities  are  con- 
sidered in  the  Department's  water 
supply  projections  and  are  based  on 
project  feasibility  studies.   These 
studies  include  consideration  of 
costs,  demands  for  reclaimed  water, 
and  physical  constraints  such  as 
ground  water  recharge  capacity. 

Quantities  of  waste  water  generated 
in  an  area  are  directly  proportional 
to  quantities  of  water  supply.   Con- 
sumptive uses  and  system  losses  re- 
duce the  total  quantity  of  municipal 
waste  water  to  about  30  percent  of 
the  total  municipal  water  supply. 
The  quantity  of  waste  water  that  can 
be  feasibly  reclaimed  may  be  limited 
by  the  quality  of  waste  water,  cost 
of  treatment,  prospective  uses,  and 
location  of  prospective  use  sites. 
Also  a  certain  amount  of  water  would 
still  be  needed  to  transport  residual 


-77- 


wastes  to  the  ultimate  disposal  site 
such  as  the  ocean.   In  general,  not 
more  than  about  20  percent  of  the 
total  municipal  water  supply  in 
coastal  communities  should  be  con- 
sidered available  for  reclamation 
on  a  practical  basis. 

Waste  water  containing  total  dis- 
solved solids  in  excess  of  1,000 
parts  per  million  generally  is 
unsuitable  for  most  beneficial  uses 
and  is  not  considered  potentially 
reclaimable  at  this  time.   Also, 
the  presence  of  specific  chemicals, 
such  as  mercury,  arsenic,  cyanide, 
fluoride,  boron,  phenols,  nitrate, 
and  sulfate,  as  well  as  other  toxic 
materials,  could  cause  waste  water 
to  be  unsuitable  for  reclamation. 
Additional  research  is  needed  on 
detection,   removal,  and  effects  of 
toxic  materials  in  the  water 
environment , 

Although  there  are  certain  restric- 
tions on  its  use,  reclamation  of 
waste  water  is  increasing  in  the 
South  Coastal  area  and  other  areas 
where  it  can  be  put  to  beneficial 
use  locally.   At  the  present  time 
the  City  of  Los  Angeles  and  the 
Los  Angeles  County  Sanitation 
Districts  dispose  of  approximately 
700  million  gallons  of  waste  water 
per  day  (780,000  acre-feet  per  year), 
mostly  through  ocean  outfalls  into 
Santa  Monica  Bay.   However,  there  is 
a  trend  toward  constructing  the  new 
waste  water  treatment  plants  farther 
inland.   This  is  more  economical 
than  constructing  long  trunk  sewers 
and  ocean  outfalls.   Also,  rela- 
tively inexpensive  water  supplies 
become  available  to  downstream  areas 


of  use  with  little  or  no  pumping 
required. 

The  potential  amount  of  water  which 
may  be  reclaimed  from  wastes  in  the 
South  Coastal  area,  where  about 
90  percent  of  the  State's  potential 
lies,  is  estimated  to  increase  from 
110,000  to  1.1  million  acre-feet 
per  year  between  1970  and  2020. 
This  is  shown  in  the  tabulation  at 
the  bottom  of  this  page  which  also 
Indicates  that  feasible  reclamation 
in  that  area  could  range  from  about 
50,000  acre -feet  per  year  at  the 
present  time  to  600,000  acre-feet 
per  year  by  2020.   The  difference 
between  potential  water  reclamation 
and  feasible  water  reclamation,  as 
shown  in  the  tabulation,  could  be 
considered  as  a  possible  additional 
supply  to  satisfy  uses  not  included 
in  the  projected  water  demands  dis- 
cussed in  Chapters  XV  and  VI. 

In  the  future,  uses  for  reclaimed 
waste  water  undoubtedly  will  expand, 
including  uses  for  landscaping, 
greenbelts,  fire  suppression,  and 
recreational  lakes.   In  brushy  areas 
waste  water  could  be  used  to  reduce 
fire  hazards.   On  an  Integrated 
system  basis,  digested  sludge  from 
the  waste  treatment  plant  could  be 
used  as  a  soil  conditioner  and 
fertilizer.   Also,  nutrients  in 
waste  water  are  major  fertilizer 
ingredients  and  could  be  beneficial 
in  an  irrigation  water  supply. 

Present  Status  and  Use 
of  Reclaimed  Water 

Figure  l4  shows  locations  of  all 
coastal  municipal  waste  water 


1,000  Acre -Feet 


Waste  Water  Production 
Potential  Water  Reclamation 
Feasible  Water  Reclamation 


1970 

:     1990 

:     2020 

1,225 

1,960 

2,700 

110 

760 

1,100 

60 

300 

600 

-78- 


FIGURE  14 


j  LOCATION  AND  RELATIVE  QUANTITIES  OF  MUNICIPAL 

WASTE  WATER  DISCHARGED  IN  COASTAL  COUNTIES 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

1968 


NORTH     COASTAL 
SAN    FRANCISCO    BAY 
CENTRAL    COASTAL 
SOUTH    COASTAL 
SACRAMENTO    BASIN 
DELTA  -  CENTRAL  SIERRA 
SAN    JOAQUIN  BASIN 
TULARE    BASIN 
NORTH   LAHONTAN 
SOUTH     LAHONTAN 
COLORADO   DESERT 


WASTE  WATER  FACILITY  WHICH   DISCHARGES 
MORE   THAN  ONE  MILLION  GALLONS  PER  DAY 


-3    SCALE  OF  WASTE  WATER  QUANTITIES  DISCHARGED 
2    IN  EACH  COUNTY  IN  100  MILLION  GALLONS  PER  DAY 


-79- 


facilities  which  discharged  more 
than  1  million  gallons  of  effluent 
per  day  in  I968.   Also  shown, 
graphically,  are  total  quantities 
in  100  million  gallons  per  day  of 
municipal  waste  water  discharged  in 
each  coastal  county.   The  figure 
illustrates  the  greater  concentra- 
tions of  individual  waste  water 
facilities  as  well  as  the  greater 
quantities  of  municipal  waste  water 
discharged  in  the  San  Francisco  Bay 
and  South  Coastal  areas. 

A  directory  compiled  by  the  Califor- 
nia Department  of  Public  Health  in 
1969  listed  172  water  reclamation 
projects  either  under  construction 
or  in  operation  in  California.   The 
directory  included  the  use  or  uses 
to  be  made  of  the  reclaimed  water. 
Irrigation  of  agricultural  crops, 
principally  fodder  and  pasture,  was 
carried  out  in  138  projects. 

Present  water  reclamation  in  Cali- 
fornia aggregates  about  135^000 
acre-feet  per  year  with  irrigation 
as  the  major  application.  In  I967 
about  95*000  acre-feet  of  reclaimed 
water  was  used  to  irrigate  nearly 
23,000  acres  of  land  at  various 
locations.   The  following  examples 
cover  some  of  the  major  types  of 
use. 

At  Golden  Gate  Park  in  San  Francisco 
reclaimed  water  supplies  about  1 
million  gallons  of  water  per  day 
(1,100  acre-feet  per  year)  from  the 
middle  of  January  through  November 
for  use  in  the  park's  ornamental 
lakes  and  irrigation  system.   This 
source  supplies  about  25  percent  of 
the  1,017-acre  park's  water  needs 
for  horticultural  purposes. 

The  Whittier  Narrows  Water  Recla- 
mation Plant  of  the  Los  Angeles 
County  Sanitation  District  has 
established  the  practicality  of 
large-scale  planned  ground  water 
replenishment  operations  using 
reclaimed  domestic  waste  water.   The 
facility  reclaims  14  million  gallons 
per  day  (15,000  acre-feet  per  year) 
of  domestic  sewage  for  downstream 
ground  water  replenishment. 


At  Santee  in  San  Diego  County  the 
Santee  County  Water  District  oper- 
ates  a  planned  water  reclamation 
system  of  small  lakes  for  recre- 
ation.  About  4  million  gallons  per 
day  of  domestic  sewage,  after 
secondary  treatment  and  pond  oxi- 
dation, is  pumped  upstream  to  Syca- 
more Canyon  where  effluent  percolates 
through  the  alluvium  to  collection 
galleries  for  use  in  the  recreation- 
al lakes.   Six  lakes  have  been  cre- 
ated, four  of  which  are  used  for 
fishing  and  boating.   Some  of  the 
lake  water  is  further  treated  and 
used  in  a  nearby  swimming  pool.   A 
park  adjoins  the  lakes  with  picnick- 
ing and  playground  facilities.  Some 
of  the  reclaimed  water  is  used  to 
irrigate  a  nearby  golf  course. 

The  Indian  Creek  Project  of  the 
South  Tahoe  Public  Utility  District 
was  also  implemented  because  of  a 
need  to  dispose  of  waste  water. 
There  were  indications  that  nutrients 
from  waste  water  discharged  into 
Lake  Tahoe  were  stimulating  the 
growth  of  algae  which  could  eventu- 
ally destroy  the  alpine-blue  color 
of  the  lake.   As  a  partial  solution 
to  the  problem  waste  water  generated 
on  about  one-half  of  the  land  sur- 
rounding the  lake  is  now  given 
advanced  tertiary  treatment  in  a 
plant  designed  for  7.5  million 
gallons  per  day  and  pumped  out  of 
the  basin  into  Indian  Creek  Reser- 
voir in  Alpine  County.   The  water  is 
used  for  Irrigation  in  the  downstream 
Carson  River  drainage.   Indian  Creek 
Reservoir  also  has  developed  an 
abundance  of  aquatic  life  and  the 
beginning  of  what  may  turn  out  to  be 
one  of  the  best  fisheries  in 
Northern  California. 


Water  Reclamation  Studies.   It  was 
mentioned  earlier  that  the  Depart- 
ment has  conducted  studies  of  the 
feasibility  of  waste  water  reclama- 
tion in  meeting  a  part  of  the  demand 
for  additional  water  supplies. 
Studies  have  been  completed  for  the 
San  Francisco-San  Jose  area, 
Watsonville  area,  Los  Angeles  metro- 
politan area,  coastal  San  Diego 
County,  Coachella  Valley,  and 
Ventura  County.   A  study  Is  now 


-80- 


Water  Reclamation  Projects 


Santee Onv  ol  four  lakt-s  used  lur  iishing  cind  Ixxiling 


.<r 


South   Tohoe   Public  Utility  District 
Indian  Creek Reclaimed  water  supply  to  lake  exceeds  U.S.  Public  Health  Service  drinking  wali-r  slandardt^ 


under  way  in  San  Luis  Obispo  County. 
Bulletins  which  have  been  published 
to  present  the  findings  of  the  com- 
pleted studies  are  listed  below. 
Unpublished  reports  or  data  on  addi- 
tional studies  are  available  in  the 
Department's  files. 

1.  Bulletin  No.  67,  "Reclamation 
of  Water  from  Sewage  and 
Industrial  Wastes,  Watsonvllle 
Area,  Santa  Cruz  and  Monterey 
Counties",  1959. 

2.  Bulletin  No.  80,  "Feasibility 
of  Reclamation  of  Water  from 
Wastes  in  Los  Angeles  Metro- 
politan Area",  I96I . 

3.  Bulletin  No.  80-2,  "Reclama- 
tion of  Water  from  Wastes : 
Coastal  San  Diego  County", 
1968. 

4.  Bulletin  No.  80-3,  "Reclama- 
tion of  Water  from  Wastes: 
Coachella  Valley",  I966. 

Evidence  exists  that  these  programs 
and  reports  have  stimulated  interest 
in  the  reclamation  of  water  from 
wastes,  particularly  in  Southern 
California. 


Cost  of  Water  Reclamation.   Costs 
assignable  to  water  reclamation  are 
a  function  of  costs  of  water  supply 
and  waste  disposal  and  depend  to  a 
large  extent  on  pricing  policies  of 
the  agencies  involved.   In  general, 
the  cost  assignable  to  the  reclama- 
tion of  waste  water  is  the  cost  over 
and  above  the  cost  of  treatment  for 
disposal  plus  the  cost  of  delivery. 
In  evaluating  the  cost  of  water 
reclamation  a  major  consideration  is 
that  any  costs  for  primary  and  secon- 
dary treatment  should  be  allocated 
to  waste  water  disposal  because  this 
level  of  treatment  is  required  for 
disposal  whether  or  not  reclamation 
occurs.   For  most  uses  waste  water 
receiving  secondary  treatment  is 
generally  satisfactory,  and  the  cost 
of  the  reclaimed  water  is  the  cost 
of  delivery. 

Water  receiving  no  more  than  secon- 
dary treatment  can  generally  be 


used  for  ground  water  replenishment 
and  controlled  Irrigation.   The 
delivered  cost  of  this  water  depends 
on  the  capital  cost  of  the  trans- 
mission facilities,  the  amount  of 
pumping  required,  and  the  quantity 
of  reclaimed  water  involved.   For 
existing  reclamation  projects,  esti- 
noated  costs  range  from  $5  to  $20  per 
acre-foot.   Reclaimed  water  injected 
Into  wells  for  sea  water  intrusion 
barriers  must  receive  tertiary  treat- 
ment, including  possibly  coagulation 
and  sedimentation.   This  increases 
the  cost  of  the  water  by  $15  to  $20 
per  acre-foot.   Estimated  costs  of 
reclaiming  waste  water  ranged  up  to 
about  $50  per  acre-foot  in  several 
feasibility  reports  prepared  by 
local  agencies  and  to  more  than  $100 
per  acre-foot  for  a  small  reclamation 
project  producing  less  than  1,000 
acre-feet  per  year. 


Legal  Requirements  and  Public 
Acceptance.  Regulations  and  re quire- 
ments  for  quality  of  water  from  all 
sources  that  can  be  used  by  the 
public  have  been  set  by  state  and 
local  authorities .   To  ensure  protec- 
tion of  the  public  health,  and  other 
social  benefits,  state  and  local 
authorities  impose  stringent  regula- 
tions and  requirements  upon  reclama- 
tion of  water  from  wastes.   These 
authorities  include  the  State  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Health,  the  State 
Water  Resources  Control  Board,  the 
California  Regional  Water  Quality 
Control  Boards,  the  State  Department 
of  Fish  and  Game,  and  county  and  city 
agencies . 

Pursuant  to  the  Water  Reclamation  Law 
(Division  7,  Chapter  7  of  the  Water 
Code),  the  Department  of  Public 
Health  has  promulgated  a  set  of 
standards  for  safe  reuse  of  waste 
water  for  specified  purposes.   The 
regional  water  quality  control 
boards  are  empowered  by  this  law  to 
apply  these  standards  in  setting 
requirements  for  the  reuse  of  re- 
claimed waste  water. 

The  renovation  of  waste  water  in  the 
past  has  generally  met  requirements 
for  the  uses  intended.   In  the  future, 
as  the  technology  of  reclaiming  waste 


-82- 


water  improves,  water  of  even  better 
quality  may  be  produced. 

Reclaimed  water  has  been  used  in 
California  for  many  years  and  the 
public  now  appears  to  be  more  fully 
accepting  its  use.   As  the  costs  of 
new  water  supplies  and  waste  water 
disposal  continue  to  rise,  it  may  be 
anticipated  that  the  public  will 
react  favorably  to  any  project  that 
will  reduce  the  cost  of  either  or 
both  of  these  necessary  services. 
These  factors,  along  with  advances 
in  technology  on  reclamation,  indi- 
cate that  planned  reuse  of  reclaimed 
water  will  become  an  increasingly 
significant  portion  of  the  total 
water  supply  in  the  South  Coastal 
area. 


Western  States  Water 
Development 

Among  the  alternative  sources  of 
water  that  should  be  considered  in 
planning  to  meet  California's  future 
water  needs  is  importation  through 
western  states  or  international 
water  development.   Such  a  develop- 
ment might  deliver  water  (l)  near 
California's  northern  border  for 
distribution  via  natural  streams  and 
existing  or  new  aqueduct  systems  in 
the  Central  Valley  and  adjacent 
areas;  (2)  near  the  eastern  boundary 
to  serve  portions  of  the  area  east 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada;  or  (3)  to  the 
Colorado  Desert  and  South  Coastal 
areas  probably,  at  least  in  part, 
through  augmentation  of  and  rediver- 
sion  from  the  Colorado  River. 


Other  Possible 
Sources  of  Water 

The  possibilities  offered  by  new  or 
nontraditional  sources  of  water  are 
intriguing.   In  general,  the  public 
seems  to  be  keyed  to  the  potential 
rather  than  the  limitations  of  new, 
economically  unproved  methods  for 
developing  water  supplies.   This  is 
a  proper  public  attitude,  for  such 
an  attitude  is  a  necessary  climate 
for  advancement  in  technology;  but 
it  is  also  necessary  that  enthusiasm 
for  the  potential  be  tempered  by 
knowledge  of  the  physical,  economic, 
and  social  constraints  so  as  to 
enable  valid  comparison  with  other 
alternative  available  sources. 

This  section  discusses  several  possi- 
ble sources  of  water  which  could 
assist  in  meeting  California's 
future  water  demands.   Among  the 
possible  new  sources  are  weather 
modification,  watershed  management, 
and  geothermal  energy  for  desalting 
of  saline  ground  water.   New  or 
expanded  concepts  of  long-distance 
transportation  of  water  are  repre- 
sented in  an  interstate  transfer  of 
surplus  water  within  the  Western 
States,  and  in  a  proposed  undersea 
aqueduct.   Finally,  the  possibility 
of  stretching  available  water  sup- 
plies through  reassignment  of  uses, 
pricing  policy,  and  greater  efficiency 
in  water  management  is  discussed. 


Developments  of  this  scale,  involv- 
ing importation  from  the  North- 
western States  or  even  from  Canada 
or  Alaska,  would  be  of  such  magni- 
tude that  they  would  probably  be 
practical  only  in  conjunction  with 
a  general  plan  to  augment  the  waters 
of  the  Colorado  River  stream  system. 
The  cost  of  such  a  development 
would  be  very  large  and  necessary 
political  arrangements  would  be  com- 
plex.  Thus,  it  could  be  considered 
only  a  possibility  for  meeting  the 
long-term  needs  of  the  State  some- 
time after  the  turn  of  the  century. 

It  is  widely  recognized  that  the 
Colorado  River  stream  system  is  over- 
committed  by  existing  and  authorized 
projects  and  water  uses  under  the 
Mexican  Water  Treaty,  the  Colorado 
River  Compact,  and  related  legal 
documents.   The  insufficiency  of  the 
Colorado  River  became  well-known 
during  the  lengthy  U.  S.  Supreme 
Court  litigation  in  Arizona  v. 
California .   The  decree  in  that  case 
provided  that  California's  annual 
apportionment  is  4,400,000  acre-feet 
when  7,500,000  acre-feet  of  main- 
stream water  is  available  to  the 
lower  basin  states.   California  is 
entitled  to  50  percent  of  any  sur- 
plus water  above  7,500,000  acre-feet. 
In  the  event  of  shortage,  the  decree 
provides  that  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  may  apportion  the  remaining 
available  supply.   The  Colorado 


-83- 


River  Basin  Project  Act  of  I968 
directed  the  Secretary  to  follow 
certain  specific  priorities  in  the 
event  of  shortage . 

Soon  after  the  Supreme  Court  opinion 
in  1963,  the  Bureau  of  Reclamation 
published  a  report  describing  its 
^'Pacific  Southwest  Water  Plan".   The 
chief  proposal  of  this  plan  was  to 
import  water  to  the  Colorado  River 
from  Northwestern  California.   In 
presenting  this  report,  the  Secre- 
tary made  it  clear  that  this  plan 
was  only  a  proposal,  and  he  invited 
alternative  suggestions.   In  re- 
sponse to  that  invitation,  and  on 
the  basis  of  other  motivations,  a 
total  of  about  22  proposals'  were 
made  according  to  a  report  by  the 
Western  States  Water  Council 
entitled  "A  Review  of  Inter-Regional 
and  International  Water  Transfer 
Proposals",  dated  June  I969  •   These 
include  not  only  possible  diversions 
from  the  Columbia  and  Missouri  Rivers 
systems  to  augment  waters  of  the 
Colorado  River  and  other  water  supply 
sources  in  the  Southwest,  but  also 
proposals  to  divert  water  from 
Canada  or  from  Alaska  to  meet  needs 
not  only  of  the  Southwest,  but  also 
of  the  Great  Plains  area,  portions 
of  Central  Canada,  and  the  Great 
Lakes  area. 

While  these  proposals  identified 
possible  future  sources  of  water  and 
demonstrated  various  physical  means 
by  which  large  quantities  of  water 
could  be  moved,  they  were  based  on 
very  cursory  Information.   Little 
attention  was  given  to  the  highly 
significant  political,  legal,  insti- 
tutional, and  social  factors.   More- 
over, potential  economic  demands  for 
water  in  the  areas  to  be  served  were 
not  given  real  consideration,  and 
hydrologic  and  cost  data  were  only 
very  rough  approximations. 

Information  is  now  being  accumulated 
through  state  water  planning  studies, 
federal  Type  I  Framework  Studies, 
other  studies  under  the  aegis  of  the 
federal  Water  Resources  Council,  and 
by  boards  and  agencies  within  Califor- 
nia, which  hopefully  will  provide  a 
foundation  for  more  detailed  studies 


in  the  future,  possibly  involving 
such  large-scale  plans. 

The  first  westwide  investigation  was 
authorized  in  Public  Law  90-537,  the 
"Colorado  River  Basin  Project  Act" 
of  1968  (discussed  in  Chapter  II). 
This  act  directed  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  (l)  to  determine  the 
water  supplies  available  and  the 
long-range  water  requirements  in 
each  water  resource  region  of  the 
Western  United  States;  (2)  to  develop 
a  reconnaissance  general  plan  to 
meet  the  future  water  needs  of  each 
region,  but  within  the  limitations 
of  the  10-year  moratorium  (see  page 
page  15);  (3)  to  continue  to  develop 
a  regional  water  plan  to  guide  the 
coordination  and  construction  of 
water  projects  in  the  Colorado  River 
Basin;  and  (4)  to  recognize  the 
Mexican  Water  Treaty  as  a  national 
obligation  when  the  Colorado  River 
is  augmented  (see  page  15). 

This  investigation  is  to  culminate 
with  a  final  report  by  Jrly  1,  1977. 
Following  September  30,  j--.'^,  the 
Secretary,  under  other  authoriza- 
tions, can  proceed  with  examining 
sources  of  supplemental  water  out- 
side the  area  just  described, 
including  the  Pacific  Northwest. 

Beyond  the  need  for  augmentation  of 
Colorado  River  supply  is  the  prob- 
lem of  increasing  salinity  in  the 
Lower  Colorado  River,  which  impairs 
the  usefulness  of  the  water  for 
agricultural  and  other  purposes, 
both  in  the  United  States  and  in 
Mexico.   Thus,  to  both  increase  its 
quantity  and  improve  its  quality, 
augmentation  of  the  Colorado  River 
will  probably  eventually  come  to 
pass  and  provide  a  potential  means 
of  meeting  part  of  California's 
future  water  demands. 

Weather  Modification 

For  centuries  man  has  sought  means 
of  making  rain  to  end  drought  periods. 
However,  it  has  been  only  in  the 
last  two  decades  that  serious 
research  and  experimentation  have  been 
undertaken  toward  inducing  rainfall 
through  cloud  seeding.  Research  and 


-84- 


experimentation  activities  have  also 
been  directed  to  clearing  of  fog 
from  airports  and  to  suppression  of 
hail  or  lightning  storms. 

Considerable  progress  has  been  made 
during  the  past  several  years  in 
advancing  the  state  of  the  art  of 
weather  modification;  and  it  has 
been  demonstrated  that,  under 
favorable  conditions,  precipitation 
can  be  Increased  on  the  order  of 
5   to  10  percent.   The  most  common 
method  of  seeding  clouds  is  by  the 
dispersal  of  silver  iodide  either 
from  airplanes  or  from  ground 
generators . 

During  the  1968-69  season,  11 
weather  modification  projects  were 
conducted  in  California,  mainly  to 
Increase  surface  storage  in  reser- 
voirs for  municipal  and  irrigation 
use  and  for  electric  power  genera- 
tion.  Additional  purposes  were  for 
augmentation  of  ground  water  storage, 
fog  dispersal,  and  for  applied  re- 
search.  Silver  iodide  and  dry  ice 
were  the  agents  dispersed,  except 
for  a  project  in  San  Diego  County 
which  employed  an  electrical  dis- 
charge method. 

Direct  measurement  of  results  of 
weather  modification  activities  so 
far  is  impossible  because  of  the 
great  variety  in  natural  weather  and 
rainfall  patterns,  and  the  sometimes 
conflicting  evaluations;  but  certain 
conclusions  are  becoming  apparent. 
It  is  evident  that  there  are  certain 
conditions  under  which  precipitation 
can  be  increased  by  cloud  seeding. 
Evaluations,  by  the  operators,  of 
results  of  cloud  seeding  in  the 
Kings  River  (by  Atmospherics  Incor- 
porated) and  San  Joaquin  River  (by 
North  American  Weather  Consultants) 
watersheds  Indicate  a  relatively 
high  degree  of  confidence  in  average 
increases  of  runoff  of  6  and  8  per- 
cent, respectively.   Estimated 
annual  precipitation  increases  of 
5  percent  have  been  reported  by 
Pacific  Gas  and  Electric  Company  for 
the  Lake  Almanor  watershed  In  the 
Feather  River  Basin. 

A  weathsr  modification  project  in 
Santa  Clara  County  has  increased 


average  precipitation  over  the 
watershed  by  an  estimated  10  to 
15  percent,  as  reported  by  the  Santa 
Clara  County  Flood  Control  and  Water 
District.   A  continuing  weather  mod- 
ification program  in  the  drainage 
basins  above  the  reservoirs  of  the 
Los  Angeles  County  Flood  Control 
District  Indicated,  according  to 
consultants,  overall  increases 
ranging  from  near  zero  to  20  inches 
during  the  eight -year  period  from 
1960-61  through  1967-68.   These 
Increases,  averaged  over  the  entire 
basin,  have  been  estimated  to  be  in 
the  neighborhood  of  5  percent  of 
the  mean  annual  precipitation. 

The  Office  of  Atmospheric  Water 
Resources,  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Reclamation,  has  stated  that  results 
of  Project  Skyvjater  and  other  pro- 
grams in  the  United  States  and 
abroad  indicate  that  precipitation 
can  be  increased  by  an  average  of 
10  to  20  percent.   This  average 
includes  cases  of  large  increases, 
small  Increases,  no  increases,  and 
some  decreases.   The  foregoing 
reference  also  reported  that  costs 
for  indicated  increases  in  runoff 
will  range  from  $0.50  to  $1.50 
per  acre-foot  when  the  program 
becomes  operational  rather  than 
experimental.   Reported  costs  of 
programs  in  California  have  generally 
been  within  this  range. 

It  should  be  recognized  that  these 
costs  have  been  estimated  for 
"successful"  projects.   The  cost  per 
acre-foot  is  a  function  not  only  of 
the  procedure  used  but  also  of  the 
water  yield  from  the  project.  Project 
yield,  in  turn,  is  dependent  on  both 
the  meteorological  and  hydrological 
characteristics  of  the  particular 
area  being  see'ded  and  the  prior 
availability  of  facilities  for  con- 
trolling and  storing  the  water 
developed. 

Success  of  increase  in  precipitation 
also  depends  on  the  dryness  or  wet- 
ness of  the  particular  year.   In 
this  regard  the  favorable  chances 
for  cloud  seeding  are  minimal  during 
the  dry  years  when  water  is  most 
needed,  resulting  in  somewhat 
smaller  Increases  in  runoff  than 


-85- 


those  expected  during  normal  or  wet 
years.   This  means  that  while  a 
weather  modification  project  would 
be  effective  where  normal  and  wet- 
year  increases  could  be  stored 
either  in  surface  or  underground 
reservoirs  for  use  in  ensuing  drier 
years,  the  value  of  this  increased 
supply  would  be  minimal  compared  to 
an  increase  during  drier  years. 

The  yield  of  the  Central  Valley 
Project,  the  State  Water  Project, 
and  major  local  projects  cannot  be 
materially  enhanced  by  increases 
during  the  wet  years,  because  sur- 
plus water  is  already  available  in 
those  years .   An  augmentation  of 
water  supplies  would  have  the 
greatest  economic  benefit  during 
the  dry  and  average  years . 

There  are  many  unresolved  technical 
and  legal  problems  in  weather  modi- 
fication.  More  experience  is  re- 
quired to  detennine  which  conditions 
are  favorable  for  seeding  and  the 
best  methods  of  seeding  for  given 
conditions.   Not  much  is  yet  known 
about  possible  downwind  effects  of 
cloud  seeding.   Indications  so  far 
include  possible  decrease,  no 
effect,  or  increase  in  precipitation 
downwind  from  seeding  project  areas. 
Pertinent  legal  questions  relate  to 
the  responsibility  of  cloud  seeding 
operators  for  any  downwind  effects 
and  the  effect  of  cloud  seeding  in 
increasing  floodflows.   In  Califor- 
nia, seeding  with  silver  iodide 
seems  to  be  most  effective  on  the 
colder  storms;  and  operations  are 
carried  out  to  enhance  snowpack  in 
critical  flood  regions,  thereby 
reducing  the  direct  flood  hazard. 

The  Department  of  Water  Resources  is 
participating  with  Fresno  State 
College  Foundation  in  studies  con- 
cerning weather  modification  for 
increase  in  precipitation  In  the 
Sierra  Nevada.   The  work,  scheduled 
for  completion  in  1973-7^,  consists 
of  development  of  planning  guide- 
lines for  evaluating  potential  water 
yield  estimates  and  costs  of  weather 
modification  in  California. 

It  is  anticipated  that  experience 
gained  from  increasing  experimental 
and  operational  activity  in  weather 


modification  will  lead  to  resolu- 
tion of  many  problems,  greater 
physical  control,  and  an  Increase 
in  potential  for  future  weather 
modification  activities.   On  the 
more  exotic  side,  decreasing  an 
overabundant  water  supply  on  the 
windward  side  of  some  mountain 
ranges  and  increasing  that  precipi- 
tation on  the  water-deficient  lee- 
side  may  sometime  be  possible.   In 
a  program  sponsored  under  the  Bureau 
of  Reclamation  program,  the  State  of 
Washington  is  investigating  this 
possibility. 

The  day  of  much  more  extensive 
efforts  to  change  the  weather  or 
climate  by  altering  worldwide  wind 
circulation  or  by  steering  entire 
storms  from  ocean  areas  onto  nearby 
lands  in  need  of  rain  is,  as  yet, 
only  in  the  visionary  stage.   Many 
problems  must  be  solved  before  this 
can  be  accomplished  or  even  shown  to 
be  desirable.   The  solution  of  prob- 
lems will  be  based  in  large  degree 
on  knowledge  gained  from  research  on 
programs  of  current  interest  with 
more  modest  objectives. 


Watershed  Management 

Watershed  management  embraces  a 
broad  spectrum  of  land  treatment  and 
related  measures  to  optimize  overall 
productivity,  considering  food, 
forage,  timber,  wildlife,  minerals. 
recreation,  and  water.  For  purposes 
of  this  bulletin,  however,  watershed 
management  will  be  discussed  from 
the  standpoint  of  possible  means  of 
modifying  vegetation  to  improve  run- 
off characteristics,  including 
quantity,  quality,  and  timing. 

The  physical  potential  for  increas- 
ing water  yield  production  through 
manipulation  of  the  vegetative  cover 
has  been  demonstrated  through  experi- 
mental research  conducted  by  the 
U.  S.  Forest  Service,  University  of 
California  at  Davis,  and  other 
organizations .   The  Department  of 
Water  Resources  has  cooperated  in 
this  work  and  has   contributed 
funds  on  the  order  of  $900,000  over 
the  past  decade.   The  research ^has 
generally  concluded  that  runoff  can 


■86- 


be  increased  w 
by  a  reduction 
use  associated 
native  vegetat 
shown  that  the 
extended  later 
that  the  magni 
and  the  change 
difficult  to  p 


Ithln  certain  areas 
in  consumptive  water 
with  the  growth  of 

ion.   It  has  also 
duration  of  flow  is 
into  the  summer,  but 

tude  of  the  increase 
in  timing  of  flow  is 

redict . 


The  three  categories  of  vegetative 
manipulation  which  are  applicable 
to  certain  areas  in  California  are : 
selective  timber  cutting  within  the 
snowfield  portion  of  the  commercial 
timber  zone;  clearing  of  deeper- 
rooted  vegetation  within  the  foot- 
hill and  brushlands  regions  and  a 
replanting  to  grasses ;  and  eradi- 
cation of  riparian  phreatophytlc 
(water-loving)  vegetation  which  is 
most  prolific  along  the  lower  eleva- 
tion reaches  of  California  water 


Within  the  commercial  timber  zone, 
selective  strip  cutting  of  timber 
at  widths  of  about  one  tree-height 
has  been  demonstrated  as  a  means  of 
reducing  snowpack  evaporation  and 
Increasing  runoff  without  hastening 
snowmelt.   The  clearing  of  larger 
blocks  of  forest  appears  to  Increase 
both  runoff  and  rate  of  snowmelt. 

For  brushland  areas  where  the  annual 
rainfall  exceeds  about  15  inches, 
the  clearing  of  deep-rooted  plants 
and  conversion  to  grass  can  result 
in  an  increased  water  yield  on  the 
order  of  2  to  3  Inches  annually  on 
the  treated  areas.  It  is  estimated 
that  up  to  800,000  acres  of  brushland 
in  the  Sacramento  Basin  may  be  suit- 
able for  such  conversion.   A  3-lnch 
reduction  of  consumptive  use  could 
provide  an  increase  in  total  basin 
runoff  of  perhaps  200,000  acre-feet 
annually. 

Eradication  of  streamslde  and  lake- 
side vegetation  can  reflect  a  sal- 
vage of  water  of  up  to  0.5  acre-feet 
annually  per  acre  eradicated. 
Although  the  eradication  of  phreato- 
phytes  is  important  in  localized 
situations,  the  area  of  plant  growth 
is  small  and  the  amount  of  water 
which  may  be  salvaged  is  not  of 
great  consequence  In  consideration 


of  California's  total  statewide  water 
needs.   Also,  this  streamslde  vege- 
tation often  has  scenic  value  and 
provides  food  and  shelter  for  wild- 
life.  Extreme  care  must  therefore 
be  exercised  in  determining  those 
areas  where  plants  may  be  removed 
without  detrimental  effect  on  the 
environment . 

While  each  of  the  foregoing  measures 
has  merit  in  certain  areas,  there 
would  be  many  difficult  problems  with 
respect  to  a  large-scale  vegetation 
modification  practice  throughout  the 
State  required  to  significantly 
Increase  California's  usable  water 
supplies.   Tl-iese  problems  include: 
legal  rights  to  alter  native  vege- 
tation on  private  and  public  lands, 
the  compatibility  of  such  modifica- 
tion with  scenic  and  ecological 
values,  and  the  rights  to  the  water 
supply  which  may  be  salvaged.   More- 
over, as  a  large  portion  of  the  lands 
are  under  private  ownership,  any 
modification  of  cultural  practices 
would  have  to  be  demonstrated  to  be 
economically  advantageous  to  the 
individual  owners. 


From  the  present  s 
and  in  view  of  the 
watershed  manageme 
volving  modlflcati 
vegetation  do  not 
attractive  option 
significant  water 
to  meet  increasing 


Un de rsea  Aqueduct 


tate  of  knowledge 

limitations, 
nt  practices  In- 
on  of  native 
appear  to  be  an 
for  providing 
supply  quantities 

statewide  needs. 


A  concept  for  conveying  water  sup- 
plies from  California's  North 
Coastal  rivers  to  Central  and  South 
Coastal  regions  via  an  undersea 
aqueduct  has  been  proposed  for  study 
over  the  past  decade  by  private  and 
public  water  planners. 

This  Is  not  a  new  source  of 
water,  but  is  discussed  in  this 
chapter  because  it  is  a  subject  of 
interest  to  those  who  are  concerned 
with  water  development  alternatives. 
The  plan  most  commonly  envisioned 
would  consist  of  a  large  offshore 
pipeline,  possibly  on  the  order  of 
30  feet  in  diameter,  anchored  on  the 


-87- 


continental  shelf  at  a  depth  of 
about  300  feet.  The  pipeline  would 
extend  a  total  distance  of  some  700 
miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Klamath 
or  Eel  Rivers  to  delivery  points  in 
the  Central  and  South  Coastal  areas. 

Various  materials  have  been  sug- 
gested for  the  aqueduct.   These  in- 
clude heavy-duty  plastic,  flexible 
rubber,  fiber  glass,  concrete, 
steel,  and  aluminum.   Considerable 
additional  research  and  testing  is 
required  to  determine  the  engineer- 
ing feasibility  and  to  provide 
reliable  estimates  of  costs  associ- 
ated with  the  fabrication,  place- 
ment, and  maintenance  of  a  large- 
diameter  undersea  pipeline. 
Additional  study  is  also  required 
to  determine  the  effects  of  the 
pipeline  upon  the  marine 
environment , 

An  undersea  aqueduct  is  principally 
an  alternative  method  of  conveying 
water  supplies  for  the  coastal 
areas.   Its  utilization  would  re- 
quire the  development  of  dependable 
water  supplies  by  onshore  facili- 
ties in  much  the  same  manner  as 
required  for  an  overland  aqueduct 
system.   Because  of  the  highly 
variable  runoff  characteristics  of 
Northern  California  rivers,  major 
storage  reservoirs  would  be  needed 
in  conjunction  with  either  an  under- 
sea or  overland  aqueduct  system  to 
provide  regulation  of  the  water 
supplies  to  the  more  uniform  con- 
veyance schedules  required. 

An  undersea  aqueduct  would  also 
necessitate  location  of  a  diversion 
structure  near  the  mouth  of  the 
river  which  provides  the  water 
supply  source.   The  diversion 
structure  would  require  facilities 
for  passage  of  fish  over  the  struc- 
ture and  screening  facilities  to 
protect  fish  from  being  carried  into 
the  aqueduct. 

In  December  1969  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Reclamation  published  a  report  en- 
titled "California  Under  Sea  Aque- 
duct Prereconnaissance  Study".   The 
report  outlined  the  considerable 
additional  research  needs  and  rec- 
ommended an  initial  six-year 


reconnaissance  study  program.  The 
recommended  program  was  adopted  by 
the  Congress  and  funds  were  appro- 
priated for  the  first-year  studies 
now  in  progress . 


Geothermal  Water  Resources 

The  term  geothermal  literally  means 
earth  heat,  and  it  refers  to  the 
natural  heat  that  is  generated 
beneath  the  earth's  surface.   While 
rock  temperature  generally  Increases 
slowly  with  depth,  the  rise  (or 
geothermal  gradient)  is  markedly 
steep  in  certain  localities.   These 
regions  are  called  geothermal 
provinces. 

Recently  attention  has  focused  on 
the  intriguing  possibility  of  uti- 
lizing geothermal  heat  to  distill 
fresh  water  from  sea  water  or  from 
the  saline  ground  waters  that  some- 
time occur  in  geothermal  regions. 
Since  the  initial  temperatures  of 
geothermal  waters  are  much  higher 
than  sea  water,  little  or  no  heating 
may  be  required  for  their  distil- 
lation.  In  this  respect,  geothermal 
brines  are  preferable  to  ocean  water 
for  conversion  to  fresh  water. 

The  necessary  conditions  for  a  geo- 
thermal distillation  facility  in- 
clude a  geothermal  heat  source,  an 
adequate  supply  of  brine,  and  a 
favorable  market  for  fresh  water  and 
such  by-products  as  surplus  energy 
and  residual  minerals.   A  feasible 
means  for  disposal  of  waste  products 
which  will  neither  pollute  the 
environment  nor  endanger  wildlife  Is 
also  essential.  Although  more  than 
182  thermal  springs  have  been  found 
throughout  California  to  date,  only 
3  areas  have  attracted  interest  from 
the  standpoint  of  commercial  produc- 
tion of  geothermal  energy.   These 
are:  The  Geysers,  near  Cloverdale  in 
Sonoma  County;  Casa  Diablo,  north- 
west of  Bishop  in  Mono  County;  and 
southern  Imperial  Valley.   At  The 
Geysers,  two  steam  powerplants  with 
a  combined  rated  capacity  of  82 
megawatts  are  operated  by  the  Pacific 
Gas  and  Electric  Company  and  an 
increase  to  4ll  megawatts  is  contem- 
plated within  the  next  few  years. 


Advancing  Technology  —  —  Promises  additional  sources  of  water 


Clair  Engle  Plant 


Sea  water  conversion 


Weather  modification  studies  continue 


Mexico's  development  ot  same  geothermal 
province  found  in  California 


The  Casa  Diablo  region  has  been 
prospected  and  tested  but  does  not 
at  this  time  appear  worthy  of 
exploitation.   Neither  The  Geysers 
nor  Casa  Diablo  Is  endowed  with 
large  quantities  of  brine  from 
which  fresh  water  could  be  produced 
by  distillation.   The  southern  part 
of  the  Imperial  Valley,  on  the  other 
hand,  appears  to  possess  the  physi- 
cal conditions  required  for  a  geo- 
thermal  distillation  facility.   It 
is  the  only  place  known  at  present 
in  California  where  geothermal 
energy  and  heated  brines  are  avail- 
able in  abundance. 

Serious  attempts  to  develop  a  natu- 
ral steam  source  in  Imperial  Valley 
began  with  the  drilling  of  an  unsuc- 
cessful steam  well  in  1927.   Since 
that  date  approximately  30  wells 
have  been  completed  which  have 
established  Imperial  Valley  as  a 
major  geothermal  province.   The 
area  considered  likely  for  possible 
desalination  extends  generally  from 
the  southern  end  of  the  Salton  Sea 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.   It  covers 
an  area  of  about  2  million  acres. 

Production  of  steam  has  commenced  in 
the  Mexican  sector  of  Imperial 
Valley  at  the  Cerro  Prieto  field 
which  lies  about  15  miles  south  of 
the  border  town  of  Mexican.   Pres- 
ent arrangements  call  for  the  in- 
stallation of  a  75-megawatt  steam 
electric  powerplant  at  Cerro  Prieto 
which  is  expected  to  be  ready  for 
service  in  1971.  The  plant  will  be 
operated  solely  for  power  produc- 
tion.  The  brines  produced  during 
the  process  will  be  conveyed  through 
an  open  ditch  for  disposal  In  the 
Gulfcf  California. 

A  preliminary  evaluation  of  the  geo- 
thermal potential  of  the  Imperial 
Valley,  California,  has  been  covered 
by  Dr.  Robert  W.  Rex  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  California  at  Riverside  in 
two  reports  entitled  "Investigation 
of  the  Geothennal  Potential  of  the 
Lower  Colorado  River  Basin,  Phase  I" 
and  "Investigation  of  Geothermal 
Resources  in  the  Imperial  Valley  and 
Their  Potential  Value  for  Desalina- 
tion of  Water  and  Electricity  Produc- 
tion, June  1,  1970".  Dr.  Rex's 


geologic,  geophysical  and  geochem- 
ical  studies  have  established  that 
six  and  possibly  as  many  as  nine 
geothermal  hot  spots  exist  in  the 
region  lying  between  the  Salton  Sea 
and  the  Mexican  border  and  that  1  to 
3  billion  acre-feet  of  heated  brine 
may  be  stored  In  the  sedimentary 
formations  between  depths  of  5,000 
and  20,000  feet.   Chemically  these 
waters  appear  to  be  no  more  saline 
than  many  oil  field  brines.   Their 
temperatures  range  from  500  to  700 
degrees  Fahrenheit,  as  measured  in 
the  formations  at  depth. 

According  to  the  University  report, 
brine  reserves  may  be  sufficient  to 
support  1,000  to  3,000  geothermal 
wells  at  an  average  yield  per  well 
of  1,200,000  pounds  per  hour  of 
steam.   This  is  equivalent  to  10.6 
acre-feet  of  fresh  water  per  day  for 
each  well.   The  total  projected 
production  rate  for  full  operation 
therefore  would  range  between  3.6 
and  10  million  acre-feet  per  year. 
At  this  rate,  it  would  take  from 
100  to  850  years  to  exhaust  the 
available  brines.   A  suggestion  has 
been  made  that  the  productive  life 
could  be  extended  and  possibly 
doubled  by  recharging  the  geothermal 
aquifers  with  sea  water  imported 
from  the  Gulf  of  California. 

If  the  geothermal  water  resource  In 
the  Imperial  Valley  should  prove  to 
be  a  practicable  water  supply,  it 
would  be  strategically  located  to  be 
of  assistance  in  solution  of  the 
water  quantity  and  quality  problems 
relating  to  the  Colorado  River.   It 
could  be  a  potential  substitute  for 
Colorado  River  water  diverted  to  the 
Imperial  and  Coachella  Valleys  and 
to  the  Coastal  Plain  of  Southern 
California,  thus  making  those  sup- 
plies available  for  diversion  to 
other  areas  within  California,  and 
to  other  states  or  Mexico.   It  might 
also  be  used  to  dilute  diversions 
from  the  Lower  Colorado  River  to 
Improve  their  qualities.   If  electri- 
cal energy  from  geothermal  resources 
could  be  produced  at  a  favorable 
cost,  desalination  of  a  portion  of 
the  drainage  waters  from  Imperial 
and  Coachella  Valleys  and  their  re- 
use might  be  feasible.   Conceivably 


-90- 


problems  of  the  increasing  salinity 
of  the  Salton  Sea  might  also  be 
solved,  at  least  in  part,  by  the  use 
of  such  waters. 

Further  investigation  of  the 
Imperial  Valley  province  is  required 
before  the  feasibility  of  a  large- 
scale  geothermal  operation  can  be 
reasonably  examined.   In  particular, 
more  knowledge  is  needed  of  geologic 
factors  (l)  to  permit  refining  the 
estimates  of  available  geothermal 
heat  and  ground  water  brines,  (2) 
to  explore  procedures  for  recharging 
brine  aquifers  and  for  the  return 
of  saline  residual  fluids  by  relnjec- 
tion  into  deep  formations,  and  (3) 
to  develop  more  definitive  cost 
information. 

Study  of  the  region  is  continuing 
by  the  University  of  California, 
Imperial  Irrigation  District,  U.  S. 
Bureau  of  Reclamation,  and  the 
Department  of  Water  Resources. 


Nonstructural  Alternatives 

In  planning  to  meet  future  water 
resource  needs,  alternatives  should 
be  considered  that  could  result  in 
reduction  or  redirection  of  those 
needs.  These  are  referred  to  as 
"nonstructural"  as  they  do  not 
involve  the  physical  construction 
of  projects;  rather,  they  consist 
of  major  changes  in  social,  econcmic, 
environmental,  technological,  and 
governmental  factors  that  may  affect 
water  demand.   Examples  of  such 
alternatives  are  direct  reallocations 
of  water  supplies  to  more  valuable 
uses,  reductions  in  water  use  and 
waste  water  disposal  through  pricing 
policies,  technical  improvements 
that  increase  efficiency  of  water 
use,  improvements  in  water  quality 
management,  land  use  policies 
(including  floodplain  management), 
and  planned  location  of  industries. 
Reallocation  of  water  supplies, 
pricing  policies,  and  Increased 
technical  efficiency  in  water  use 
are  discussed  in  this  section.  Other 
nonstructural  alternatives  concern- 
ing environmental  impacts  on  water 
needs  are  discussed  in  Chapter  VIII. 


Reallocation  of  Water  Supplies. 
This  would  be  a  direct  means  of 
bringing  about  the  transfer  of  water 
use  from  lower-return  to  higher- 
return  purposes,  such  as  from  irri- 
gation to  urban  use.   Reallocation 
of  water  supplies  from  an  agricul- 
tural to  an  urban  economy  was,  in 
effect,  accomplished  by  the  City  of 
Los  Angeles  in  the  purchase  of  water 
rights  in  the  Owens  Valley  for  ex- 
port to  Los  Angeles  via  the  Owens 
River  Aqueduct.   The  practicability 
and  advisability  of  such  a  course  of 
action  in  the  future  remains  to  be 
seen  and  involves  many  considerations. 
Possible  economic  and  social  disrup- 
tion, both  present  and  future,  in 
one  area  must  be  weighed  against  the 
benefits  accruing  to  another.  Gradu- 
al reallocation  of  water  involving 
relatively  small  reductions  through 
increased  efficiency  of  water  use 
could  minimize  the  problem.   Serious, 
practical  difficulties  remain,  how- 
ever.  Perhaps  the  most  notable 
involves  legal  and  institutional 
constraints  related  to  California's 
complex  water  rights  structure.   Any 
transfer  of  such  rights  could  entail 
lengthy  negotiations  or  condemnation 
procedures,  involving,  among  other 
things,  appropriate  compensation  for 
all  interests  directly  or  indirectly 
affected  by  the  transfer,  such  as 
users  of  return  flow,  ground  water, 
etc . 


Pricing  Policies .  Appropriate  pric- 
ing  policies,  combined  with  increased 
marketability  of  water  and/or  water 
rights,  could  ultimately  accomplish 
the  same  end  as  would  a  direct  re- 
allocation of  water  between  uses. 
Water  use  generally  is  influenced  by 
prices  charged  by  retail  water 
agencies,  such  as  irrigation  districts 
and  city  water  departments.   These 
prices,  in  turn,  are  partially 
affected  by  the  pricing  policies  of 
local  wholesale  agencies,  and  those 
of  the  federal  and  state  agencies. 
The  pricing  policies  of  the  latter 
are  determined  by  provisions  of 
reclamation  law  and  by  the  provisions 
of  the  State's  contracts  with  the 
wholesale  agencies. 


-91- 


Local  agencies  can  and  do  influence 
the  types  and  quantities  of  water 
use  through  pricing  policies  which 
can  be  adjusted  to  meet  changing 
situations.   For  example,  water  use 
per  capita  can  be  reduced  by  shift- 
ing from  a  flat  rate  (water  charges 
per  month  not  affected  by  use)  to 
metering  (water  charges  affected  by 
use).   In  metered  systems,  water 
use  per  capita  can  be  reduced  by 
shifting  from  a  utility  to  an  in- 
verted utility  rate  structure,  in 
which  the  unit  price  of  water 
increases  as  the  quantity  of  water 
increases;  or  by  increasing  water 
charges  and  decreasing  taxes  on 
assessed  valuation.   Such  shifts  in 
pricing  policies  may  appear  increas- 
ingly attractive  to  local  agencies 
as  the  costs  of  new  supplies  in- 
crease.  The  development  of  new 
water  pricing  policies  would  require 
detailed  study  of  their  social, 
environmental  and  economic  conse- 
quences.  The  actual  impact  of  a 
price  chang,e  on  the  quantity  of 
water  used  would  have  to  be  deter- 
mined more  accurately  before  pricing 
policies  could  be  properly  included 
in  the  water  planning  process.   Pre- 
liminary studies  by  the  Department 
Indicate  that  for  the  urban  South 
Coastal  area  a  10  percent  increase 
in  price  would  reduce  per  capita  use 
by  3  percent.   The  Impact  upon  cer- 
tain industries  and  some  agricul- 
tural crops  would  be  greater,  how- 
ever.  In  addition,  any  increase  in 
the  price  of  water  sufficient  to 
curtail  water  use  would  have  to  be 
weighed  against  the  possible  impact 
on  Industrial  expansions  and  employ- 
ment or  the  possible  Increase  in 
prices  paid  by  consumers  for  the 
products  of  the  affected  industries. 
Consideration  also  must  be  given  to 
the  impact  upon  lower  income  groups — 
those  who  could  least  afford  a  price 
increase.   The  economically  dis- 
advantaged may  be  forced  to  use  less 
water  on  lawns,  shrubs  and  trees 
causing  a  blighted  local  environment. 


Increased  Efficiency  of  Water  Use, 
frice  increases  can  encourage 
farmers  to  invest  in  more  efficient 
techniques  of  irrigation  and  encour- 
age recycling  in  industry.  Household 


uses  could  be  reduced  by  non-water- 
using  toilets,  underground  sprinkler 
systems,  etc.   Efficiency  of  water 
use  can  also  be  encouraged  through 
information,  education,  and  social 
and  cultural  pressures  that  increase 
awareness  of  conservation.   In  par- 
ticular, increased  corporate  social 
responsibility  for  water  quality 
will  encourage  reuse  of  water  to 
avoid  social  costs  associated  with 
waste  discharges. 


Mitigation  of 
Colorado  River  Salinity 

This  chapter  has  mentioned  earlier 
that  the  problem  of  increasing 
salinity  in  the  Colorado  River  may 
eventually  be  solved,  at  least  in 
part,  by  the  importation  of  good- 
quality  water  from  outside  the 
Colorado  River  Basin.   However,  it 
is  unlikely  that  this  solution,  if 
found  to  be  desirable,  would  be 
available  before  2000. 

In  the  meantime,  estimates  in  a 
report  of  the  Colorado  River  Board 
of  California,  entitled  "Need  for 
Controlling  Salinity  of  the  Colorado 
River",  August  1970,  are  that  pro- 
jected developments  in  the  Upper  and 
Lower  Divisions  of  the  Colorado 
River  Basin  will  cause  the  salinity 
of  the  River  to  increase.   For 
example,  the  report  predicts  that 
salinity  of  the  River  at  Imperial 
Dam,  the  diversion  point  for  the 
Imperial  and  Coachella  Valleys,  will 
increase  from  an  average  of  85O 
parts  per  million  between  I963  and 
1967,  to  an  average  of  1,3^0  parts  per 
million  by  2000,  if  no  preventative 
measures  are  taken. 

The  report  describes  possible  pro- 
grams to  control  salinity  of  the 
River.   In  addition  to  augmentation 
with  water  supplies  of  low  salinity, 
it  mentions  removal  of  salts  from 
the  River  or  its  tributaries  and 
reduction  of  water  losses  by  phreato- 
phyte  control  and  water  salvage  proj- 
ects.  It  also  lists  a  number  of 
sources  of  salinity  in  both  the 
Upper  and  Lower  Divisions  of  the 
Basin  which  it  states  could  be  con- 
trolled by  individual  projects.  The 


-92- 


report  estimates  that,  with  these 
projects  in  operation  by  2000,  the 
projected  concentration  of  salinity 
at  Imperial  Dam  would  be  reduced 
from  1,340  parts  per  million  to 
1,010  parts  per  million. 

In  addition  to  the  projects  des- 
cribed in  the  report,  there  may  be 
other  ways  of  preventing  increases 
in  the  River's  salinity  or  of  miti- 
gating their  effects  in  the  various 
service  areas.   The  possible  uses 
of  geothermal  water  resources  and 
desalination  have  been  mentioned 
earlier  in  this  chapter.   In  the 
South  Coastal  area,  Colorado  River 
water  could  be  diluted  with  water 
of  low  salinity  from  the  State 
Water  Project.   Alternative  ways  of 
utilizing  water  resources  of  the 
Basin  may  also  result  in  different 
salt  loads  and  different  economic 
returns  to  the  respective  areas. 
A  possible  range  of  the  magnitudes 
of  future  salinity  problems  and  all 
reasonable  alternative  solutions 
should  be  examined  first  on  a 
reconnaissance  basis.   Then  a  pro- 
gram should  be  initiated  to  imple- 
ment those  solutions  that  are  found 
to  be  most  desirable  and  are  proven 
to  be  economically  sound  through 
feasibility  studies. 


Summary 

This  chapter  has  discussed  the 
array  of  possible  future  water  sup- 
ply sources  and  management  measures 
for  augmenting  California's  depend- 
able water  supplies.   It  has  pointed 
out  that  to  the  present  time  water 
demands  have  been  met  primarily 
through  traditional  development 
approaches  involving  the  regulation 
and  conveyance  of  surface  water 
from  natural  sources  and  the  extrac- 
tion of  underground  supplies. 


In  addition  to  the  discussion  of 
traditional  approaches,  information 
has  been  summarized  regarding  the 
potential  for  several  other  possible 
measures  which  the  Department  of 
Water  Resources  believes  will  become 
more  significant  in  the  future  and, 
therefore,  warrant  serious  further 
study.   These  potential  sources 

include :   greater  reuse  of  present 
water  supplies  through  water  recla- 
mation practices:  more  effective 
management  of  ground  water  resources 
in  coordination  with  surface  sup- 
plies; desalting  of  sea  water  and 
brackish  water;  weather  modification; 
watershed  management;  and  the  poten- 
tial which  may  exist  for  obtaining 
usable  water  supplies  at  economi- 
cally competitive  costs  from  geo- 
thermal sources. 

Chapter  V  contains  brief  discussions 
on  the  status  of  investigative 
activity  concerning  a  Western  States 
water  program  and  on  the  research  in 
progress  regarding  the  possible 
future  role  of  an  undersea  aqueduct. 
It  has  also  mentioned  certain  insti- 
tutional measures  concerning  supply 
reallocations,  pricing  policy  modi- 
fications, and  increased  efficiency 
of  use,  which  could  be  implemented 
to  stretch  the  existing  supplies 
and  to  discourage  wasteful  practices. 

The  Department  of  Water  Resources 
considers  the  various  measures  dis- 
cussed in  Chapter  V  to  be  comple- 
mentary.  Although  many  of  them  are 
not  presently  considered  to  be 
acceptable  for  either  technological 
or  social  reasons,  additional  re- 
search and  investigation  may  very 
well  indicate  that  each  of  the 
options  discussed  will  have  a  role 
in  the  management  of  California's 
water  resources  to  meet  future 
demands . 


-93- 


Eel  River North  Coastal  Are 


Eureka   Newspaper,   Inc 


Most  ol  the  water  is  produced  during  the  \i'inter  stomts,  frequently  causing  devastating  tloods 


DPW   -   Division   o(  Highv, 

Regulation  is  needed  to  reduce  Hood  flows  and  make  the  water  available  during  the  sunmer  months 


CHAPTER  VI.   REGIONAL  WATER  DEMAND- 
WATER  SUPPLY  RELATIONSHIPS 


Chapter  IV  discussed  statewide  water 
demands  and  summarized  pertinent 
water  demand  information  by  the  11 
hydrologlc  study  areas.   This  chap- 
ter discusses  the  derivation  of 
present  and  projected  demands  for 
water  to  199O  and  2020  by  Individual 
hydrologlc  study  area,  and  the  out- 
look for  satisfaction  of  those 
demands  from  additional  local  sources 
and  other  possible  potential  sources 
described  in  Chapter  V.   It  indi- 
cates for  the  areas  of  water  defi- 
ciency the  timing  and  magnitude  of 
need  for  additional  water  supplies 
in  excess  of  the  local  development 
potential  that  may  have  to  be  made 
available  from  other  sources. 

The  water  demand-water  supply  rela- 
tionships for  the  individual  study 
areas  are  depicted  graphically  in 
Figures  I5  through  36.   The  loca- 
tions, boundaries  and  designations 
of  the  hydrologlc  study  areas  are 
shown  on  Figure  4. 


North  Coastal  Area 

The  North  Coastal  area  is  by  far 
the  most  water-abundant  area  in 
California,  producing  about  40  per- 
cent of  the  State's  total  surface 
water  runoff.   The  area  sustains 
lumbering,  recreation,  and  fishing 
industries  which  are  the  mainstays 
of  the  economy.   Although  only 
13  percent  of  the  area  consists  of 
valley  land,  agriculture  also  is 
important  and  accounts  for  the 
primary  applied  consumptive  water 
demand.   In  I967  total  agricultural 
demand  approximated  660,000  acre- 
feet  per  year.   More  than  80  per- 
cent of  1967  irrigated  acreage  was 
located  in  the  upper  Klamath  River 
Basin  (including  Shasta  and  Scott 
Valleys).   The  Klamath  River  Project 
of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Reclamation 
provided  about  half  of  the  upper 
Klamath  water  supply  and  the  remain- 
der came  from  local  stream  diversion 


and  ground  water.   The  remaining 
irrigated  agriculture  is  scattered 
throughout  the  area  and  is  served  by 
stream  diversions  and  ground  water 
development . 

Irrigated  acreage  is  not  expected  to 
expand  greatly  in  the  future 
(30,000-acre  increase  by  2020) 
because  of  the  constraints  of  cli- 
mate and  marketing;  however,  chang- 
ing crop  patterns  and  increased  use 
of  sprinklers  will  be  significant 
in  raising  the  economic  level  of 
agriculture.   The  greatest  increase 
in  irrigation  is  expected  to  be  in 
the  Scott-Shasta  Valleys  area. 

In  1967  total  urban  water  use  in  the 
North  Coastal  area  approximated 
100,000  acre-feet  per  year.   Of  this, 
about  70  percent  or  70,000  acre-feet 
was  attributable  to  lumbering  and 
related  wood  products  industries. 
Although  technological  advances  in 
the  industry  are  expected  to  stabi- 
lize emplojTnent  at  about  present 
levels,  output  of  the  industry  is 
projected  to  increase  with  fuller 
utilization  of  available  raw 
materials.   As  a  result,  the 
lumbering  and  wood  products  indus- 
tries will  account  for  at  least  half 
of  the  projected  increase  in  the 
area's  total   net  water  demands. 
An  increase  In  population  and  re- 
lated domestic  and  other  uses  will 
account  for  the  remainder. 

The  present  (1967)  and  projected 
1990  and  2020  population,  land  use, 
and  water  demands  in  the  North 
Coastal  area  are  shown  in  Figure  15. 

The  North  Coastal  streams  support 
annual  runs  of  350,000  to  400,000 
king  salmon,  125,000  silver  salmon 
and  perhaps  a  million  steelhead.  The 
magnitude  of  these  resources  for 
sport  fishing  and  commercial  catch 
is  comparable  to  those  of  the 
Columbia  River. 


-95- 


FIGURE  15 


2020 


1990 


1967 


2  3 


100,000        PERSONS 
POPULATION 


n 


IL 


URBAN 

F  I  IRRIGATED 


■\ 


REMAINING   IRRIGABLE 


n. 


5       6 

_1 L 


100,000    ACRES 
LAND     USE 


AGRICULTURAL 


URBAN 


7^ 


8 


100,000    ACRE -FEET 
APPLIED    WATER   DEMANDS 


1.2 


LI 


LO     — 


0.9     — 


PROJECTED  (MET  WATER  DEMANDS ^ 

^^,»»'*'^                                 Required  Additional  Supplies* 

— 

y^                ^_^^~--^     ^^^Cl_  NET  WATER  SUPPLIES  EXISTING  OR 
X      ^^^^--^"^                       UNDER  CONSTRUCTION  IN  1,000  AF/YR.  ~ 

1967         1990        2020 

Local  Surface  Water  Development                                                         550           590           600 

Groundwater                                                                                            150           180           200 

— 

Klamath  Project                                                                                      250           250          250          — 

Total  Net  Supplies                                                                  950         1020         1050 

*  Potential  additional  supply  sources:  Local  area  surface  water  developments  including 

Butler  Valley  Project. 

1                                      1                                       1                                       1                                      t 

1970 


1980 


1990 


2000 


2010 


2020 


YEAR 
PROJECTED     WATER    SUPPLIES    AND    NET  WATER    DEMANDS 

NORTH    COASTAL    HYDROLOGIC   STUDY  AREA 


-96- 


FIGURE  16 


E:     Bar  Chart  Units  Are  Million  Acre-Feet  Per  Yeor 


-97- 


These  streams  make  a  major  con- 
tribution to  the  commercial  salnon 
catch  in  California  and  to  a  less- 
er extent  in  Oregon  and  V/ashington. 
Commerical  salmon  catch  in  1967  at 
Northern  California  ports  totaled 
5.3  million  pounds  with  a  value  of 
S2.8  million.   I^rge  volumes  of 
water  are  required  not  only  for 
transportation  of  adult  and  younr; 
fish  to  complete  their  life  cycle, 
but  also  to  "flush  out"  sediment 
accumulations  in  spawning  and 
nursery  areas,  keep  water  auality 
at  a  level  compatible  to  fish,  and 
prevent  the  encroachment  streamside 
vegetation. 

At  the  present  time  contracts 
between  local  and  federal  agencies 
and  the  Department  of  Fish  and  Game 
are  in  effect  on  three  North  Coastal 
rivers  for  releases  aggregating 
680,000  acre -feet  per  year  to  main- 
tain salmon  and  steelhead  population. 

The  North  Coastal  area  is  inter- 
laced with  a  variety  of  scenic 
flowing  streams  and  rivers.  Increas- 
ing each  year  are  the  numbers  of 
sightseeing,  rafting,  canoeing  and 
swimming  enthusiasts  who  place  high 
value  on  the  environmental  aspects 
of  flowing  streams,  proper  forest 
practices  and  clean  air.   Mainte- 
nance of  flowing  streams  for  recre- 
ational purposes  is  important  and 
the  North  Coastal  area  with  appro- 
priate water  projects  has  an  oppor- 
tunity to  preserve  and  improve 
streams  for  these  activities. 

The  expected  future  demands  for 
water  in  the  North  Coastal  area  is 
small  in  comparison  to  the  amount 
of  water  available.   However,  most 
of  the  water  is  produced  during  the 
winter  storms,  frequently  causing 
devastating  floods.   Regulation  is 
needed  to  reduce  the  floodflows  and 
to  make  the  water  available  during 
the  dry  months  when  it  is  needed. 

In  summary,  total  net  water  demand 
in  the  North  Coastal  area,  exclud- 
ing fish  environmental  needs,  is 
forecast  to  increase  by  about 
200,000  acre -feet  by  2020,  one -half 
of  which  will  be  for  pulp  and  paper 
industry.   It  is  expected  that 


nearly  25  percent  of  the  total  in- 
creased demand  will  be  met  from 
extension  of  service  from  existing 
developed  surface  sources,  another 
25  percent  from  additional  ground 
water  extraction,  and  about  half,  or 
100,000  acre-feet,  will  have  to  be 
provided  from  new  sources.  Based  on 
the  assumption  that  the  future  pulp 
and  paper  plants  would  be  located  in 
the  Humboldt  Bay  area,  water  could 
be  provided  by  the  authorized 
Butler  Valley  Project  on  the  lAad 
River,  with  a  water  supply  capability 
of  160,000  acre-feet  per  year. 

North  Coastal  water  supply-demand 
relationships  are  depicted  graphi- 
cally in  Figure  15;  and  the  area's 
location  and  a  geographical  compari- 
son of  water  supplies  and  demands 
are  shown  in  Figure  I6. 


San  Francisco 
Bay  Are'a 

When  considered  as  a  whole  the 
San  Francisco  Bay  area  has  suffi- 
cient water  supplies  to  meet  its 
needs  until  sometime  after  2000. 
Like  so  many  other  areas  of  the 
State,  however,  such  broad  treat- 
ment neglects  localized  conditions 
which  may  indicate  water  defi- 
ciencies in  certain  areas  at  a  much 
earlier  date.  The  Bay  area  has  a 
complex  system  of  water  supply  and 
can  logically  be  treated  in  two 
parts — the  area  north  of  and  the 
area  south  of  San  Francisco  Bay.  In 
the  ensuing  discussion  these  parts 
will  be  referred  to  as  the  North 
Bay  area  and  the  South  Bay  area. 

The  North  Bay  area  is  both  agri- 
cultural and  urban  in  character, 
with  irrigated  agriculture  account- 
ing for  about  60  percent  of  the 
total  present  water  demands.   How- 
ever, the  area  is  experiencing  rapid 
urbanization  which  is  expected  to 
continue,  particularly  in  Marin  and 
southern  Sonoma  Counties.  While 
Irrigated  agriculture  is  expected 
to  show  some  increase,  urban  de- 
mands are  anticipated  to  account  for 
about  70  percent  of  the  total  wat-- 
demand  by  2020. 


-98- 


At  present,  water  needs  in  the  North 
Bay  area  are  being  met  from  ground 
water,  several  local  projects,  two 
important  federal  projects  (Lake 
Mendocino  on  the  East  Fork  of  the 
Russian  River  in  Mendocino  County 
and  Lake  Berryessa,  a  feature  of  the 
Solano  Project,  on  Putah  Creek  in 
Napa  County)  and  the  North  Bay 
Aqueduct  of  the  State  Water  Project. 
Not  to  be  overlooked  is  the  aque- 
duct system  serving  Sonoma  and 
Marin  Counties,  constructed  by  local 
water  agencies. 

Some  areas  in  Napa  and  Sonoma 
Counties,  however,  are  currently  in 
a  state  of  ground  water  overdraft 
which  will  continue  unless  addi- 
tional facilities  are  built  to  meet 
the  projected  increase  in  water 
demands.   In  fact  the  North  Bay 
area  \')ill  have  an  aggregate  annual 
supplemental  demand  for  water  of 
about  50,000  acre-feet  within  the 
next  20  years,  increasing  to 
approximately  350,000  acre-feet  by 
2020.   This  increase  will  result 
primarily  from  expansion  of  urban 
development . 

An  analysis  of  proposed  projects 
indicates  that  most  of  the  addi- 
tional water  needs  can  be  met  by 
further  development  of  local  sup- 
plies.  The  Russian  River  and  its 
tributaries  offer  the  greatest 
potential,  although  additional  sup- 
plies will  be  necessary  from 
various  other  local  projects  and  the 
North  Bay  Aqueduct. 

The  South  Bay  area  ranks  second 
only  to  the  South  Coastal  area  in 
urban  growth.   It  is  highly  urban- 
ized at  the  present  time  and  is 
expected  to  become  mare  so  in  the 
future.   Population  is  forecast  to 
more  than  double  between  1970  and 
2020.   Irrigated  agriculture,  with 
a  net  demand  of  166,000  acre-feet 
at  present  (1967)  is  expected  to  be 
virtually  eliminated  by  urban 
encroachiment  by  2020. 

The  generally  excellent  water  supply 
situation  in  the  South  Bay  area  is 
due  largely  to  the  forward-looking 
planning  and  development  of  both 
local  and  importation  systems  by 


the  major  local  agencies.   Local 
surface  and  ground  water  supplies 
have  been  almost  fully  developed 
and  the  area  depends  heavily  upon 
four  major  import  projects:   the 
Hetch  Hetchy  Water  System  of  the 
City  of  San  Francisco;  the  Mokelumne 
Aqueduct  of  East  Bay  Municipal 
Utility  District;  the  Contra  Costa 
Canal  of  the  Central  Valley  Project; 
and  the  South  Bay  Aqueduct  of  the 
State  Water  Project . 

The  total  amount  of  water  delivered 
in  1967  by  the  four  systems  was 
nearly  500,000  acre-feet.   Planned 
expansions  would  bring  the  total 
import  capacity  of  these  systems  to 
an  estimated  1,150,000  acre-feet 
per  year.   In  addition  a  new  pending 
contract  between  the  East  Bay 
Municipal  Utility  District  and  the 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  Reclamation  will 
provide  for  150,000  acre-feet  of 
water  annually  in  2020.   This  addi- 
tional water  has  been  included  in 
the  Central  Valley  Project  water 
supply  for  the  areas  as  shown  in 
Figure  17. 

In  addition,  provision  must  be  made 
to  correct  a  serious  ground  water 
overdraft  situation  in  Santa  Clara 
Valley  which  has  contributed  to 
salt  water  intrusion  near  the  Bay. 
Possible  solutions  include  advanc- 
ing planned  delivery  schedules  of 
water  from  the  South  Bay  Aqueduct, 
and  the  federal  San  Felipe  Division 
of  the  Central  Valley  Project. 
Waste  water  reclamation  may  become 
a  more  important  factor  in  balancing 
the  area's  water  supplies  and  needs. 
A  small  allowance  has  been  made  for 
this  possibility.   Desalting  may 
also  provide  a  water  supply  at  such 
future  time  as  costs  become 
competitive . 

The  principal  sources  of  impairment 
to  the  quality  of  water  in  the 
San  Francisco  Bay  area  include 
domestic  and  industrial  wastes, 
irrigation  return  water,  and  saline 
water  intrusion  into  ground  water 
aquifers.   Saline  water  has 
seriously  degraded  once  usable 
ground  water  supplies  in  basins 
adjacent  to  the  Bay.   This  condition 
has  been  caused  by  prolonged  periods 


-99- 


FIGURE  17 


2020 


1990 


1967 


URBAN 

IRRIGATED 
REMAINING 
IRRIGABLE 


^AGRICULTURAL 

^ 

URBAN 

1 
— . 1_ 

2 
1 

3 

— L_ 

1.000.000  ACRE- FEET 
APPLIED   WATER   DEMANDS 


1970 


1980 


2010 


1990  2000 

YEAR 
PROJECTED     WATER    SUPPLIES    AND    NET    WATER    DEMANDS 

SAN  FRANCISCO  BAY    HYDR0L06IC     STUDY    AREA 


2020 


-100- 


FIGURE  18 


SAN   FRANCISCO  BAY 
HYDROLDGIC  STUDY  AREA 


NET  WATER  SUPPLY 
NET  WATER  DEMAND 
I   I   SUPPLEMENTAL  WATER  DEMAND 


N       NOTE:     Bar  Chort  Units  Are  Million  Acre-Feet  Per  Year 


■101- 


of  overdraft  and  progressive  lower- 
ing of  the  water  table  below  sea 
level.   Continued  urban  growth  Is 
Intensifying  the  problems  of  domes- 
tic and  Industrial  waste  disposal. 

The  recently  completed  study  by  the 
State  Water  Resources  Control  Board 
of  water  quality  of  the 
San  Francisco  Bay-Delta  estuary 
showed  that  toxicants  and  biologi- 
cal growth  stimulants  from  indus- 
trial, municipal  and  agricultural 
waste  waters  pose  the  largest  water 
quality  control  problem  for  those 
waters.  With  a  continuation  of 
existing  methods  of  disposal,  the 
present  waste  water  inflows  of 
600,000  acre-feet  a  year  would 
increase  to  2,100,000  acre-feet  by 
2020  at  the  projected  level  of 
urban  development.   The  biochemical 
oxygen  demand  (BOD)  and  nitrogen 
loads  generated  (before  treatment) 
would  Increase  about  fourfold. 

To  reduce  the  potentially  adverse 
effects  of  these  increased  waste 
discharges  the  study  proposed  a 
regional  system  for  waste  water 
collection  and  disposal  that  would, 
by  2020,  reduce  Inland  discharges 
in  favor  of  ocean  outfalls  located 
off  San  Mateo  and/or  Marin  Counties. 
An  additional  recommendation  covered 
reclamation  plants  at  Inland  sites 
where  waste  water  from  residential 
areas  could  be  diverted  and  reno- 
vated for  uses  such  as  Delta  out- 
flow, ground  water  recharge,  and 
Irrigation. 

The  State  Water  Resources  Control 
Board  Is  following  up  the  Bay-Delta 
study  by  sponsoring  and  financing 
an  l8-month  supplementary  investi- 
gation by  the  Departments  of  Water 
Resources  and  Fish  and  Game  that 
will  cover  sources,  effects,  and 
control  of  toxicity  and  growth 
stimulants  in  Bay-Delta  waters.   The 
studies  conducted  so  far  have  indi- 
cated that  area-wide  planning  for 
water  quality  management  using  a 
systems  approach  Is  necessary,  as 
change  in  water  quantity  or  quality 
within  any  portion  of  the  Bay-Delta 
system  can  have  an  Impact  on  the 
entire  environment.   Progressive 
damage  to  the  aquatic  environment 


will  result  unless  an  adequate 
system  of  facilities  for  treatment 
and  disposal  of  these  waste  waters 
is  developed,  or  other  preventive 
action  is  taken. 

Demands  for  recreation  in  the 
San  Francisco  Bay  area,  the  S::ate's 
second  largest  population  center, 
are  not  being  met  and  will  probably 
not  be  met  in  the  foreseeable 
future  due  to  the  lack  of  facilities 
caused  by  lack  of  funds,  increasing 
population,  decreased  work-week 
time  and  increased  spending  power 
per  capita.   An  attempt  to  keep  up 
with  these  demands  will  be  made, 
and  many  new  facilities  will  be 
developed  utilizing  available  urban 
and  natural  park  settings,  the 
available  shoreline  and  man-made 
features.   The  State  estimates  that 
outdoor  recreation  demand  In  this 
area  will  approximately  double  In 
1980  over  i960  levels.  The  Califor- 
nia Outdoor  Recreation  Plan  (i960) 
indicates  60  percent  of  all  recre- 
ation is  oriented  around  water- 
associated  areas,  and  that  the 
majority  of  recreation  needs  are 
within  1  hour  travel  time  from 
urban  areas.   The  San  Francisco  Bay 
area  has  the  physical  attributes 
for  meeting  these  recreation  needs, 
and  the  area  can  expect  heavy 
future  recreation  use. 

Major  fish  and  wildlife  resources 
exist  in  the  San  Francisco  Bay  area. 
An  Important  segment  of  the  State's 
8  million  striped  bass  inhabits 
San  Francisco,  San  Pablo,  and 
Suisun  Bays.   It  is  an  important 
flyway  for  waterfowl,  in  addition 
to  having  a  sizable  deer  population. 
Approximately  80,000  steelhead  and 
salmon  spawn  in  the  area,  50,000  in 
the  Russian  River  drainage  alone. 

The  preservation  and,  where  possible, 
enhancement  of  recreational,  fish 
and  wildlife  resources  of  the 
San  Francisco  Bay  area  are  major 
considerations  in  planning  for  the 
area's  water  needs.   Of  particular 
importance  are  the  compensatory 
measures  required  when  dams  and 
reservoirs  are  constructed  on  anad- 
romous  fish  streams  and  the  provi- 
sion for  replacing  wildlife  habitat 


-102- 


due  to  project  development  or  other 
competing;  land  uses.   In  this  re- 
gard, streamflow  releases  aggregat- 
ing some  120,000  acre-feet  are  made 
under  agreement  between  project- 
operating  agencies  and  the  Depart- 
ment of  Fish  and  Game.   Moreover, 
Joint  studies  are  currently  under 
way  by  the  Departments  of  Fish  and 
Game  and  Water  Resources  to  define 
the  amount  and  quality  of  water 
required  to  maintain  the  Suisun 
Marsh  under  future  salinity  con- 
ditions . 

The  consumptive  use  of  water  by 
recreationists  at  outdoor  camping 
and  picnic  facilities  is  not  large. 
However,  the  water  needs  of  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  annual 
visitors  to  the  Bay  area  is  sub- 
stantial and  have  been  included  as 
part  of  the  urban  water  demand. 

In  summary,  the  total  net  water 
demands  in  the  San  Francisco  Bay 
area  are  projected  to  include  from 
1,150,000  acre-feet  per  year  at 
present  (1967)  to  an  estimated 
2,740,000  acre -feet  in  2020. 

Prospects  in  general  appear  to  be 
good  for  satisfying  water  demands 
in  the  San  Francisco  Bay  area  until 
about  2000  through  local  projects, 
ground  water  supplies,  and  existing 
local,  state,  and  federal  import 
systems.   Although  the  total  South 
Bay  area  overall  water  supply 
appears  adequate  beyond  1990, 
individual  communities  and  service 
areas  may  have  problems  either  as  to 
supplies  or  in  distribution  system 
capacity  and  reliability.   One 
example  is  the  Contra  Costa  County 
Water  District  where  new  or  enlarged 
conveyance  and  storage  works  will  be 
needed  in  the  mid-1970s  to  enable 
the  District  to  meet  peak  water 
demands  and  to  give  protection 
against  interruption  of  the  water 
supply.   The  District  is  actively 
promoting  the  modified  Kellogg 
Project  as  the  solution  to  their 
Immediate  water  supply  problem. 

Water  demands  and  existing  and 
potential  supplies  are  equated 
graphically  in  Figure  17.   A  geo- 
graphical comparison  of  water 


supplies  and  demands  within  the  area 
is  shown  on  Figure  I8. 


Central  Coastal  Area 

The  Central  Coastal  area  essentially 
spans  the  coastal  interval  between 
the  metropolitan  centers  of  the 
San  Francisco  Bay  and  the  South 
Coastal  area.   Mountain  ranges  that 
follow  the  coast  extend  through  the 
area  with  many  fertile  valleys 
between  them.   The  major  drainage 
basins  are  the  Pajaro,  Salinas, 
Santa  Maria,  and  Santa  Ynez  Rivers 
and  their  tributaries. 

The  economy  is  based  primarily  on 
agriculture  and  related  activities; 
but  the  extraction  and  refining  of 
petroleum,  mining,  commercial  fish- 
ing and  lumbering  are  also  important. 
A  number  of  military  establishments 
also  contribute  significantly  to  the 
economy  of  the  area. 

In  1967  about  25  percent  of  the 
truck  crops  produced  in  California 
were  grown  in  the  intensely  devel- 
oped valleys  of  the  area.   That  yeai) 
about  800,000  acre-feet  of  water 
from  local  ground  and  surface  water 
supplies  were  used  to  irrigate 
approximately  350,000  acres.   Irri- 
gated acreage  is  not  expected  to 
expand  greatly  in  the  future 
(390,000  acres  by  2020)  because  of 
scattered  parcels  that  would  be 
difficult  to  farm  economically, 
considering  water  costs. 

The  major  urban  centers  of  the 
Central  Coastal  area  are  situated 
in  the  Monterey  Bay  urban  complex 
and  the  cities  of  San  Luis  Obispo, 
Santa  Maria  and  Santa  Barbara. 
Present  urban  net  water  demands 
amount  to  about  150,000  acre-feet 
per  year.   A  rapidly  increasing 
population  is  expected  to  increase 
these  demands  to  470,000  acre-feet 
by  2020.   Also,  the  present  water 
requirement   of  5,000  acre-feet  per 
year  for  fish,  wildlife  and  recre- 
ation is  expected  to  double  by  2020. 

The  present  (I967)  and  projected 
1990  and  2020  population,  land  use 
and  water  demands  in  the  Central 


-103- 


FIGURE  19 


2020 

1990 

1967 

1 

1 
1 

(M- 

■ 

URBAN 
~I  IRRIGATED 


REMAINING/ 
IRRIGABLE 


IL 


?    1     9    ?    '9    '^ 


AGRICULTURAL 

/ 

URBAN 

/ 

1 
1             1 

2 

i 

1,000,000     PERSONS 
POPULATION 


100,000    ACRES 
LAND  USE 


1,000,000  ACRE- FEET 
APPLIED  WATER    DEMANDS 


.4     — 


.0     — 


0.8 


PROJECTED  NET  WATER            ^.^-^'"'^ 

-- 

^ 

— 

DEMANDS — — ^...^^^^^    ^.^'^^ 

— 

^^^''^                       Required  Additional  Suppl 

es: 

^^^"^        potential  additional  supply  sources:  loc 

Jl  surfac 

e 

^„,^''^  development,  desalination,  additional  CVP-SWP 

imports 

,  ground 

^           _____^ -^^NET  WATER  SUPPLIES 

^^_^ — EXISTING  OR  UNDER  CONSTRUCTION  " 

^e:^ —                                                 IN  1,000  AF/YR. 

1967 

1990 

2020 

Local  Surface  Development                                                                    40 

50 

50 

Ground  Water:  Safe  Yield                                                                       730 

750 

750 

Ground  Water:  Overdraft                                                                          120 

15 

15 

— 

Central  Valley  Project                                                                                      0 

80 

110       — 

Other  Federal:  Twitchell,  Salinas,  Cachuma                                   50 

55 

55 

State  Water  Project                                                                                      0 
Total  Net  Supplies                                                                   940 
1                                    1                                    1                                    1 

80 
1030 

80 
1060 

1970 


1980 


1990 


2000 


2010 


2020 


YEAR 
PROJECTED    WATER     SUPPLIES    AND   NET  WATER     DEMANDS 

CENTRAL  COASTAL  HYDROLOGIC  STUDY  AREA 


-104. 


FIGURE  20 


CENTRAL    COASTAL 
HYDROLOGIC  STUDY  AREA 


I 1   NET  WATER  SUPPLY 

Egjl   NET  WATER  DEMAND 

I 1   SUPPLEMENTAL  WATER  DEMAND 


NOTE:     Bar  Chart  Units  Are  Million  Acre-Feef  Per  Year 


SCALE  OF  MILES 
0        8        16      24 


-105- 


Coastal  area  are  shown  in  Figure  19. 
Water  demand  and  supply  relation- 
ships are  also  depicted  on  Figure 
19  and  the  geographical  distribution 
in  Figure  20. 

Ground  water  is  the  main  source  of 
supply  in  the  Central  Coastal  area. 
However,  agricultural  growth  and 
urban  expansion  has  caused  water 
levels  to  fall  in  many  areas  such 
as  the  Salinas  Valley.   A  complex 
of  dams,  canals  and  percolating 
basins  has  been  constructed  to  con- 
serve runoff  from  the  principal 
streams  and  to  place  the  water  in 
underground  basins.   San  Antonio, 
Nacimiento  and  Twitchell  Reservoirs — 
three  of  the  largest  in  the  area-- 
conserve  more  than  100,000  acre -feet 
annually  for  ground  water  replenish- 
ment, but  water  levels  continue  to 
decline  in  some  areas. 


The  present  annual  net  water  demand 
of  940,000  acre-feet  exceeds  the 
firm  water  supply  by  120,000  acre- 
feet  as  shown  In  Figure  19.   The 
difference  is  obtained  from  extrac- 
tion of  ground  water  in  storage 
(overdraft).   The  future  ground 
water  overdraft  shown  is  primarily 
in  Cuyama  Valley  in  inland  Santa 
Barbara  County,  where  no  reasonable 
alternative  supply  exists.  Studies 
indicate  that  there  are  large 
volumes  of  water  in  some  ground 
water  basins  of  the  Central  Coastal 
area;  and,  it  is  likely  that  well 
owners  will  continue  to  pump  in 
excess  of  the  safe  yield  of  certain 
basins.   Pumping  will  probably  con- 
tinue until  limited  by  economics, 
quality  problems,  legal  restrictions, 
or  organizational  controls. 


Central  Coastal  Area  lettuce  bowl  produces  one-half  ol  California's  and  one-third  of  Nation's  lettuce 

-106- 


Local  water  districts  in  San  Luis 
Obispo  and  Santa  Barbara  Counties 
have  executed  contracts  with  the 
State  for  delivery  of  more  than 
80,000  acre-feet  annually  from  the 
State  Water  Project  by  1990.   Also 
the  authorized  San  Felipe  Division 
of  the  Central  Valley  Project  is 
scheduled  for  annual  deliveries  of 
80,000  acre -feet  by  I99O  and 
110,000  acre-feet  by  2020.  When 
these  projects  are  in  full  operation 
the  Central  Coastal  area  will  still 
be  deficient  by  about  130,000  acre- 
feet  In  1990  and  360,000  acre-feet 
by  2020. 

Almost  all  of  the  1990  estimated 
demand  for  supplemental  water  is  in 
the  northern  portion  of  the  Central 
Coastal  area,  mostly  in  the  lower 
Salinas  Valley  and  to  a  lesser 
extent  in  Santa  Cruz  County  and  the 
coastal  Monterey  Coast-Carmel 
Valley  vicinity. 

About  half  of  the  projected  360,000 
acre-feet  annual  deficit  In  2020  is 
estimated  to  occur  in  the  lower 
Salinas  Valley.   The  balance  Is 
forecast  to  be  about  equally  divided 
between  Santa  Cruz  County,  Monterey 
Coast-Carmel  region,  and  Santa 
Barbara  and  San  Luis  Obispo  Counties. 
Importation  of  water  from  the  San 
Felipe  Project  is  expected  to  pro- 
vide for  the  foreseeable  demands  of 
the  South  Santa  Clara  and  Holllster 
areas . 

The  question  of  identifying  the 
sources  of  water  which  could  most 
beneficially  meet  these  deficien- 
cies should  be  considered  in  terms 
of  the  relative  economics  of  alter- 
native water  supply  possibilities 
physically  available  to  satisfy  the 
specific  deficiencies  within  the 
area.   They  Include  the  options  of 
additional  local  surface  and  ground 
water  development,  although  this 
potential  Is  small  in  Santa  Barbara 
County;  and  the  possibilities  of  addi- 
tional Imported  water  supplies,  and 
desalting  for  urban  purposes.   In 
addition,  the  reuse  of  reclaimed 
urban  waste  water  should  be  seri- 
ously considered  for  ground  water 
recharge  and/or  Irrigation  use. 


South  Coastal  Area 

The  South  Coastal  area  is  the  most 
populous  and  the  leading  Industrial 
and  commercial  center  In  the  State. 
It  is  one  of  the  fastest  growing 
areas  in  the  entire  Country,  and 
this  growth  is  likely  to  continue. 
There  has  been  a  shift  from  an 
almost  entirely  agriculturally 
based  economy  to  one  of  industry 
and  commerce.   The  resultant  econom- 
ic diversification  and  prosperity 
can  be  attributed  to  the  discovery 
of  oil  and  the  development  of  the 
petroleum  Industries  and  its 
favorable  climatic  conditions,  which 
attracted  the  aircraft  and  national 
defense-oriented  industries. 

Reflecting  the  increasing  urbaniza- 
tion, the  total  water  demands  of 
the  South  Coastal  area,  including 
agricultural  demand,  are  projected 
to  grow  from  about  2.5  million  acre- 
feet  per  year  at  present  to  5.3 
million  acre-feet  in  2020,  more 
than  twice  the  present  demand. 

To  meet  present  water  demands,  the 
South  Coastal  area  presently 
depends  on:   (l)  local  surface  and 
ground  water  supplies,  which  are 
almost  fully  developed  if  the  use 
of  water  is  based  on  the  average 
annual  natural  replenishment; 
(2)  the  Los  Angeles  Aqueduct,  which 
was  enlarged  in  1970  to  deliver 
approximately  480,000  acre-feet 
annually  to  the  City  of  Los  Angeles; 
and  (3)  the  Colorado  River  Aqueduct, 
now  delivering  water  at  almost  full 
capacity  of  about  I.I8  million  acre- 
feet  per  year  to  the  Metropolitan 
Water  District  of  Southern  Califor- 
nia.  Currently,  the  total  water 
supply  available  to  the  area  Is 
approximately  equal  to  Its  water 
demand  (2.5  million  acre-feet  in 
1967). 

Potential  future  local  surface 
water  supply  projects  in  the  South 
Coastal  area  are  limited,  and  water 
available  from  them  will  not  offer 
a  long-term  solution  to  the  area's 
needs.   Fallbrook  and  DeLuz  Reser- 
voirs on  the  Santa  Margarita  River, 
as  well  as  additional  surface  water 


-107- 


FIGURE  21 


2020 


1990 


1967 


URBAN 

IRRIGATED 


REMAINING 
RRI6ABLE 


^AGRICULTURAL 

/ 

URBAN 

1        2        3 
1         r         1 

4 

1 

5 

1 

S 
1.  . 

1,000,000    PERSONS 
POPULATION 


1,000,000  ACRES 
LAND     USE 


1,000,000    ACRE-FEET 
APPLIED    WATER    DEMANDS 


2    — 


PROJECTED  NET  WATER  DEMANDS 

^    Required  Additional  Supplies:  Potential  additional  supply  sources  —  desalii 
further  waste  water  reclamation,  additional  SWP  imports,  ground  water  withdr 
storage. 


NET  WATER  SUPPLIES 
EXISTING  OR  UNDER  CON  - 
ST  RUCTION  IN  ipOO  AF/YR. 


1970 


^^            Local  Surface  Wate 

r  Dev. 

170 

180 

180 

Ground  Water:  Safe  Yie 

Id 

900 

950 

950 

Ground  Water  Overdraft 

0 

0 

0 

Los  Angeles  Aqueduct 

330 

480 

480 

State  Water  Project 

0 

2200 

2200 

Colorado  River  Aqueduct 

1060 

520 

520 

Waste  Water  Reclamation 

30 

300 

300 

Total  Net  Supplies 

2490 

4630 

4630 

*  May  increase 

to  600,000  acre 

feet 

per 

vear 

1980 


1990 


2000 


2010 


2020 


YEAR 
PROJECTED    WATER    SUPPLIES   AND     NET     WATER      DEMANDS 

SOUTH   COASTAL   HYDROLOGIC  STUDf  AREA 


-108- 


FIGURE  22 


SOUTH   COASTAL 
HYDROLOGIC  STUDY  AREA 


I 1   NET  WATER  SUPPLY 

I 1   NET  WATER  DEMAND 

I 1   SUPPLEMENTAL  WATER  DEMAND 

NOTE:     Bar  Chart  Units  Are  Million  Acre-Feet  Per  Yeor 


-109- 


development  in  the  San  Dieguito 
River  watershed  in  San  Diego  County, 
are  currently  being  studied.   Proj- 
ects were  proposed  for  Sespe  Creek 
in  Ventura  County,  but  their  near 
future  construction  is  not  considered 
likely. 

In  1971  deliveries  will  begin  from 
the  State  Water  Project  to  the 
service  areas  of  the  Metropolitan 
Water  District  of  Southern  CfeLLifornia 
and  other  water  agencies  in  the 
South  Coastal  area.   The  total  max- 
imum entitlement  to  Project  water 
amounts  to  2,204,000  acre-feet  per 
year . 

The  water  supply  from  the  Colorado 
River  will  be  reduced  to  about 
550jOOO  acre-feet  per  year  when 
the  Central  Arizona  Project  becomes 
operational.   It  is  expected  that 
this  reduction  will  occur  in  the 
mid-1980s.   Nevertheless,  the  total 
supply  available  to  the  South 
Coastal  area,  including  the  full 
State  Water  Project  entitlements, 
should  be  adequate  to  meet  water 
demands  until  beyond  2000,  when  a 
demand  for  supplemental  water  is 
anticipated  to  begin.   Delivery  of 
full  State  Water  Project  entitle- 
ments will  require  additional  con- 
servation developments,  as  the 
presently  developed  firm  Project 
water  supply  is  somewhat  less  than 
the  contract  entitlements.   The 
water  supply  capabilities  of  the 
State  Water  Project  will  be  dis- 
cussed in  Chapter  VII. 

A  substantial  amount  of  water  may 
be  made  available  from  waste  water 
reclamation.   By  2020,  reclamation 
of  about  600,000  acre-feet  annually 
is  believed  feasible,  even  though 
definite  plans  have  been  made  only 
for  300,000  acre-feet.   However, 
additional  information  and  experi- 
ence must  be  gained  before  the  full 
potential  can  be  realized  as  a 
long-term  source  of  water  supply. 
For  example,  more  definitive  knowl- 
edge must  be  gained  regarding  the 
adequacy  of  underground  recharge 
capacity  to  accept  (percolate) 
large  amounts  of  reclaimed  water  on 
a  continuous  basis.   Also,  further 
evaluation  must  be  made  concerning 


the  physical  and  economic  require- 
ments to  maintain  adequate  quality 
of  the  replenishing  and  receiving 
waters  to  meet  water  quality  cri- 
teria specified  by  the  Regional 
Water  Quality  Control  Boards. 

Converted  sea  water  probably  will 
satisfy  a  portion  of  the  demand  for 
supplemental  water  in  the  South 
Coastal  area.   While  current  costs 
preclude  its  consideration  as  a 
major  source  for  the  near  future, 
it  may  well  become  economical  on  a 
large  scale  as  technology  in  de- 
salting processes  continues  to 
develop  and  costs  are  reduced. 

The  quality  of  ground  water,  a 
significant  source  of  water  to  the 
South  Coastal  area,  ranges  from 
excellent  to  extremely  poor.   The 
quality  of  water  from  San  Gabriel 
Valley,  Upper  Santa  Ana  River  water- 
shed, and  San  Fernando  Valley  is 
generally  excellent  and  the  concen- 
tration of  dissolved  minerals  is 
generally  below  400  parts  per  million 
(ppm),  reflecting  the  quality  of  the 
runoff  from  mountain  ranges.   The 
quality  of  ground  water  in  the 
Coastal  Plain  of  Los  Angeles  County 
and  the  Coastal  Plain  of  Orange 
County  reflects  substantial  influence 
of  man  and  the  mineral  concentration 
reaches  about  5OO  ppm.   Some  iso- 
lated areas,  however,  have  concen- 
trations exceeding  1,000  ppm, 
reflecting  the  quality  degradation 
from  sea  water  intrusion.   The 
quality  of  ground  water  in  much  of 
San  Diego  County  is  generally  poor-- 
700  to  1,U00  ppm.   Ground  water  in 
portions  of  Ventura  County  has  poor 
quality--above  700  ppm. 

The  quality  of  water  imported  to 
the  South  Coastal  area  varies  with 
the  source.   Water  from  Mono-Owens 
Valley  has  a  dissolved  mineral  con- 
centration of  about  250  ppm. 
Colorado  River  water  at  Parker  Dam, 
above  which  the  Colorado  River 
Aqueduct  originates,  has  a  concen- 
tration of  about  750  ppm.   A  recent 
report  by  the  Colorado  River  Board 
of  California  ("Need  for  Controlling 
Salinity  of  the  Colorado  River", 
published  by  the  Colorado  River 
Board  of  California,  August  1970) 


-110- 


presents  estimates  that  st^linity  of 
Colorado  River  water  at  Parker  Dam 
will  increase  to  860  ppm  by  I98O 
and  1,110  ppm  by  2000,  in  the 
absence  of  salinity  control  mea- 
sures.  If  certain  salinity  control 
projects  identified  in  the  report 
are  implemented  and  if  they  reduce 
salt  loadings  as  estimated,  the 
respective  salinity  values  would  be 
820  and  830  ppm.   Without  such 
projects  or  other  measures,  costs 
of  treatment  would  be  increased 
substantially  and  usefulness  of  the 
water  for  some  purposes  would  be 
impaired.   To  the  extent  such  water 
could  be  diluted  with  water  from 
the  State  Water  Project,  its  adverse 
effects  could  be  eliminated  or  re- 
duced.  Water  to  be  delivered  by 
the  State  Water  Project  will  re- 
flect the  quality  objective  of 
220  ppm,  which  is  incorporated  in 
the  water  supply  contracts. 

The  water  demand-supply  relation- 
ships in  the  South  Coastal  area 
are  depicted  graphically  in 
Figure  21,  and  the  geographical 
locations  of  water  demands  and 
available  supplies  are  shown  in 
Figure  22. 

It  can  be  seen  from  an  inspection 
of  Figure  21  that  the  assumed  level 
of  reuse  of  reclaimed  water  has  a 
considerable  effect  on  the  timing 
of  need  for  supplemental  water. 
The  line  on  that  figure  depicting 
available  supplies  is  based  on  the 
definitely  planned  reclamation  of 
waste  water  in  the  amount  of 
300,000  acre-feet  per  year.   If 
this  value  were  increased  to 
600,000  acre-feet  per  year,  as 
future  experience  may  well  prove 
to  be  the  case,  the  effect  would 
be  to  delay  the  need  for  supple- 
mental water. 

In  addition  to  the  further  use  of 
reclaimed  water,  the  total  demand 
for  supplemental  water  in  the 
South  Coastal  area  in  2020  could 
be  met  from  several  alternative 
sources:   surplus  deliveries  of 
Project  water  during  the  earlier 
years,  to  be  stored  underground  for 
later  use;  water  from  supplementary 
facilities  to  State  Water  Project; 


converted  sea  water;  and  possible 
interim  use  of  ground  water  in 
storage.   It  is  probable  that  a 
combination  of  some  or  all  of 
these  alternatives  will  be  employed 
to  meet  the  area's  water  demands. 


Sacramento  Basin 

The  Sacramento  Basin  is  the  second 
largest  water-producing  area  in  the 
State.   On  the  average,  about  21  mil- 
lion acre-feet  of  natural  runoff 
annually  originates  in  the  basin, 
amounting  to  about  30  percent  of 
California's  total  natural  runoff. 
The  Sacramento  River  is  the  largest 
stream  in  the  State.   It  provides 
for  year-round  navigation  for 
shallow-draft  craft  upstream  as  far 
as  Colusa.   This  is  made  possible 
by  releases  from  Shasta  Reservoir, 
the  largest  regulatory  reservoir  in 
the  Basin. 

Like  the  North  Coastal  area,  the 
Sacramento  Basin  is  subject  to 
periodic  devastating  floods.   An 
extensive  system  of  flood  control 
works  has  been  constructed  over  the 
years  by  various  agencies  including 
the  U.  S.  Army  Corps  of  Engineers 
and  reclamation  and  flood  control 
districts.   The  system  includes 
hundreds  of  miles  of  levees  along 
the  Sacramento  River  and  tributaries 
and  Shasta  and  Folsom  Dams.   The 
recently  completed  Oroville  Dam  on 
the  Feather  River  and  New  Bullards 
Bar  Dam  on  the  Yuba  River  are  sub- 
stantial additions  to  the  flood 
control  system. 

In  all,  the  flood  control  works 
within  the  Sacramento  Basin  have 
functioned  well  in  recent  years  to 
minimize  the  disastrous  flooding 
which  has  been  part  of  the  history 
of  the  Basin.   Damages  during  the 
extended  periods  of  high  runoff  in 
1969  and  1970  were  light  in  compar- 
ison with  damages  which  would  have 
occurred  without  satisfactory 
operation  of  the  system. 

Completion  of  Auburn  Dam,  now  under 
construction  and  construction  of 
the  authorized  Marysville  Dam  will 
significantly  increase  protection 


•111- 


from  major  flooding  in  some  of  the 
more  urban  areas  of  the  Sacramento 
Basin.   The  Corps  of  Engineers  has 
recently  proposed  construction  of 
two  reservoirs  on  Cottonwood  Creek, 
a  major  west  side  tributary  of  the 
Sacramento  River  near  Redding. 
Other  possible  projects  are  under 
study  on  a  number  of  streams.   In 
addition,  proposals  for  channel 
improvements  and  levees  are  under 
consideration.   Floodplain  manage- 
ment programs  are  also  being  ini- 
tiated by  local  interests. 

More  than  90  percent  of  the  water 
used  today  in  the  Sacramento  Basin 
is  for  farming.   Agricultural 
water  use  is  expected  to  increase 
moderately  in  the  future  with  an 
annual  applied  water  demand  in  2020 
of  about  7.5  million  acre-feet, 
an  increase  of  approximately  20  per- 
cent over  present  (I967)  levels. 


Agricultural  demands  are  expected 
to  rise  at  a  more  rapid  rate  prior 
to  I99O;  after  that  date  the  in- 
crease is  expected  to  slow,  partly 
because  of  urban  encroachment  and 
partly  because  most  of  the  best 
land  with  convenient  water  supplies 
will  be  under  irrigation  by  1990- 

Urban  demands  are  expected  to 
approximately  double  by  2020.   Most 
of  the  urban  growth  is  expected  to 
continue  near  present  cities.   In- 
cluded in  the  future  urban  demand 
is  an  allotment  of  about  60,000  acre- 
feet  for  the  paper  and  wood  products 
industry  in  the  northern  Sacramento 
Valley. 

The  Sacramento  Basin  accounts  for  a 
substantial  portion  of  the  statewide 
fish,  wildlife,  and  recreation  water 
requirements.   This  is  due  primarily 
to  several  existing  wildlife  refuges. 


Sacramento  Valley 


the  area  is  well  suited  to  rice  culture. 
-112- 


In  addition,  many  private  organi- 
zations flood  farmlands  in  the  fall 
to  provide  waterfowl  hunting 
opportunities . 

The  present  (I967)  and  projected 
1990  and  2020  population,  land  use, 
water  demand,  and  usable  water 
supplies  in  the  Sacramento  Basin 
are  shown  in  Figure  23.   The 
geographic  distribution  of  water 
supplies  and  demands  is  shown  on 
Figure  24, 

Total  basin-wide  developed  water 
supplies  exceed  total  foreseeable 
water  demands  in  the  Sacramento 
Basin.   Some  water  agencies  in 
favorable  locations  have  more  de- 
veloped water  available  than  the 
indicated  demand  in  2020,  partic- 
ularly in  the  southeastern  portion 
of  the  Basin.   Other  areas  do  not 
have  sufficient  supplies  to  fully 
meet  expected  future  needs. 

Areas  of  indicated  water  shortages 
are  (1)  the  west  side  of  the 
Sacramento  Valley,  mainly  in  Yolo 
and  Solano  Counties;  (2)  the  Pit 
River  Basin,  mainly  in  Big  Valley; 
and  (3)  scattered  foothill  and 
mountain  areas  both  on  the  east 
side  and  west  side,  including  Lake 
County.   Future  supplemental  de- 
mands in  Yolo  and  Solano  Counties 
can  be  met  by  the  Indian  Valley 
Reservoir  on  Cache  Creek  to  be  con- 
structed by  the  Yolo  County  Flood 
Control  and  Water  Conservation 
District,  and  the  West  Sacramento 
Canals  Unit  of  the  Central  Valley 
Project.   The  proposed  Allen  Camp 
Unit  would  meet  the  projected 
deficits  in  the  Pit  River  Basin 
and  would  make  possible  development 
of  a  new  wildlife  refuge  in  Big 
Valley.   The  authorized  Lakeport 
Project  by  the  U.  S.  Army  Corps  of 
Engineers  could  take  care  of  a 
significant  part  of  Lake  County 
needs,  while  the  proposed  Middletown 
Reservoir  in  the  upper  Putah  Creek 
drainage  (part  of  the  proposed  West 
Sacramento  Canals  Unit)  would  permit 
agricultural  development  in  that 
portion  of  Lake  County.   Other 
possibilities  are  the  proposed 
English  Ridge  import  from  the  Eel 


River  and  additional  Cache  Creek 
storage . 

Other  areas  of  water  shortage  are 
projected  to  occur  in  scattered 
mountain  and  foothill  areas  on  the 
western  slopes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada- 
Cascade  Range,  as  a  result  of  the 
influx  of  people  taking  advantage  of 
the  pleasant  environment. 

There  is  a  substantial  amount  of 
additional  land  suitable  for  many 
irrigated  crops  in  the  Sacramento 
Basin.   Water  costs  for  new  develop- 
ment generally  will  be  less  than  in 
other  areas  of  the  State.   Climatic 
conditions  for  agriculture  are  almost 
as  favorable  as  in  the  San  Joaquin 
and  Tulare  Basins;  therefore,  a 
shift  in  new  land  development  to 
the  north  is  possible  with  corre- 
sponding effects  on  the  projections 
shown  here. 

Because  of  its  high  water  require- 
ment,  the  future  of  rice  acreage  is 
an  important  factor  in  projecting 
future  water  demands  in  the  Sacramento 
Valley.  With  many  acres  of  fine- 
textured  clay  soils,  inexpensive 
water  and  high  yield  potential,  the 
area  is  well-suited  to  rice  culture. 
Projection  of  future  rice  acreage  is 
particularly  uncertain,  as  it  is 
subject  to  governmental  controls 
and  foreign  markets.   Reported  rice 
plantings  in  1967  in  the  Sacramento 
Valley  were  about  320,000  acres; 
rice  acreages  for  the  1990  to  2020 
period  were  assumed  in  this  bulletin 
to  remain  essentially  constant, 
approximating  the  1967  level. 

Preservation  of  the  present  high 
quality  of  water  in  the  Sacramento 
River  is  of  paramount  importance. 
It  concerns  local  water  uses,  fish 
and  wildlife,  and  uses  dependent 
upon  water  exported  from  the  river 
by  the  Central  Valley  and  State  Water 
Projects.   Quality  of  the  river  has 
been  under  surveillance  and  inves- 
tigation for  a  number  of  years. 

In  January  1969,  the  California 
Regional  Water  Quality  Control  Board, 
Central  Valley  Region,  proposed 
water  quality  control  policy  for  the 


-113- 


FIGURE  23 


2020 


1990 


1967 


2 


~~]      URBAN 


n. 


IRRIGATED 


REMAINING 
IRRIGABLE 


/ 


1 


AGRICULTURAL 

. 

urban' 

2         4         6 
1           1           1 

8 

1 

10 

1 

1,000,000      PERSONS 
POPULATION 


1,000,000   acres 

LAND    USE 


1,000,000  acre -feet 

APPLIED    WATER    DEMANDS 


7.0     — 


6.5     - 


6.0     — 


5.5      - 


^ 

^ 

*  Potential  additional  supply  sources:                                                                             ^^^^^^ 

West  Sacramento  Canal  Unit,  CVP;  Allen  Camp  Unit,                                ^^^^"'^ 

CVP;  Indian  Valley  Reservoir;  Lakeport  Project;                            ^^^^  Required  Additic 

nal  Su 

pphORj^ 

English  Ridge  Reservoir.                                                                    ^^-''^ 

,^^ 

'"^^ 

projected  net  WATER  DEMANDS -p^'"'^^                   ^^^^"""'^ 

y^              ^-"""^^  NET  WATER  SUPPLIES 

y^               ^/^        EXISTING  OR  UNDER  CQNSTRUC- 

y^           ^^            TION  IN  1,000  AF/YR 

>r                  y^^                                                                                   1967 

1990 

2020 

y           y^              Local  Surface  Water  Dev.                                  1960 

2210 

2380  — 

y             y^                     Ground  Water:  Safe  Yield                                  1010 

1100 

1180 

^         y^                             Ground  Water:  Overdraft                                       140 

0 

0 

/^     y^                                      Echo  Lake,   Little  Truckee  Diversions            10 

10 

10 

/    y^                                             Central  Valley  Project,  including 

/     /                                                       Sacramento  River  and  American  River 

'  y                                                          water  rights                                                         2210 

2750 

3080 

/                                                             Other  Federal                                                          170 

170 

170 

State  Water  Project                                                    0 

40 

40 

Total  Net  Supplies                               5500 
1 1                                    1                                    1                                    1 

6  280 

6860 

1970 


1980 


1990 
YEAR 


2000 


2010 


2020 


PROJECTED     WATER     SUPPLIES    AND    NET    WATER    DEMANDS 

SACRAMENTO    BASIN    HYDROLOGIC   STUDY    AREA 


■114- 


FIGURE  24 


SACRAMENTO  BASIN 
HYDROLOGIC  STUDY  AREA 

I 1   NET  WATER  SUPPLY 

I 1   NET  WATER  DEMAND  y 

I 1   SUPPLEMENTAL  WATER  DEMAND    -^ 


NOTE:     Bor  Chart  Units  Are  Million  Acre-Feet  Per  Year 


1.0 

0.5 

0 


1967      1990    2020 


lis         SOUTHEAST 
I       -2.0 1 1 1 


,^^-of— l^J 


:  f         CENTRAL  BASIN 

J      ''n — rzn/    / 


r     '5 

1.0 

05 

0 


KEY   TO  STUDY   AREAS 


1967    1990     ^020      i^'J 


1967    ,1990    2020 


1       ^' 


/ 


SOUTHWEST 


ffl 


1967      1990     2020 


\ 
\ 


SCALE  OF  MILES 
0       8       16     24 


-115- 


Sacramento  River  to  apply  from 
Sacramento  to  Keswick  Dam.   Local 
interests  became  concerned  about 
the  possible  consequences  of  the 
proposed  policy  with  respect  to 
future  irrigated  agriculture,  and 
in  May  I969  requested  the  Department 
to  assist  them  in  a  one-year  study 
of  the  impact  of  anticipated  future 
expansion  of  irrigated  agriculture 
on  the  quality  of  water  in  the 
river. 

Preliminary  results  of  the  study 
showed  that,  although  the  1990  an- 
nual average  mineral  concentration 
(as  measured  by  electical  conduc- 
tivity) would  be  higher  (30  to  58 
percent  at  Preeport)  than  historic 
values,  the  overall  mineral  quality 
would  not  approach  the  historic 
monthly  extremes.   No  serious  qual- 
ity problems  with  respect  to  total 
dissolved  mineral  concentrations 
were  indicated  for  the  hydrologic 
conditions  studied. 

A  similar  cooperative  study  was 
initiated  in  January  I97O  for  the 
Feather  River.  Continuing  water 
quality  studies  of  the  Sacramento 
Basin  are  necessary  to  keep  abreast 
with  changes  in  water  development 
and  project  operations,  as  well  as 
changes  in  land  use  and  industrial 
development. 


Water  releases  from  reservoir  proj- 
ects serve  the  multiple  purposes  not 
only  of  maintaining  fish  habitat 
and  the  riparian,  or  streamside 
habitat,  upon  which  many  birds  and 
mammals  depend,  but  also  of  pro- 
viding for  beneficial  consumptive 
uses  and  purposes.   Considerable 
success  has  been  achieved  in  ef- 
fecting downstream  releases  in  the 
Sacramento  Basin.   This  has  been 
accomplished  by  agreements  usually 
negotiated  between  the  construction 
agency  and  the  Department  of  Fish 
and  Game.   At  the  present  time  26 
such  agreements  representing  13 
different  agencies  are  in  effect. 
The  streams  and  quantities  are  shown 
in  the  tabulation  at  the  bottom  of 
this  page. 

In  summary,  the  overall  outlook  for 
sufficiency  of  water  supplies  to 
meet  future  demands  in  the  Sacramento 
Basin  is  excellent.   Although  much 
of  the  Basin  will  have  surplus  water, 
such  surpluses  generally  are  not 
transferable  because  of  location, 
topography,  or  other  factors,  and 
certain  areas  are  expected  to  have 
a  future  deficiency.   By  and  large, 
however,  proposed  local  and  federal 
projects  could  satisfy  these  defi- 
ciencies.  In  addition  to  the  water 
demands  of  an  expanding  agricultural 
economy,  the  Basin  will  remain  an 


Stream 


Streamflow  Releases 
(Acre-Feet  Per  Year) 


Upper  Sacramento 

Pit-McCloud 

Sacramento  at  Keswick  Dam 

Clear  Creek  at  Whiskeytown  Dam 

Feather  River  at  Oroville 

Feather  River  Tributaries, 

including  New  Bullards  Bar  Dam 

American  River  and  Tributaries 

TOTAL 


60,000 

150,000 

2,000.000 

20,000 

970,000 

290  ,  000 

390  ,000 

3,880,000 


-116- 


attractive  and  desirable  area  for 
fish  and  wildlife  and  other  recre- 
ational pursuits. 

Delta-Central  Sierra  Area 

The  Delta-Central  Sierra  area  con- 
tains the  Delta  of  the  Sacramento 
and  San  Joaquin  Rivers  and  the 
watersheds  of  the  Calaveras, 
Mokelumne,  and  Cosumnes  Rivers. 
The  Delta  consists  of  many  islands, 
often  below  sea  level,  among  a  maze 
of  meandering  channels .   Behind  pro- 
tective levees,  irrigated  agricul- 
ture has  flourished  for  many  years 
on  the  rich  peaty  soils,  which  are 
especially  suited  for  asparagus 
growing.   East  of  the  Delta,  valley 
lands  rise  gradually  for  quite  a 
distance  before  reaching  foothills 
which  blend  into  the  rugged  mountains 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada. 

The  flat  valley  lands  are  similar  in 
appearance  and  potential  use  to  lands 
of  the  Sacramento  Valley  to  the  north 
and  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  on  the 
south.   However,  there  is  more  ma- 
rine influence  due  to  prevailing 
summer  winds  coming  in  through  the 
gap  in  the  Coast  Range  to  the  west. 
This  more  moderate  climate  makes 
possible  the  culture  of  the  famous 
Tokay  variety  of  table  grape  near 
Lodi  and  also  the  pear  orchards 
along  the  Sacramento  River  in  the 
Delta. 

Estimated  I967  agricultural  water 
demand  was  2.3  million  acre-feet 
per  year,  of  which  a  little  over 
half  was  in  the  Sacramento-San 
Joaquin  Delta.   Some  increase  in 
irrigated  land  is  expected  in  the 
future,  mostly  in  valley  areas  sur- 
rounding the  Delta.   As  a  result, 
on-farm  water  demands  are  projected 
to  increase  to  2.5  million  acre- 
feet  in  1990  and  2.6  million  acre- 
feet  in  2020. 

Water  demands  for  urban  purposes  are 
expected  to  approximately  triple  by 
2020.   Included  in  the  future  urban 
demand  is  an  allotment  of  75,000  acre- 
feet  of  cooling  water  to  be  imported 
from  the  American  River  for  the 


Rancho  Seco  nuclear  powerplant  now 
under  construction  by  the  Sacramento 
Municipal  Utility  District. 

The  present  (1967)  and  projected 
1990  and  2020  population,  land  use, 
water  demands,  and  estimated  water 
supplies  in  the  Delta-Central  Sierra 
area  are  shown  in  Figure  25.   Fig- 
ure 26  illustrates  the  geographical 
distribution  of  water  demands  and 
supplies. 

Major  existing  surface  sources  of 
water  are  the  Mokelumne  River,  which 
also  serves  as  a  supply  for  the  East 
Bay  Municipal  Utility  District  in 
the  San  Francisco  Bay  area;  the 
Calaveras  River;  and  the  channels 
of  the  Delta.   The  amount  of  water 
available  from  the  Mokelumne  River 
is  anticipated  to  decline  somewhat 
in  the  future  when  full  East  Bay 
Municipal  Utility  District  exports 
are  made;  hence,  the  reduction  in 
local  surface  supply  on  Figure  25. 

In  addition,  water  is  served  in 
areas  west  of  the  Delta  from  the 
Putah  South,  Contra  Costa,  and  Delta- 
Mendota  Canals.   Ground  water  com- 
prises an  important  source,  meeting 
over  30  percent  of  the  demand  today, 
partially  at  the  expense  of  ground 
water  overdrafts  which  aggregate 
slightly  more  than  100,000  acre-feet 
in  the  area  east  of  the  Delta.   A 
major  new  facility  just  beginning 
construction  is  the  Folsom  South 
Canal,  which  would  serve  a  large 
area  of  the  valley  east  of  Sacramento, 
Lodi,  and  Stockton. 

After  allowing  for  the  capabilities 
of  existing  water  sources  and  those 
under  construction,  a  deficiency,  or 
supplemental  demand,  of  about 
90,000  acre-feet  in  1990  and  l80,000 
acre-feet  in  2020  is  forecast  for 
the  Delta-Central  Sierra  area.   These 
additional  demands  would  be  located 
in  three  areas:   (l)  Solano  County 
to  the  northwest  of  the  Delta; 
(2)  Contra  Costa  and  San  Joaquin 
Counties  to  the  southwest  of  the 
Delta;  and  (3)  higher  valley,  foot- 
hill, and  mountain  regions  east  of 
the  Folsom  South  Canal  service 
area . 


-117- 


FIGURE  25 


2020 


1990 


1967 


1   URBAN 

IRRIGATED 

1 

1 

\  REMAINING 
IRRIGABLE 

1 

I 

1 

2         4         6         8        10 
..1.         'Ill 

AGRICULTURAL 

URBAN -^ 

1             2 

3            4 
1             1  . 

100,000    PERSONS 
POPULATION 


100,000  ACRES 
LAND    USE 


1,000,000     ACRE-FEET 
APPLIED    WATER    DEMANDS 


2.5 


2.0       - 


1.5 


.0       - 


PROJECTED  NET  WATER  DEMANDS — ^                                   

. 

- 

'^i        ~        "ReauireH  Addit.-^- 

al    Snnnlieo  * 

_^^;;-s:::==:===^^^^^^^     ""^^^^^^^^ter  supplies  existing  or 

^^.,*!*=^-                                  under  CONSTRUCTION  in  1,000  AF/YR.      " 

— 

1967         1990 
Local  Surface  Water  Development                                                      190            160 
Ground  Water:  Safe  Yield                                                                       570           560 
Ground  Water:  Overdraft                                                                               100                0 
Central  Valley  Project,  including  Delta  channel 

2020       

160 

560 

0 

- 

diversions                                                                                               980         1270 

Other  Federal:  Putah  South  Canal,  New  Hogan                              90           120 

Total  Net  Supplies                                                                  1930         2110 

1330 
120 
2170         — 

*  Potential  additional  supply  sources:  Cosumnes  Division,  CVP;  West  Sacramento  C 
Unit,  CVP;  New  Melones  Reservoir,  CVP 

.1                                       1                                       1                                       1                                      1 

mals 

1970 


1980 


1990 
YEAR 


2000 


2010 


2020 


PROJECTED     WATER    SUPPLIES    AND    NET    WATER    DEMANDS 

DELTA  -  CENTRAL    SIERRA   HYDR0L06IC    STUDY  AREA 


-118- 


FIGURE  26 


DELTA  -  CENTRAL  SIERRA 
HYDROLOGIC  STUDY  AREA 


I 1   NET  WATER  SUPPLY 

I 1   NET  WATER  DEMAND 

f^^'HZi   SUPPLEMENTAL  WATER  DEMAND 


NOTE:     Bar  Chorf  Units  Are  Million  Acre-Feet  Per 


r  Year  /*  )  ^    / 


J 


/ 


rs  /  F( 


FOOTHILL  AND  UPLAND 
10 


m 

m 

" 

/ 


KEY    TO   STUDY    AREAS 


-119- 


Eastern  Solano  County  shortages 
could  be  met  from  the  proposed  West 
Sacramento  Canals  Unit  of  the 
Central  Valley  Project,  by  possible 
direct  diversion  from  one  of  the 
Delta  channels, or  by  interim  ground 
water  overdraft  pending  the  con- 
struction of  an  import  project. 

The  supplemental  demands  of  the 
strip  of  valley  and  foothill  lands 
southwest  of  the  Delta  could  be 
partly  supplied  from  the  proposed 
Kellogg  Unit  of  the  Central  Valley 
Project.   Those  in  San  Joaquin 
County,  which  are  expected  to  be 
almost  entirely  for  farm  purposes, 
could  possibly  be  met  from  the 
Central  Valley  Project  or  from  ex- 
panded State  Water  Project  sources 
via  the  California  Aqueduct. 

In  the  remaining  area  future 
deficiency,  east  of  Folsom  South 
Canal  service  area,  supplemental 
water  demands  are  forecast  to  be 
about  50,000  acre-feet  in  199O  and 
120,000  acre-feet  in  2020.   A  sig- 
nificant portion  of  this  demand  is 
for  agriculture  and  may  not  materi- 
alize unless  a  relatively  low-priced 
supply,  such  as  the  proposed 
Cosumnes  River  Division  of  the 
Central  Valley  Project,  is  available. 
A  large  share  of  the  forecast  short- 
age could  be  provided  from  the 
proposed  Cosumnes  River  Division. 
It  would  appear  that  one  upper 
reservoir  plus  Nashville  Reservoir 
would  be  adequate  for  meeting  most 
local  future  demands  on  the  Cosumnes 
River  drainage  area. 

Additional  water  demands  in  the 
northern  tip  of  Stanislaus  County 
could  probably  be  best  provided 
from  the  New  Melones  Project, 
possibly  via  Oakdale  Irrigation 
District.   Supplemental  water  could 
also  be  made  available  from  El 
Dorado  County's  Central  Valley 
Project  reservation  in  Folsom  Lake, 
the  Malby  diversion  from  Folsom 
Lake,  the  proposed  Swiss  Ranch 
development  in  Calaveras  County, 
and  other  mountain  area  small 
projects. 

The  Sacramento-San  Joaquin  Delta's 
700  miles  of  waterways  form  a 


unique  aquatic  environment  for  the 
greatest  variety  of  fish  and  other 
aquatic  life  found  anywhere  in 
California.   Substantial  populations 
of  striped  bass,  salmon,  steelhead, 
shad,  catfish,  and  sturgeon  are 
dependent  on  this  area  during  all 
or  part  of  their  lives.   About  80 
percent  of  California's  commercial 
salmon  fishing  depends  upon  the 
Delta  estuary  in  one  way  or  another. 

In  addition  to  its  local  agricul- 
tural, industrial,  recreational, 
and  esthetic  values,  the  Delta  is 
the  common  point  of  collection  and 
diversion  of  waters  southward  to 
meet  the  growing  water  needs  of  the 
San  Joaquin  Valley  and  Central  and 
Southern  California. 

Water  quality  has  been  a  problem  in 
the  Delta  from  the  time  that  low- 
lying  lands  were  originally  re- 
claimed and  farming  began.   In  the 
past  the  problems  have  been  caused 
primarily  by  the  intrusion  of  ocean 
salinity  from  the  tidal  movement, 
especially  during  periods  of  very 
low  outflow  of  fresh  water,  such  as 
occurred  in  1924  and  1931.   During 
such  low-flow  conditions  much  of 
the  Delta  could  not  be  irrigated 
because  of  the  intolerable  salinity 
in  the  channels  and  sloughs  which 
served  as  a  water  supply  source. 

Summer  releases  of  stored  water 
from  Shasta  Reservoir,  together 
with  Folsom  and  Oroville  in  more 
recent  years,  have  vastly  reduced 
the  salinity  intrusion  problem.   In 
fact,  no  significant  intrusion  of 
salt  water  has  occurred  since  19^4 
when  Shasta  Dam  was  completed. 

Water  quality  problems  in  the  Delta 
have  been  intensified  with  the  in- 
creasing discharge  of  agricultural 
drainage  and  industrial  wastes  into 
Delta  channels,  expanded  use  in  the 
Central  Valley,  and  increasing 
export  of  Central  Valley  water  to 
the  Bay  area.   It  has  been  recognized 
that  these  problems  will  become  more 
aggravated  in  the  future  unless 
steps  are  taken  to  protect  and  pre- 
serve the  Delta  environment. 


-120- 


In  studies  leading  to  the  State 
Water  Project,  it  became  apparent 
that  facilities  in  the  Delta  would 
be  needed  to  transfer  project  water 
across  the  Delta  without  undue  loss 
or  deterioration  in  quality;  to 
assure  an  adequate  supply  of  good- 
quality  water  and  protection  of 
Delta  lands  from  the  effects  of 
salinity  intrusion;  to  protect  the 
valuable  fishery  resources  of  the 
Delta,  and  where  possible,  provide 
for  their  enhancement.   Consequently, 
an  interagency  committee,  composed 
of  representatives  of  the  Bureau  of 
Reclamation,  the  Corps  of  Engineers, 
and  the  Department  of  Water  Re- 
sources, examined  all  previous 
plans  for  a  multi-purpose  Delta 
water  facility.   The  objective  was 
to  recommend  a  mutually  acceptable 
plan  that  would  provide  for  the 
various  needs  of  the  Delta  and 
satisfy  the  needs  of  the  Central 
Valley  Project  and  State  Water 
Project  for  water  transfer.   The 
committee  recommended  the  Peripheral 
Canal  plan  as  the  only  acceptable 
plan  of  the  several  alternatives 
that  could  meet  the  various  criteria 
considered  essential  to  provide  a 
suitable  environment  in  the  Delta 
while  simultaneously  meeting  water 
delivery  requirements  elsewhere. 


San  Joaquin  Basin 

The  San  Joaquin  Basin  consists  of 
the  entire  drainage  area  of  the 
San  Joaquin  River  and  its  tribu- 
taries upstream  from  the  San  Joaquin 
River  gage  near  Vernalis,  at  the 
southerly  edge  of  the  Delta. 

The  average  annual  runoff  of  the 
Basin  is  about  6  million  acre-feet. 
The  major  streams  are  the  San 
Joaquin  River  and  its  three  major 
east  side  tributaries--the  Stani- 
slaus, Tuolumne,  and  Merced  Rivers. 
In  addition,  large  amounts  of  water 
are  imported  via  the  Delta-Mendota 
Canal,  partly  as  water  exchange, 
permitting  diversion  of  San  Joaquin 
River  water  at  Friant  Dam. 

As  in  other  parts  of  the  Central 
Valley  a  wide  variety  of  crops  can 
be  grown  in  the  San  Joaquin  Basin. 


The  area  is  noted  for  its  truck, 
tomato,  fruit,  and  nut  production. 
Dairying  is  also  prominent.   Ir- 
rigation development  began  in  the 
1870s  with  diversions  of  water 
from  major  rivers.   Expansion  of 
irrigated  acreage  has  continued 
at  a  rate  of  about  10  to  15  percent 
per  decade. 

Total  water  applied  for  all  uses  in 
the  Basin  in  1967  amounted  to 
about  5.7  million  acre-feet,  of 
which  5.5  million  was  for  agri- 
cultural purposes.   Corresponding 
total  net  water  use  (consumptive 
uses  plus  irrecoverable  losses) 
was  about  4.4  million  acre-feet, 
which  was  provided  by  firm  local 
and  imported  surface  and  ground 
water  developments,  including 
depletion  of  ground  water  storage 
by  nearly  200^000  acre-feet. 

The  rate  of  irrigated  land  expan- 
sion, as  forecast  in  this  bulletin, 
is  expected  to  diminish  appreciably, 
increasing  about  25  percent  over 
present  levels  by  2020.   Due  to  a 
predicted  change  in  crop  patterns, 
the  need  for  applied  water  for 
farming  is  forecast  to  increase  at 
a  much  slower  rate  from  an  esti- 
mated 5.5  million  acre-feet  at 
present  to  6  million  acre-feet 
in  2020. 

Urban  applied  water  demands , 
currently  about  150,000  acre-feet, 
are  expected  to  nearly  triple  by 
2020.   Even  so,  urban  water  use 
will  be  only  about  7  percent  of 
the  total  water  demand. 

Fish,  wildlife,  and  recreation 
demands  were  taken  from  preliminary 
federal-state  Framework  Study  work. 
These  are  primarily  for  waterfowl 
refuges.   The  San  Joaquin  Basin 
affords  important  winter  waterfowl 
habitat,  especially  in  the  grass- 
lands region  near  Los  Banos .   The 
projected  increase  envisions  sub- 
stantial expansion  of  federal  and 
state  waterfowl  management,  areas . 

The  present  (1967)  and  projected 
1990  and  2020  population,  land 
use,  water  demands,  and  water 
supplies  in  the  San  Joaquin  Basin 


-121- 


FIGURE  27 


2020 


1990 


1967 


100,000     PERSONS 
POPULATION 


~|    URBAN 


IRRIGATED 


t 


REMAINING 
IRRIGABLE 


6         10        14 
J I I I I i_ 


AGRICULTURAL 

•^URBAN 

^■■ 

1             3           5 
1       1       1       1      1 

7 
1       1       1 

100,000    ACRES 
LAND     USE 


1,000,000   ACRE -FEET 
APPLIED  WATER  DEMANDS 


5.0 


In  45 


4.0 


3.5 


PROJECTED   NET  WATER  DEMANDS 


NET  WATER  SUPPLIES  EXISTING  OR  UNDER 
CONSTRUCTION    IN   1,000  AF/YR. 


Local  Surface  Water  Development 

Ground  Water:  Safe  Yield 

Ground  Water:  Overdraft 

Central  Valley  Project 

Other  Federal:  Hidden  and  Buchanar 

State  Water  Project 

Total  Net  Supplies 

*  Potential  additional  supply  sources;  East  Side  Divi 
ground  water  withdrawals  from  storage. 
I I I 


1967 

1990 

2020 

2040 

2125 

2085 

580 

580 

580 

170 

0 

0 

1580 

1670 

1720 

Unit,  CVP; 
I 


1970 


1980 


1990 


2000 


2010 


2020 


YEAR 
PROJECTED   WATER    SUPPLIES  AND    NET    WATER     DEMANDS 

SAN   JOAQUIN  BASIN    HYDROLOGIC  STUDY   AREA 


-122- 


FIGURE  28 


SAN    JOAQUIN    BASIN 
HYDROLOGIC  STUDY  AREA 


I 1   NET  WATER  SUPPLY 

i~ — 1   NET  WATER  DEMAND 

I 1   SUPPLEMENTAL  WATER  DEMAND 


NOTE:     Bar  Chart  Units  Are  Million  Acre-Feet  Per  Yeor 


KEY   TO  STUDY   AREAS 


■123- 


are  shown  in  Figure  2J.      The  geo- 
graphical distribution  of  water 
demands  and  supplies  is  indicated 
on  Figure  28.   The  major  share  of 
the  increase  in  water  use  is  ex- 
pected to  occur  on  the  southeastern 
portion  of  the  valley  floor  and 
along  the  foothills  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada.   The  slight  decrease  in  the 
local  surface  supply  between  1990 
and  2020  on  Figure  27  is  due  to 
slightly  decreased  net  demand  in 
major  irrigation  districts  as  a 
result  of  projected  urban 
encroachment. 

Existing  projects  and  possibly  some 
localized  additional  ground  water 
pumping  are  considered  adequate  to 
meet  the  future  needs  of  the  Oakdale, 
South  San  Joaquin,  Waterford, 
Modesto,  Turlock,  and  Merced  Irri- 
gation Districts  until  2020.   West 
side  supplies  appear  adequate  until 
sometime  after  1990. 

Construction  of  Hidden  and  Buchanan 
Reservoirs  on  the  Fresno  and  Chow- 
chilla  Rivers  will  provide  about 
50,000  acre-feet  of  average  yield 
annually,  and  at  the  same  time  give 
badly  needed  flood  protection  to 
the  Madera  and  Chowchilla  areas. 
The  water  yields  from  these  two 
projects  will  be  needed  in  the 
water-short  valley  floor  areas 
before  1990. 

New  Melones  Reservoir,  now  under 
construction  on  the  Stanislaus 
River,  will  develop  nearly  300,000 
acre-feet  of  yield.   Its  water 
supply  will  be  incorporated  into 
the  Central  Valley  Project  and 
could  be  made  available  to  areas 
of  need  within  the  Basin  if  yet 
unauthorized  conveyance  works  are 
built.   In  addition  to  the  water 
supply  aspect,  planned  fishery  and 
water  quality  releases  from  New 
Melones  Dam  will  help  to  alleviate 
existing  water  quality  problems  in 
the  lower  San  Joaquin  River. 

Water  supplies,  mostly  small  and 
widely  distributed  throughout  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  must  be  developed 
to  meet  the  expected  additional 
upland  area  needs  in  1990  and  2020. 


The  projected  east  side  valley 
floor  deficiencies  of  300,000  acre- 
feet  in  1990  and  560,000  acre-^'eet 
in  2020  can  be  met  either  by  tempor- 
arily continuing  to  mine  water 
from  underground  storage  or  by 
importing  supplemental  water  into 
the  Basin.   Considering  the  magni- 
tude and  location  of  the  deficiencies 
in  both  the  San  Joaquin  and  Tulare 
Basins,  and  the  probable  alignment 
of  the  proposed  East  Side  Canal  of 
the  Central  Valley  Project,  it 
appears  that  importation  is  the 
most  practical  long-range  solution-- 
most  likely  via  the  proposed  East 
Side  Division. 


It  is  possible  tha 
Canal  may  permit  d 
surface  supplies  i 
upland  areas  where 
been  inhibited  bee 
water  users  hold  a 
rights.  Perhaps  e 
negotiated  in  whic 
users  would  be  fur 
Canal  water  in  exc 
stream  development 
poses .  The  propos 
Canal  also  has  the 
improving  downstre 
in  all  the  signifi 
the  San  Joaquin  Ba 


t  the  East  Side 
evelopment  of 
n  thosp  Sierra 

development  has 
ause  downstre'^m 
11  the  water 
xchanges  could  be 
h  the  downstream 
nished  East  Side 
hange  for  up- 

for  local  pur- 
ed  East  Side 

potential  for 
am  fishery  flows 
cant  streams  of 
sin . 


Streamflow  maintenance  agreements 
in  the  San  Joaquin  Basin  provide 
water  for  diverse  fish  and  wildlife 
needs.   In  the  San  Joaquin  and 
Stanislaus  Rivers,  the  flows  pro- 
vide for  trout  stream  habitat  that 
would  be  otherwise  depeleted 
through  diversion  for  power  devel- 
opment, irrigation,  and  domestic 
use.   The  Merced  River  flows  are 
utilized  for  salmon  and  steelhead 
spawning.   The  purpose  of  the 
agreements  with  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Reclamation  is  to  mitigate  the  loss 
of  waterfowl  habitat  inundated  by 
the  San  Luis  and  Los  Banos 
Reservoirs . 

Several  local  agencies  and  the 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  Reclamation  have 
signed  agreements  with  the 
California  Department  of  Fish  and 
Game  for  streamflow  releases  as 
shown  in  the  tabulation  at  the  top 
of  the  next  page. 


-124- 


stream 

San  Joaquin 

Merced 

Stanislaus 


Los  Bancs - 
San  Luis 


Agency 

Southern  California  Edison  Company 
Merced  Irrigation  District 
Tuolumne  County  Water  District  No. 
Oakdale  and  South  San  Joaquin 

Irrigation  District 
Calaveras  County  Water  District 

U.  S.  Bureau  of  Reclamation 


Streamflow  Releases 
(Acre-Feet  Per  Year) 

^3,000 
M3,000 


168,000 
i|,000 


The  Corps  of  Engineers  is  studying 
flood  problems  throughout  the  San 
Joaquin  Basin.   Current  studies  in- 
clude the  Merced  Stream  Group. 


Tulare  Basin 


The  Tulare  Basin  compri 
entire  drainage  area  of 
Joaquin  Valley  south  of 
Joaquin  River.  It  is  g 
ficient  in  natural  wate 
yet,  in  contrast,  it  is 
agricultural  producer  i 
Satisfaction  of  water  d 
the  Basin,  which  are  th 
of  the  11  hydrologic  st 
relies  to  a  considerabl 
imported  supplies  and  g 
overdraft . 


ses  the 

the  San 

the  San 
rossly  de- 
r  resources; 

the  largest 
n  the  State, 
emands  in 
e  greatest 
udy  areas, 
e  extent  on 
round  water 


Natural  water  supplies  of  the  Basin 
are  derived  primarily  from  Sierra 
Nevada  runoff  in  the  Kings,  Kaweah, 
Tule  and  Kern  Rivers.   These 
streams  provide  a  source  for  direct 
diversion  for  agricultural  and 
urban  uses  and  also  replenish  the 
underlying  ground  water  basin  by 
direct  percolation  from  channels 
and  from  the  unconsumed  portion  of 
applied  waters. 

Use  of  water  in  the  Tulare  Basin  has 
long  exceeded  the  natural  water 
supplies,  and  supplemental  supplies 
have  been  imported  via  the  Friant- 
Kern  and  Delta-Mendota  Canals  of 
the  federal  Central  Valley  Project. 
In  1967  the  total  amount  of  all 
water  available  for  firm  and  sus- 
tained use  in  the  Basin  averaged 
about  h .6   million  acre-feet,  while 


the  net  use  of  water  amounted  to 
about  6.h   million  acre-feet.   The 
excess  of  use  over  available  firm 
supplies  is  met  by  a  long-term 
average  annual  net  depletion  of 
ground  water  of  about  1.8  million 
acre-feet . 

Currently,  the  State  Water  Project 
and  the  San  Luis  Unit  of  the 
Central  Valley  Project  are  deliv- 
ering water  to  the  Basin.   Under 
full  delivery  those  two  projects 
will  provide  a  total  of  about 
2.6  million  acre-feet  annually. 
However,  even  with  local  develop- 
ments and  these  large  import 
projects  operating  at  full  con- 
tractual opacity,  the  Basin's 
economy  is  expected  to  grow  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  annual 
water  demand  in  excess  of  its 
existing  combined  yield  will  be 
about  1.2  million  acre-feet  by 
1990  and  about  2.1  million  acre- 
feet  by  2020.   This  growth  in 
economy  is  projected  on  the  basis 
of  the  extremely  favorable  combin- 
ation of  soils  and  climate  and 
advantageous  market  location  for 
a  thriving  agricultural  industry. 

The  geographical  distribution  of 
present  and  projected  supplemental 
water  demands  is  important  in  the 
consideration  of  likely  water 
sources  to  meet  the  total  water 
needs  of  the  Tulare  Basin.   Supple- 
mental water  needs  west  of  the 
valley  trough  could  be  served  by 
additional  deliveries  from  the 
San  Luis  Unit  of  the  Central  Valley 


-125- 


FIGURE  29 


2020 


1990 


1967 


2 


"1    URBAN 


IRRIGATED 


1,000,000  PERSONS 
POPULATION 


1,000,000      ACRES 
LAND  USE 


AGRICULTUrtAL 


2     4 


URBAN' 


10     12     14 


1,000,000    ACRE- FEET 
APPLIED   WATER    DEMANDS 


NET  WATER  SUPPLIES  EXISTING  OR 
UNDER  CONSTRUCTION  IN  1,000  AF/YR. 


1967 

1990 

2020 

Local  Surface  Water  Development 

2290 

2290 

2290 

Ground  Water:  Safe  Yield 

500 

600 

600 

Ground  Water:  Overdraft 

1800 

0 

0 

Central  Valley  Project 

1460 

2690 

2690 

Other  Federal:  Pine  Flat,  Success,  Ter 

ninus,  Isabella 

240 

240 

240 

State  Water  Project 

0 

1350 

1350 

Total  Net  Supplies 

6390 

7170 

7170 

1970 


1980 


2010 


1990  2000 

YEAR 
PROJECTED     WATER    SUPPLIES    AND   NET   WATER    DEMANDS 

TULARE     BASIN    HYDROLOGIC    STUDY  AREA 


2020 


-126- 


FIGURE  30 


TULARE  BASIN 
HYDROLOGIC   STUDY  AREA 


I 1   NET  WATER  SUPPLY 

I 1   NET  WATER  DEMAND 

I 1   SUPPLEMENTAL  WATER  DEMAND 


NOTE:     Bar  Chart  Units  Are  Million  Acre-Feet  Per  Yeor 


UPLANDS 

I 

rpi 

-| 

1967      1990    2020 


\ 


- 

I] 

- 

- 

\ 

i 


KEY   TO  STUDY    AREAS 


X 


1967     1990     2020 


>Vn 


^ 


V- 


I 


c^      -'' 


V^ 


r 


r 

3 


-127- 


Project  and  the  State  Water  Project. 
These  deliveries  would  initially  be 
needed  around  1990  and  are  estimated 
to  increase  to  about  5OO5OOO  acre- 
feet  annually  by  2020.   While  the 
California  Aqueduct  could  trans- 
port the  additional  water  with 
relatively  inexpensive  augmentation 
of  capacity,  this  water  service  is 
not  included  in  present  contracts. 

Supplemental  water  service  for  the 
eastern  slope  of  the  valley  floor 
could  be  provided  by  a  project 
such  as  the  proposed  East  Side 
Division  of  the  federal  Central 
Valley  Project.   East  Side  delivery 
requirements  are  projected  to  be 
about  1.2  million  acre-feet  in 
1990  and  about  1.6  million  in  2020. 

Whereas  presently  contracted  sup- 
plies from  the  federal  San  Luis 
Unit  and  the  State  Water  Project 
appear  sufficient  to  serve  the  west 
side  of  the  valley  floor  until 
about  199O)  the  easterly  slopes  of 
the  valley  floor  are  in  need  of 
supplemental  water  now,  and  a  rapid 
buildup  in  use  of  imported  supplies 
is  anticipated  when  they  become 
available  from  the  East  Side 
Division. 

Preliminary  economic  studies  indi- 
cate that  at  the  proposed  canalside 
prices  the  water  users  could  real- 
ize significant  savings  in  their 
total  water  cost  if  the  full  deliv- 
ery capacity  of  the  East  Side 
Project  were  utilized  at  an  early 
date.   This  would  enable  the  ground 
water  basins  to  refill,  thereby 
decreasing  the  unit  pumping  costs 
for  the  remaining  large  amount  of 
ground  water  which  still  must  be 
pumped  to  meet  the  total  applied 
water  demand  within  the  area. 

Further  examination  should  be  made 
of  the  possible  economic  and  oper- 
ational advantages  of  fully  co- 
ordinated operation  of  the  existing 
and  future  surface  and  ground  water 
resources  of  the  Tulare  Basin. 
This  should  include  the  effects  of 
continuing  to  draw  upon  the  ground 
water  basin  and  the  operational 
flexibility  which  could  be  obtained 


for  the  major  aqueduct  systems  if 
the  east  and  west  side  projects 
were  joined  either  physically  or 
by  exchange  agreements. 

Full  realization  of  the  economic 
potential  of  the  Basin  would  also 
require  future  construction  of  the 
San  Joaquin  Valley  master  drain  to 
avoid  crop  losses  and  serious 
degradation  of  the  ground  water. 

With  regard  to  fish  and  wildlife, 
streamflow  maintenance  agreements 
in  the  Kern  River  drainage  cover 
flow  releases  below  various  power 
diversions  of  the  Southern 
California  Edison  Company  system. 
The  stipulated  flows  include  about 
l4,000  acre-feet  annually  for  a 
water  supply  to  the  Kern  River 
Fish  Hatchery  at  Kernville.   Kings 
River  water  releases  maintain  flows 
below  Pine  Flat  Dam.   Stabilized 
flows  in  the  Kings  have  permitted 
development  of  a  popular  year- 
round  trout  fishery,  including  a 
special  fly-fishing  season  during 
the  winter. 

While  the  principal  tributary 
Sierra  Nevada  streams  have  major 
reservoirs  that  provide  downstream 
flood  protection  in  most  years, 
intense  rainfall  (such  as  occurred 
over  the  Kaweah  River  watershed  in 
the  winter  of  I968-69)  or  the 
combination  of  warm  weather  or  an 
extremely  deep  snowpack, which 
resulted  in  severe  flooding  in  the 
Tulare  Lake  bed  in  January  1969 
still  posesa  serious  flood  threat. 
The  U.  S.  Army  Corps  of  Engineers 
is  conducting  a  basin-wide  study 
on  water  resources  development  and 
flood  problems  in  the  entire  San 
Joaquin  Valley.   The  Corps  is  also 
assisting  local  agencies  in  flood- 
plain  management  through  the  prep- 
aration of  floodplain  information 
reports . 

In  summary,  it  appears  that  because 
of  the  location  of  the  Tulare  Basin 
with  respect  to  potential  water 
supply  sources,  future  increases  in 
water  demand  could  most  logically 
be  served  by  federal  and  state 
project  facilities  which  already 


-128- 


have  the  capacity  to  deliver  some 
4  million  acre-feet  annually  to 
the  area. 

The  supply-demand  relationships 
for  the  Tulare  Basin  from  the 
present  (1967)  to  2020  are  illus- 
trated graphically  in  Figure  29 
and  geographically  in  Figure  30. 


North  Lahontan  Area 

The  North  Lahontan  area  is  the 
narrow  strip  of  State  lying  east 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada  along  the 
California-Nevada  border.   It 
extends  approximately  270  miles 
from  the  vicinity  of  Bridgeport  in 
Mono  County  to  the  Oregon  border. 

The  economy  is  dependent  upon  agri- 
culture, recreation,  lumbering  and 
mining.   The  principal  agricultural 
activities  are  livestock  production 
and  forage  crops.   Lake  Tahoe  and 
vicinity  provides  the  stimulus  for 
year-round  recreation  important  to 
the  area's  economy. 

While  the  total  annual  runoff  ex- 
ceeds present  water  demands,  lack 
of  streamflow  regulation  and  carry- 
over storage  contribute  to  water 
shortages  during  part  of  the  full 
irrigation  season.   With  possible 
minor  exceptions,  paucity  of  eco- 
nomical reservoir  sites  preclude 
surface  water  development  from 
serious  consideration  in  the  future. 
In  recent  years,  increased  use  of 
ground  water  has  partially  alle- 
viated seasonal  irrigation  short- 
ages.  The  trend  is  expected  to 
continue,  prompting  concern  from 
local  interests  regarding  the  lack 
of  adequate  knowledge  of  the  safe 
yield  of  the  various  ground  water 
basins . 

Total  irrigated  acreage  in  the 
North  Lahontan  area  is  not  ex- 
pected to  increase  in  the  future; 
but  an  anticipated  change  in  crop 
patterns  is  expected  to  increase 
the  total  agricultural  water  de- 
mand, creating  shortages  in  water 
supplies  amounting  to  30,000  acre- 
feet  by  1990  and  50,000  acre-feet 
by  2020.   The  water  demand-water 


supply  relationship  is  illustrated 
in  Figure  31  and  geographically  in 
Figure  32. 

The  tremendous  recent  growth  in 
recreation  development  within  and 
adjacent  to  the  Lake  Tahoe  Basin 
is  expected  to  continue.   It  is 
estimated  that  there  will  be  a 
fourfold  increase  in  total  summer 
population  by  2020.   This  assumes 
no  restrictions  other  than  land 
availability.   In  this  regard,  the 
Lake  Tahoe  Regional  Planning  Agency 
was  recently  created  to  control 
land  use  in  that  Bpsin.   The  land 
development  policies  that  may 
emanate  from  this  agency  could 
result  in  a  different  mode  and 
level  of  development  than  was 
projected  in  this  study. 

Water  demands  propagated  from 
urban  recreation  development  can  be 
met  by  supplies  until  sometime  after 
1990.   By  2020  the  supplemental 
water  demand  would  be  about  70,000 
acre-feet,  of  which  60,000  acre- 
feet  would  be  in  the  Lake  Tahoe- 
Truckee  River  Basin.   Water  use 
by  the  permanent  population  is, 
and  will  continue  to  be,  only  a 
small  portion  of  the  total  urban- 
recreational  water  demand.   Possible 
me.Tns  of  meeting  this  future  sup- 
plemental demand  have  not  been 
identified.   Estimates  of  available 
future  supplies  were  based  largely 
on  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Reclamation 
feasibility  reports  and  the  pro- 
posed California-Nevada  Interstate 
Compact.   The  authorized  Stampede 
Unit  of  the  Washoe  Project  was 
considered  a  part  of  the  available 
supply. 

The  California-Nevada  Interstate 
Compact  divides  the  waters  of  Lake 
Tahoe  and  Truckee,  Carson,  and 
Walker  River  Basins.   The  proposed 
compact  was  ratified  by  the 
California  Legislature  in  amended 
form  at  the  1970  session.   It  is 
hoped  that  the  amended  contract 
will  be  ratified  by  the  Nevada 
Legislature  in  1971  so  that  it  may 
be  submitted  to  the  Congress  for 
approval  during  the  next  session. 


-129- 


FIGURE  31 


2020 


1990 


1967 


1     URBAN 

1     IRRIGATED 

REMAINING  IRRIGABLE     1 

1 

I 

1 

1 

I 

1 

12         3        4         5 
1           1          '          1          1 

1,000    PERSON 
POPULATION 


100,000  ACRES 
LAND    USE 


AGRICULTURAL 


URBAN 


-f- 


100,000     ACRE-FEET 
APPLIED   WATER   DEMANDS 


.5     — 


.4     — 


.3     — 


PROJECTED    NET    WATER    DEMANDS-^^^^             ^^ 

- 

^^^^^                   Required  Addi 

tional  Sl 

pplies*- 

^^^^......-.^--'''''^^l]^---^^                      WATER    SUPPLIES    EXISTING 

OR 

- 

""""^  ^^-""^                        UNDER    CONSTRUCTION    IN 

1000 

AF/YR. 

1967 

1990 

2020 

— 

Local  Surface  Water  Development                                                         290 
Ground  Water                                                                                               SO 
Tule  Lake  Import                                                                                       10 

Stampede                                                                                                   ^ 

Total  Net  Supplies                                                                   350 

320 

110 

10 

10 

450 

320 

140 

10 

10 

480 

♦Potential  additional  supply  sources:  Local  streams  development.  Sierra  tunnel  di 
1                                      1                                      1                                      1 

1 

1970 


1980 


1990 
YEAR 


2000 


2010 


2020 


PROJECTED    WATER    SUPPLIES    AND    NET    WATER    DEMANDS 

NORTH    LAHONTAN     HYDROLOGIC    STUDY    AREA 


-130- 


FIGURE  32 


NORTH   LAHONTAN 
HYDROLOGIC  STUDY  AREA 


NET  WATER  SUPPLY 
NET  WATER  DEMAND 
SUPPLEMENTAL  WATER  DEMAND 


< 
\ 

/lassen   group      i^ 

t .  .  .  . . 


0.3 
0  2 

0,1 
0 


T- 

na 

1967     1990     2020 


KEY    TO   STUOT    4HE4S 


V 


Nl 


V 

NOTE:     Bar  Chart  Units  Are  Million  Acre-Feet  Per  Yeor  fj     I 

f 

V 


ALPINE    GROUP 


0  3 
0.2 
01 

n 

! 

' 

r^HHOE 


1967     1990     2020 


X 


SCALE    OF  MILES 
0        a       16      24 


y 


-131- 


DWR   employee 


North  Lahontan  Area 


—     nciture  provides  ample  wiiter  resources,   hut  in^ullicienl  carryover  storage 
to  meet  lull  summer  demands 


Briefly,  the  allocation  of  water 
to  California  consists  of  (l)  the 
right  to  divert  23,000  acre-feet 
per  year  for  use  in  the  Lake 
Tahoe  Basin;  (2)  recognition  of 
existing  exports  from  the  Lake 
Tahoe,  Truckee  River,  and 
Walker  River  Basins;  (3)  the  right 
to  divert  10,000  acre-feet  per 
year  for  use  within  the  Truckee 
River  Basin,  the  right  to  deplete 
the  6,000  acre-feet  of  the  annual 
yield  of  Stampede  Reservoir,  and 
the  right  to  develop  and  deplete 
an  additional  yield  of  10,000  acre- 
feet  from  the  Truckee  River  and 
Lake  Tahoe  Basins,  if  available; 
(4)  the  right  to  divert  water  to 
irrigate  approximately  5,600  acres 
along  the  West  Fork  of  the  Carson 
River  and  3,820  acres  along  the 
East  Fork  of  the  Carson  River,  to 
develop  by  storage  2,000  acre-feet 
of  water  per  annum  in  Alpine 
County,  and  to  develop  for  use  in 
California  20  percent  of  the  re- 
maining water  after  the  foregoing 
California  users  and  existing 
users  in  Nevada  have  been  supplied; 
and  (5)  recognition  of  existing 
rights  and  uses  in  the  Walker 
River  Basin  plus  the  right  to 
develop  35  percent  of  the  remaining 
water  after  Nevada's  existing 
rights  and  uses  are  satisfied.   In 
addition,  ground  water  and  springs 
may  be  used  in  the  Truckee,  Carson, 
and  Walker  River  Basins  provided 
such  use  does  not  reduce  the 
amount  of  water  which  Nevada  would 
otherwise  receive  under  the 
allocation. 

In  addition  to  water  supply-water 
demand  inequalitites ,  the  North 
Lahontan  area  has  other  problems 
related  to  its  areal  growth  and 
development,  namely  flood  control 
and  water  quality. 

The  whole  area  is  periodically 
subjected  to  widespread  storms  and 
subsequent  flooding.   Aside  from 
the  normal  November  to  April 
season  for  rain  floods ,  snowmelt 
in  late  spring  can  cause  damage 
during  exceptional  snowpack  years. 
Damage  areas  occur  principally 
along  the  Truckee  and  Walker 


Rivers,  the  Susan  River  in  Surprise 
Valley  and  in  the  community  of 
Susanville,  and  communities  along 
the  shore  of  Lake  Tahoe.   Only 
5  percent  of  the  area  subject  to 
flooding  now  has  protection  by 
structural  measures.   Scattered 
damage  centers  for  the  most  part 
will  preclude  project  justification 
in  the  future.   The  most  logical 
means  to  mitigate  flood  damages 
would  be  through  regulation  of 
floodplain  use  to  limit  encroach- 
ments in  active  floodways   and  an 
improved  flood  warning  system. 

Water  quality  problems  have  arisen 
in  recent  years  due  to  waste  dis- 
charges into  Lake  Tahoe.   This 
problem  has  been  partially  solved 
by  exporting  treated  sewage  out  of 
the  Tahoe  Basin  into  Indian  Creek 
Reservoir  near  the  town  of  Woodfords 
in  the  Carson  River  Basin.   Studies 
are  now  under  way  to  find  a  solu- 
tion to  the  problem  of  waste  dis- 
charges in  the  North  Tahoe  Basin. 
Any  solution  to  this  problem  will 
be  complex  because  of  the  implica- 
tion of  water  rights,  as  well  as 
the  physical  plan  of  waste  disposal. 


South  Lahontan  Area 

The  South  Lahontan  area  encompasses 
the  portion  of  Lahontan  Hydrologic 
Drainage  Province  from  Mono  Lake 
south  and  is  characterized  by  a 
large  number  of  enclosed  basins  and 
sinks.   It  has  the  greatest  ex- 
tremes in  elevation  within  the 
contiguous  United  States,  ranging 
from  282  feet  below  sea  level  in 
Death  Valley  to  1^,495  feet  above 
sea  level  on  Mount  Whitney,  only 
80  miles  distant. 

The  economic  development  of  the 
area  as  a  whole  was  slow  in  the 
1960s  but  has  begun  to  quicken 
recently  in  the  Antelope  Valley 
and  south  of  Victorville  in  San 
Bernardino  County.   Lockheed  Air- 
craft Corporation  provided  the 
recent  stimulus  by  building  a  plant 
just  northeast  of  Palmdale  and 
began  the  manufacturing  of  air  buses 
in  1969.   The  planned  Palmdale 


-133- 


FIGURE  33 


2020 


1990 


1967 


2 

1 

4   6   8   10   12 
1    1    1    1    1 

100,000  PERSONS 
POPULATION 


I 


URBAN 
IRRIGATED 


REMAINING    IRRIGABLE 


20    24 
_I L. 


100,000    ACRES 
LAND  USE 


\ 


URBAN 


AGRICULTURAL 


100,000    ACRE-FEET 
APPLIED   WATER    DEMANDS 


PROJECTED     NET    WATER     DEMANDS 


NET    WATER    SUPPLIES   EXISTING    OR 
'UNDER     CONSTRUCTION    IN    1000  AF/YR. 


Local  Surface  Water  Development 
Ground  Water:  Safe  Yield 
Ground  Water  Overdraft 
State  Water  Project 

Total  Net  Supplies 


♦Potential  additional  supply  sources:  Ground  water  withdrawals  from  storage,  exchanges. 

1 1 ! I L__ 


140 

140 

140 

240 

30 

45 

0 
420 

210 
460 

215 
490 

1970 


1980 


1990 
YEAR 


2000 


2010 


2020 


PROJECTED    WATER     SUPPLIES    AND    NET    WATER    DEMANDS 

SOUTH    LAHONTAN    HYDROLOGIC   STUDY    AREA 


-13^- 


FIGURE  34 


SOUTH     LAHONTAN 
HYDROLOGIC  STUDY  AREA 


NET  WATER  SUPPLY 
NET  WATER  DEMAND 
SUPPLEMENTAL  WATER  DEMAND 


NOTE:     Bar  Chart  Units  Are  Million  Acre-Feet  Per  Year 


■135- 


Intercontinental  Airport  will 
provide  another  stimulus.   The 
impact  of  this  airport  will  be 
considerable   reaching  into  Kern 
County  to  the  north  and  into  San 
Bernardino  County  to  the  east. 
Construction  of  the  first  runway 
is  expected  to  begin  in  1973  and 
to  be  ready  for  the  first  flight 
scheduled  in  1977-   The  number  of 
passengers  to  be  handled  is  pro- 
jected to  grow  from  1  million  in 
1980  to  50  million  by  2000. 

Plans  for  an  additional  freeway 
and  a  mass  rapid  transit  system 
connecting  the  Antelope  Valley  with 
Los  Angeles  have  been  discussed  by 
various  agencies.   The  airport  will 
employ  several  thousand  people 
directly  and  create  many  Jobs  in- 
directly through  related  industries 
and  services,  which  will  result  in 
a  greatly  increased  population  of 
the  Antelope  Valley.   Consequently, 
some  irrigated  agriculture  may  move 
from  Los  Angeles  County  to  Kern 
County  in  the  South  Lahontan  area. 
Economic  development  of  the  south- 
ern part  of  Kern  County  around  the 
community  of  Mojave  also  will  be 
generally  enhanced. 

The  western  strip  of  Victor  Valley 
bordering  Los  Angeles  County  will 
also  undergo  development;  but  the 
recently  started  subdivision 
activity  in  western  San  Bernardino 
County  in  the  vicinity  of  Victor- 
ville  is  largely  independent  from 
the  planned  Palmdale  Intercontinen- 
tal Airport.   Two  large  real  estate 
developments  at  Spring  Valley  Lake 
and  at  the  southern  outskirts  of 
Victorville  are  geared,  at  least 
in  part,  toward  providing  second 
homes  and  retirement  homes. 

Agricultural  water  demand  of  the 
area  is  anticipated  to  remain 
approximately  the  same  until  1990 
and  to  diminish  slightly  there- 
after, due  to  the  anticipated 
urbanization  centered  around  Palm- 
dale.   The  total  net  water  demands 
are  estimated  at  about  420,000  acre- 
feet  per  year  in  I967  and  500,000 
acre-feet  in  2020. 


The  South  Lahontan 
for  discussion  purp 
Mono-Owens  Valley, 
area,  encompassing 
area  from  Indian  We 
Nevada,  and  the  Ant 
Mojave  River  area, 
tude  and  geographic 
of  water  demand  and 
area  are  illustrate 
and  34. 


area  is  divided 
OSes  into  the 
the  Death  Valley 
the  huge  desert 
lis  Valley  to 
elope  Valley- 
Relative  magni- 
al  distribution 

supply  in  the 
d  in  Figures  33 


In  the  Owens 
Los  Angeles 
will  be  a  su 
available  in 
to  meet  urba 
mands  and  al 
irrigation  s 
18,000  acres 
out  endanger 
supplies  to 
a  critically 


Valley,  the  City  of 
estimates  that  there 
fficient  water  supply 

the  Mono-Owens  Valley 
n  and  recreational  de- 
so  to  provide  a  firm 
upply  for  approximately 

of  agriculture  with- 
ing  the  integrity  of 
the  City,  even  during 

dry  period. 


In  recent  years,  the  City  exported 
over  3^0^000  acre-feet  per  year-- 
the  full  capacity  of  the  first 
aqueduct.   A  parallel  aqueduct  com- 
pleted in  June  1970  increased  the 
total  export  from  the  area  to  about 
510,000  acre-feet  annually.   This 
yield  and  the  firm  local  water 
supply  will  be  obtained  from  oper- 
ation of  the  Owens  Valley  ground 
water  basin  in  conjunction  with 
surface  supplies  from  the  Owens 
River  and  the  streams  of  Mono  Basin. 

Water  supplies  for  local  use  in  the 
area  outside  the  Mono-Owens  Valley 
will  come  from  local  ground  water 
basins.   However,  there  are  limited 
amounts  of  water  available  from 
surface  diversions.   Currently,  the 
use  of  ground  water  exceeds  the 
annual  replenishment  of  the  basins 
by  an  estimated  240,000  acre-feet, 
resulting  in  falling  ground  water 
levels . 

The  estimated  water  demands  for 
the  Antelope  Valley-Mojave  River 
area  also  include  those  of  Lucerne 
Valley  which  is  included  in  the 
Mojave  Water  Agency  even  though 
physically  located  in  the  Colorado 
Desert  area.   In  1972  Antelope 
Valley-East  Kern,  Crestline-Lake 


-136- 


Arrowhead  and  Mojave  Water  Agencies 
and  Palmdale  and  Littlerock  Irriga- 
tion Districts  (in  the  Antelope 
Valley-Mojave  River  area)  will 
begin  receiving  water  from  the 
State  Water  Project;  their  maximum 
entitlement  is  215,000  acre-feet 
per  year. 

The  water  supply  estimates  on 
Figure  33  assume  a  10 ,000-acre-foot 
per  year  safe  supply  in  the  Death 
Valley  area.   The  safe  yield  has 
not  been  determined  for  this  large 
desert  region,  so  that  figure  must 
be  regarded  as  approximate.   The 
continuing  overdraft  shown  in  Fig- 
ure 3h   in  1990  and  2020  represents 
the  amount  that  the  Death  Valley 
area  demands  will  exceed  the  as- 
sumed 10,000-acre-foot  safe  yield 
supply.   No  reasonable  alternative 
to  the  use  of  ground  water  in 
storage  seems  apparent  for  this 
area. 

There  are  possible  alternatives 
for  meeting  future  demand  for  water 
in  the  Antelope  Valley-Mojave  River 
area.   These  are  (1)  continuation 
of  the  depletion  of  ground  water  in 
storage;  (2)  purchase  of  additional 
farm  supplies  from  an  expanded 
State  Water  Project;  and  (3)  in- 
terim use  of  available  capacity  in 
the  California  Aqueduct  to  augment 
ground  water  in  storage  '"or  with- 
drawal at  a  later  time.   The  first 
and  third  alternatives,  however, 
can  be  considered  only  as  interim 
measures . 

In  summary,  the  Mono-Owens  Valley 
has  adequate  water  supplies  to 
meet  its  urban  and  recreational 
demands  and  also  to  provide  a  firm 
irrigation  supply  for  about  l8,000 
acres  of  agriculture.   The  Death 
Valley  area  and  the  Antelope  Valley- 
Mojave  River  area  will  continue  to 
be  water  deficient.   Demands  in 
the  Death  Valley  area  in  excess  of 
the  estimated  annual  safe  ground 
water  yield  of  10,000  acre-feet 
are  expected  to  be  met  from  con- 
tinued extraction  of  ground  water 
from  storage.   Importation  of 
State  Water  Project  contractual 
supplies  will  not  completely  sta- 
bilize falling  ground  water  levels 


in  the  Antelope  Valley-Mojave  River 
area,  particularly  in  1990-  and  a 
demand  for  supplemental  water  will 
continue.   The  water  demand-water 
supply  relationships  in  these  areas 
are  depicted  in  Figure  3^- 


Colorado  Desert  Area 

The  Colorado  Desert  area  occupies 
the  extreme  southeastern  portion  of 
California,  encompassing  Imperial 
County  and  portions  of  San  Diego, 
Riverside,  and  San  Bernardino 
Counties.   The  main  geographic 
features  are  the  Colorado  River  and 
Salton  trough  containing  the  Salton 
Sea  and  Imperial  and  Coachella 
Valleys.   The  area  drains  into  the 
Colorado  River  and  into  the  Salton 
Sea,  the  lowest  part  of  a  closed 
basin. 

The  Colorado  Desert  area  is  char- 
acterized by  the  driest  climate  in 
the  State  along  with  generally  mild 
winter  and  very  high  summer  temper- 
atures.  This  area  has  not  enjoyed 
a  rapid  urbanization  because  of  its 
extreme  summer  temperatures  and  its 
distance  from  metropolitan  centers. 
The  lack  of  higher-paying  employment 
opportunities  also  has  contributed 
to  the  slowness  of  its  growth. 
However,  the  area  has  become  popak-rts 
a  retirement  and  recreational 
center. 

Much  of  the  area  in  the  Salton 
trough  is  below  sea  level  and  vir- 
tually frost  -free  which  permits  the 
growing  of  agricultural  crops 
throughout  the  entire  year.   This, 
along  with  availability  of  low-cost 
water,  has  enabled  the  development 
of  an  irrigated  agricultural  economy 
second  only  to  the  vast  Central 
Valley  area.   Because  of  the  sub- 
stantial remaining  amount  of  land 
that  could  be  developed,  urbanization 
is  not  likely  to  curtail  irrigated 
acreage. 

Although  the  quantities  of  water 
used  for  recreation  are  small,  water- 
related  recreational  activities 
have  increased  in  the  Colorado 
Desert  area  in  recent  years.   Salton 
Sea  has  become  an  increasingly 


-137- 


FIGURE  35 


2020 

1990 

1967 

1        f 

3 

4       5      ( 
1        • 

5 

100,000    PERSONS 
POPULATION 


1   URBAN 


n. 


IRRIGATED 


REMAINING  IRRIGABLE 


1 


2     3     4 
J I L 


^     T     ? 


100,000    ACRES 
LAND  USE 


AGRICULTURAL 


URBAN 


-y- 


1,000,000    ACRE -FEET 
APPLIED   WATER    DEMANDS 


4.2 


4.0   — 


3.8  — 


o  3.6 


34    — 


PROJECTED  NET  WATER  DEMANDS-^ • 

Reomred  Additional  SuDolies  • 

— 

^— ' -1 — 

"■^-^NET  WATER  SUPPLIES  EXISTING  OR  UNDER 
CONSTRUCTION  IN  1,000  AF/YR. 

— 

- 

— 

1967         1990         2020 
Ground  Water:  Safe  Yield                                                                        60             60             60 
Ground  Water:  Overdraft                                                                          90             20             60 
Colorado  River  Diversions                                                                3830         3850         3850 

0             80             80 
Total  Net  Supplies                                                                      3980         4010         4050 

— 

Potential  additional  supply  sources:  Geothermal  desalination,  Salton  Sea,  desalination,               _ 
xchanges,  ground  water  withdrawals  from  storage. 

1                                   1                                   1                                    1                                   1 

1970  1980  1990  2000  2010  2020 

YEAR 
PROJECTED    WATER     SUPPLIES  AND    NET     WATER     DEMANDS 

COLORADO  DESERT  HYDROLOGIC  STUDY  AREAS 


COLORADO  DESERT 
HYDROLOGIC  STUDY  AREA 


FIGURE  36 


I   I   NET  WATER  SUPPLY 

iT"^   NET  WATER  DEMAND 

(   I   SUPPLEMENTAL  WATER  DEMAND 


NOTE:     Bar  Chart  Units  Are  Million  Acre-Feet  Per  Yea 


■  ^ 


KEY  TO  STUDY  AREAS 


Much  of  the  Colorado  Desert's  Valley 
floor  looked  like  this  to  the  "old-timer". 


Now.    agriculture    is    important    to 
the   area    —    — 


grapes  with  date  garden  in  background 


And.  of  course 


J      urbanites  find  fun  in  the  sun,  too 


Urvi    -    Division    o)   Hiqhv. 


popular  recreational  area  for  the 
populous  Southern  California 
coastal  cities.   A  federal-state 
reconnaissance  report  of  October 
1969,  "Salton  Sea  Project, 
California",  stated  that  the  Sea 
presently  has  a  use  rate  of  I.5  mil- 
lion recreation-days  annually.   The 
report  also  stated  that  related 
public  and  private  investments 
total  more  than  $900  million.   How- 
ever, the  recreational  value  and 
its  attendant  investment  value  will 
diminish  considerably  unless  mea- 
sures are  taken  to  control  the 
increasing  salinity  of  the  Sea. 

The  Colorado  River  also  provides 
excellent  recreational  opportunities 
to  Southern  Californians  and  others 
because  of  warm  winters,  picturesque 
settings,  and  ample  opportunities 
for  boating,  water  skiing,  and 
fishing.   Growth  of  recreational 
activities  along  the  river  is 
expected  to  be  consistent  with  the 
general  population  and  economic 
growth  in  Southern  California. 

The  total  water  demands  of  the  area 
are  projected  to  increase  from 
3,980,000  acre-feet  per  year  in 
1970  to  i;,l40,000  acre-feet  in  2020. 

Four  agencies  in  the  area--the  Palo 
Verde  and  Imperial  Irrigation 
Districts,  Yuma  Project  Reservation 
Division,  and  Coachella  Valley 
County  Water  District--have  usable 
annual  diversion  rights  to 
3,850,000  acre-feet  of  Colorado 
River  water,  according  to  the 
Seven-Party  Agreement  of  August  18, 
1931.   The  decision  of  the  U.  S. 
Supreme  Court  in  Arizona  vs. 
California  and  the  Colorado  River 
Basin  Project  Act  will  make  it 
possible  for  diversions  to  continue 
at  that  level.   In  addition  to 
Colorado  River  water,  more  than 
100,000  acre-feet  of  ground  water 
is  used,  mostly  in  Coachella  Valley. 

Colorado  River  water  available  to 
California  historically  has  had  a 
relatively  high  salt  content.   From 
1963  to  1967  it  averaged  7^0  ppm  of 
dissolved  minerals  at  Parker  Dam 
and  850  ppm  at  Imperial  Dam,  where 


diversions  to  the  irrigation 
districts  are  made.   This  has  re- 
quired the  installation  of  exten- 
sive networks  of  tile  drains  and 
the  application  of  quantities  of 
water  considerably  in  excess  of 
the  actual  requirements  for  plant 
growth  to  prevent  salt  buildup 
and  ensure  continued  successful 
farming  operations. 

The  quality  of  the  river  water 
varies  from  season  to  season,  de- 
pending chiefly  on  its  flow  and 
the  effects  of  various  upstream 
uses.   Projections  of  the  future 
quality  of  Colorado  River  water 
were  made  recently  by  the  Colorado 
River  Board  of  California.   These 
projections  were  based  on  estimated 
effects  or   the  presently  authorized 
and  planned  projects  in  the  Basin. 
They  indicate  that  unless  correc- 
tive measures  are  taken  the  average 
salinity  of  river  water  at  Imperial 
Dam  will  increase  to  1,3^0  ppm  by 
2000.   Under  these  circumstances 
some  crops,  which  are  marginal  with 
today's  salinity,  could  no  longer 
be  grown.   If  salinity  control 
projects  mentioned  in  the  report 
were  implemented,  it  was  estimated 
that  average  salinity  at  Imperial 
Dam  could  be  held  to  about 
1,000  ppm. 

Salinity  at  Imperial  Dam  also 
varies  substantially  from  month  to 
month,  with  the  greatest  concentra 
tions  occurring  during  the  winter. 
In  some  recent  years  the  peak 
salinity  has  exceeded  1,000  ppm. 
This  has  had  an  adverse  effect  on 
the  germination  of  seeds  for 
winter-planted  crops. 

The  quality  of  ground  water  in  the 
Coachella  Valley  is  surprisingly 
good.   Dissolved  minerals  in  the 
area  are  generally  less  than  200  ppm. 
Small  amounts  of  ground  water  used 
in  the  Palo  Verde  Irrigation  District 
have  dissolved  minerals  in  excess  of 
800  ppm,  reflecting  the  quality  of 
Colorado  River  water  used  for 
irrigation  in  the  area. 

The  quality  of  ground  water  in  the 
Imperial  Valley  is  considered  to  be 


■141- 


unsuitable  for  domestic  and  irriga- 
tion purposes  except  for  a  few 
isolated  areas.   This  has  limited 
the  use  of  ground  water  in  the 
area  to  extremely  small  amounts. 

The  Coachella  Valley  County  Water 
District,  the  Desert  Water  Agency, 
and  the  San  Gorgonio  Pass  Water 
Agency  have  contracted  with  the 
State  for  a  maximum  annual  entitle- 
ment of  80,000  acre-feet  of  State 
Water  Project  water.   These  agencies 
are  all  located  in  the  Coachella 
Valley  vicinity.   However,  even 
with  the  addition  of  this  water 
the  demand  for  supplemental  water 
is  expected  to  continue  and  may  be 
met  by  the  use  of  ground  water  in 
storage,  as  has  been  done  in  the 
past;  by  supplemental  supplies 
from  the  State  Water  Project;  or 
by  water  from  other  potential 
sources.   For  other  areas  where  a 
demand  for  supplemental  water  is 
expected  to  exist  and  there  are  no 
proposed  plans  for  imported  water, 
it  is  anticipated  that  this  demand 
will  be  met  by  ground  water 
storage  depletion. 

The  water  demand  and  supply  rela- 
tionships in  the  Colorado  Desert 
area  are  illustrated  in  Figures  35 
and  36. 


Regional  Water  Demand- 
Water  Supply  Summary 

Present  (I967)  and  future  (1990 
and  2020)  water  demand  and  supply 
relationships  for  each  of  the  11 
hydrologic  study  areas  and  the 
state  total  are  summarized  in 
Table  8  .   The  total  net  water 
demands  shown  as  the  first  item 
represent  the  requirement  for  de- 
veloped water,  whether  from  local, 
imported,  or  other  sources.   The 
total  net  water  supplies  represent 
the  sums  of  all  sources  of  water, 
both  local  and  imported  (including 
facilities  under  construction)  , 


available  toward  satisfying  net 
demands . 

Note  in  Table  8  that  sa^'e  ground 
water  yield  is  included  within  the 
dependable  water  supplies,  but  that 
ground  water  overdraft  is  also 
included  as  a  source  of  supply  at 
the  present  (I967)  time  for  several 
areas.   In  most  cases  such  over- 
draft is  considered  to  be  only  an 
interim  source  and  is  assumed  to 
be  phased  out  by  1990.   However, 
there  are  exceptions  in  the  Central 
Coastal  area  and  for  localized 
situations  in  the  South  Lahontan 
and  Colorado  Desert  areas  where 
ground  water  is  the  only  source  of 
water  supply.   In  these  cases, 
ground  water  overdraft  was  assumed 
to  continue  indefinitely. 

It  is  anticipated  that  local  agencies 
will  provide  20  to  25  percent  of 
the  increased  dependable  water 
supplies  between  the  present  time 
and  2020.   This  includes  additional 
surface  developments,  increased 
ground  water  use,  and  reclamation 
of  waste  water  and  represents 
essentially  full  development  of 
the  available  local  water  supplies. 
In  addition,  local  agencies  will 
play  a  key  role  in  the  construction 
of  distribution  systems  to  deliver 
water  from  state  and  federal,  as 
well  as,  local  water  projects. 

The  indicated  shortages  shown  in 
Table  8   represent  the  quanti- 
ties of  water  that  must  be  made 
available  over  and  above  the  net 
water  supplies  to  fully  satisfy 
the  indicated  net  demands.   Finally, 
the  table  lists  potential  supply 
sources  that  might  prove  feasible 
for  development  in  the  future. 

The  water  demand-water  supply 
relationships  for  each  of  the 
11  hydrologic  study  areas  are 
summarized  graphically  in 
Figure  37. 


-142- 


FIGURE  37 


PRESENT     AND    PROJECTED 
WATER  DEMAND -WATER  SUPPLY  RELATIONSHIPS 
IN    MILLION    ACRE  -  FEET 
HYDROLOGIC     STUDY    AREAS 


NC  - 

SF    - 

cc  - 
sc  - 

SB  - 
DC  - 
SJ  - 
TB  - 
NL  - 


NORTH    COASTAL 
SAN    FRANCISCO    BAY 
CENTRAL    COASTAL 
SOUTH    COASTAL 
SACRAMENTO    BASIN 
DELTA- CENTRAL  SIERRA 
SAN   JOAQUIN   BASIN 
TULARE     BASIN 
NORTH    LAHONTAN 
SOUTH    LAHONTAN 
COLORADO    DESERT 


I      I  NET    WATER    DEMANDS 

AVAILABLE     WATER    SUPPLIES 


1970    1990     2020 


-14  3- 


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-1^5- 


CHAPTER  VII .   MEETING  WATER  DEMANDS  THROUGH 

CENTRAL  VALLEY  PROJECT  AND 

STATE  WATER  PROJECT  FACILITIES 


The  California  Water  Plan  and 
subsequent  reports  of  the  Department 
of  Water  Resources  were  published  to 
provide  a  basic  planning  framework 
for  ensuring  that  the  State's  long- 
range  water  demands  are  met.   Two 
major  multi-purpose  projects  systems 
which  are  presently  fulfilling  this 
general  objective  and  which  possess 
the  potential  for  continuing  to  do 
so  to  an  increasing  extent  in  the 
future  are  the  Central  Valley  Proj- 
ect of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Reclamation  and  the  California 
State  Water  Project,  currently 
nearing  completion  by  the  Department 
of  Water  Resources. 

These  two  developments  are  unique  in 
their  utilization  of  the  coordinated 
systems  approach  to  interbasin  water 
resource  preservation  and  management. 
In  essence  this  operational  princi- 
ple, including  the  utility  and 
pooling  concepts  employed  by  the 
State  Water  Project,  makes  possible 
the  future  extension  of  water  ser- 
vices to  areas  of  California  which 
could  neither  physically  nor  eco- 
nomically be  provided  by  smaller 
local  or  independently  operated 
developments  alone,  or  from  other 
alternative  sources. 

This  chapter  presents  information 
concerning  the  present  and  potential 
future  water  supply,  recreation, 
flood  control,  and  water  quality 
control  accomplishments  of  the  State 
Water  Project  and  the  Central  Valley 
Project  and  the  advantages  of 
their  coordinated  operation.   With 
regard  to  the  future,  it  is  rec- 
ognized that  water  demands  over  and 
above  those  to  be  satisfied  by 
existing  or  authorized  facilities 
of  the  Central  Valley  Project  or 
State  Water  Project  may  not  be  met 
exclusively  or  even  principally  by 
future  additions  to  those  projects. 
Other  potential  alternative  sources 
described  in  Chapter  V  may  well 


play  a  substantial  role  in  meeting 
future  demands  in  areas  that  could 
be  served  by  these  projects.   The 
means  of  satisfaction  of  future 
water  demands  remains  to  be  deter- 
mined; but  because  of  the  indicated 
slower  rate  of  buildup  in  demand 
discussed  in  Chapters  IV  and  VI, 
there  is  time  to  make  such 
determination. 

However,  the  assumption  is  made  for 
purposes  of  this  chapter  that  future 
water  demands  in  areas  that  could 
logically  be  served  by  state  and 
federal  projects  will  be  met  by 
expansion  of  those  projects.   This 
procedure  serves  to  illustrate  the 
operational  characteristics  and 
flexibility  of  the  Central  Valley 
Project  and  State  Water  Project, 
including  exchange  potentials  and 
the  forecasted  timing  of  need  for 
additional  conservation  and 
transportation  facilities. 


The  Central  Valley 
Project 

The  Central  Valley  Project  was 
federally  authorized  for  construc- 
tion in  1935  under  provisions  of 
the  Emergency  Relief  Act  and  as  a 
federal  reclamation  project  in  1937- 
In  1967  the  project  celebrated  its 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  pro- 
viding water  service  via  the  Contra 
Costa  Canal,  an  initial  unit  of  the 
Delta  Division.   This  project  marked 
the  beginning  of  a  new  phase  of 
water  development  in  the  Central 
Valley,  as  development  in  various 
parts  of  the  Valley  had  been  largely 
independent  of  each  other  prior  to 
its  initiation.   However,  use  of 
water  had  reached  a  stage  where  any 
additional  facility  in  one  part  of 
the  Valley  affected  existing  and 
possible  future  development  elsewhere. 
Hence  the  need  for  a   truly  compre- 
hensive and  fully  coordinated 


-147- 


interbasin  development  program  was 
recognized  and  undertaken  through 
construction  of  the  federal  Central 
Valley  Project. 

Major  reservoirs  of  the  Central 
Valley  Project  completed  or  under 
construction  include  Lake  Shasta  on 
the  Sacramento  River,  Folsom  Lake 
and  Auburn  Reservoir  on  the  American 
River,  Millerton  Lake  on  the  San 
Joaquin  River,  and  New  Melones 
Reservoir  on  the  Stanislaus  River. 
Major  aqueduct  systems  serving  ag- 
riculture and  industry  in  the  Valley 
are  the  Delta-Mendota  Canal,  Friant- 
Kern  Canal,  Madera  Canal,  Contra 
Costa  Canal,  Folsom  South  Canal, 
Tehama-Colusa  Canal  and  the  Corning 
Canal.   Other  key  features  of  the 
Central  Valley  Project  are  the  San 
Felipe  Division,  Trinity  Division, 
and  the  San  Luis  Division.   The 
latter  consists  of  San  Luis  Reser- 
voir in  western  Merced  County  and 
the  San  Luis  Canal,  which  are  joint 
features  with  the  California  State 
Water  Project.   The  total  cost  of 
the  Cent];'al  Valley  Project  to  date, 
including  constructed  and  authorized 
features,  is  on  the  order  of  $2.6 
billion.  These  major  facilities 
are  shown  on  Figure  38. 

Current  annual  water  deliveries 
under  the  Central  Valley  Project 
total  some  6  million  acre-feet.   By 
about  1990  project  water  deliveries 
are  anticipated  to  be  some  10. 7  mil- 
lion acre-feet  to  meet  the  in- 
creasing demands  for  new  and  supple- 
mental water  supplies  within  the 
service  areas  of  the  Central  Valley 
Project.  These  annual  demands  are 
projected  to  grow  by  an  additional 
2  million  acre-feet  between  1990 
and  2020.   Authorization  and  con- 
struction of  additional  Central 
Valley  Project  facilities,  princi- 
pally the  East  Side  Division  and 
the  West  Sacramento  Canals  Unit, 
would  be  needed  to  provide  this  in- 
crease in  water  deliveries. 

While  the  initial  features  of  the 
Central  Valley  Project  have  been 
virtually  completed  and  other  facil- 
ities have  been  authorized  and  are 
under  construction,  the  project  is 
nevertheless  anticipated  to  continue 


to  evolve  over  the  next  quarter 
century  to  meet  the  demands  within 
its  service  areas  on  an  orderly  and 
timely  schedule.   Priority  additions 
include  extension  of  the  project's 
transportation  systems--namely ,  the 
East  Side  Division  Aqueduct  System 
and  the  West  Sacramento  Canals,  and 
the  joint  federal-state  Peripheral 
Canal.   These  and  other  proposed 
additions  to  the  Central  Valley 
Project  will  be  discussed  in 
subsequent  sections  of  this  chapter. 


The  State  Water  Project 

In  1951  the  California  Legislature 
authorized  the  Department  of  Water 
Resources  to  construct  the  Feather 
River  Project,  later  designated  the 
State  Water  Project,  to  conserve 
surplus  water  supplies  in  the  north- 
ern portion  of  the  State  in  excess 
of  local  needs  and  to  convey  those 
supplies  to  areas  of  deficiency  in 
Central  and  Southern  California. 
The  Project  was  designed  to  provide 
other  water  services  in  the  cate- 
gories of  flood  control,  hydroelec- 
tric power  generation,  water-oriented 
recreation,  salinity  control  in  the 
Delta  in  coordination  with  the 
federal  Central  Valley  Project,  and 
the  enhancement  of  fisheries  and 
wildlife  habitat. 

Construction  was  initiated  in  1957 
through  special  legislative  appro- 
priations following  the  disastrous 
December  1955  flood,  but  the  prin- 
cipal financial  base  for  the 
Project's  implementation  was  provided 
in  i960  by  the  citizens  of  California 
through  their  approval  of  the  Cal- 
ifornia Water  Resources  Development 
Bond  Act,  commonly  referred  to  as 
the  Burns-Porter  Act. 

Features  of  the  State  Water  Project 
are  shown  on  Figure  38.  The  Project 
is  described  in  detail  in  Department 
of  Water  Resources  Bulletin  No.  132-70, 
"The  State  Water  Project  in  1970", 
and  is  described  and  illustrated  in 
digest  form  in  Appendix  C  to  that 
bulletin.   Upon  completion,  the 
major  physical  facilities  of  the 
State  Water  Project  will  include 
21  dams,  6  hydroelectic  powerplants 


-148- 


FIGURE  38 


STATE     OF     CALIFORNIA 

THE    RESOURCES    AGENCY 
DEPARTMENT    OF   WATER   RESOURCES 


MAJOR    FEATURES   OF   THE 
STATE    WATER   PROJECT 

AND   THE 

CENTRAL  VALLEY    PROJECT 

LEGEND 

■■    STATE    WATER    PROJECT 
EIH    CENTRAL   VALLEY    PROJECT 
^Z3    JOINT    USE    FACILITIES 


/Vorf/}  Bay  Aqueduct 


SAN    FRANCISCO 

South  Say  Aqueduct- 


and  22  pumping  plants.   The  total 
length  of  the  conveyance  systems 
including  canals,  tunnels  and 
pipelines  will  be  about  700  miles. 
Current  estimates  indicate  that 
the  total  cost  of  the  State  Water 
Project  will  be  some  $2.8  billion. 

Upon  full  project  deliveries  the 
State  Water  Project  will  supply 
4,230,000  acre-feet  annually  to  a 
total  of  31  water  service  agencies 
which  presently  hold  contracts  with 
the  Department  of  Water  Resources. 
These  agencies  are  located  within 
8  of  the  11  hydrologic  study  areas 
of  California.   These  contracts 
for  project  water  by  hydrologic 
areas  are  as  shown  in  the  tabulation 
at  the  bottom  of  this  page. 

In  addition  to  the  delivery  of 
maximum  annual  entitlements  under 
full  project  operation,  the  State 
Water  Project  will  also  make  deliv- 
eries of  water  supplies  for  specific 
recreational  use  on  a  nonreimburs- 
able basis  of  approximately  45,000 
acre-feet  per  year.   This  latter 
supply  plus  diversions  of  approx- 
imately 250,000  acre-feet  per  year 
to  offset  operational  losses,  such 


as  seepage  and  evaporation,  bring 
the  total  present  maximum  State 
Water  Project  diversion  requirements 
to  4,525,000  acre-feet  per  year. 


Operational  Characteristics 
and  Flexibilities 

As  the  Central  Valley  Project  and 
State  Water  Project  use  common 
stream  channels  and  conveyance 
facilities,  and  the  water  supplies 
conserved  and  distributed  become 
physically  indistinguishable,  there 
is  a  need  for  close  coordination. 
Such  coordination  also  enables  a 
high  degree  of  very  desirable  oper- 
ational flexibility  among  the 
facilities  of  the  two-project 
systems.   Coordination  of  the  op- 
eration of  the  two  projects  will 
become  even  more  important  in  the 
future  as  the  Central  Valley  Basin 
supplies  become  more  fully  utilized. 

In  recognition  of  this  need,  an 
important  operating  agreement  has 
recently  been  negotiated  between  the 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  Reclamation  and  the 
California  Department  of  Water 
Resources.   It  is  presently  under 


Hydrologic  Area 


Sacramento  Basin 
San  Francisco  Bay 
Central  Coastal 
San  Joaquin  Basin 
Tulare  Basin 
South  Coastal 
South  Lahontan 
Colorado  Desert 

TOTAL 


5 

5 

2 

1 
7 
5 
5- 
_3 
31 


3I/ 
2/ 


Maximum  Annual  Entitlement 
(Acre-Feet  Per  Year) 


39,800 

255,000 

82,700 

5,700 

1,349,300 

2,204,400 

214,600 

78,500 
4,230,000 


1/  One  agency  in  both  South  Coastal  and  Colorado  Desert  areas. 
?/  One  agency  in  both  South  Lahontan  and  Colorado  Desert  areas. 


-150- 


Portion  of  San  Luis  Joint-Use-Fycilities 

Federal-State  use  involves  close  coordination 


review  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior.   The  agreement  provides 
the  operators  of  the  two  projects 
with  the  procedures  necessary  to 
achieve  the  objectives  set  forth  in 
the  various  laws,  orders,  policies, 
and  other  instruments  under  which 
the  Central  Valley  Project  and  State 
Water  Project  are  authorized  to 
operate.   These  procedures  include 
preparation  of  forecasts  for  pro- 
posed operations,  language  for  the 
transfer  or  exchange  of  facilities 
use,  criteria  for  the  allocation  of 
shortages,  and  procedures  for 
assigning  the  responsibility  for 
maintaining  the  objectives  of  the 
operating  agencies.   While  accom- 
plishing the  objectives  of  the 
agreement,  the  separate  identity  of 
facilities,  resources,  and  contri- 
butions of  each  project  is 
maintained. 


Water  Supply  Capabilities 

Current  estimates  by  the  Department 
of  Water  Resources  indicate  that 
the  combined  dependable  water  yield 
for  the  "basic  facilities"  of  the 
Central  Valley  Project  and  the 
State  Water  Project  is  on  the  order 
of  l4.4  million  acre-feet  annually. 
"Basic  facilities"  are  defined  as 
those  facilities  which  are  either 
existing  or  under  construction  for 
the  federal  Central  Valley  Project 
and  the  "Initial  facilities"  of 
the  State  Water  Project  as  defined 
in  the  Burns-Porter  Act.   The 
principal  basic  facilities  of  the 
two  projects  are  listed  in  Table  9« 

The  indicated  yield  capacity  of  the 
Central  Valley  Project-State  Water 
Project  basic  facilities  is  ref- 
erenced to  the  1990  time  frame  for 


-151- 


TABLV 

q 

MAJOR  FEATURES 

OF  BASIC 

CENTRAL  VALLEY 

PROJECT  AND 

STATE  WATER  PROJECT 

SYSTEM 

Central  Valley  Project 

State  Water  Project 

Major  Reservoirs 

Shasta 

Oroville 

Clair  Engle  (Trinity) 

San  Luis* 

Whiskeytown 

Pyramid 

Auburn 

Castaic 

Folsom 

Silverwcod  (Cedar  Springs) 

San  Luis* 

Perris 

New  Me lone s 

Millerton  (Friant) 

Major  Canals 

Corning 

North  Bay  Aqueduct 

Tehama -Colusa 

Peripheral  Canal* 

Folsom  South 

South  Bay  Aqueduct 

Peripheral  Canal* 

California  Aqueduct,  including 

Contra  Costa 
Delta  Mendota 

joint  San  Luis  Canal,  Coastal 

Branch  and  V/est  Branch. 

San  Luis* 

San  Felipe  Division 

Friant-Kern 

Friant-Madera 

;  Water 

Proj 

ect  joint-use  facilities. 

*  Central  Valley  Project-State 

local  upstream  depletions  within 
the  Sacramento  River  Basin.   Pro- 
jections are  that  by  2020  the 
continuing  development  in  these 
upstream  areas  by  local  agencies 
will  reduce  the  1990  level  annual 
yield  of  the  combined  federal-state 
project  system  by  about  200,000 
acre  feet. 

The  State  considers  its  share  of 
this  reduction  as  a  commitment  in 
accordance  with  the  "Delta  Pooling 
Concept".   That  concept,  which  is 


premised  on  the  counties  of  origin 
and  watershed  protection  statutes 
of  the  California  Water  Code, 
provides,  in  effect,  that  no  water 
shall  be  exported  from  an  area  in 
which  it  originates,  or  from  areas 
immediately  adjacent  that  can  be 
conveniently  served  by  such  water, 
which  is  needed  for  the  development 
of  those  areas.   Water  supplies 
may  be  depleted  for  upstream  uses 
in  the  counties  of  origin,  and 
local  agencies  in  the  area  in  and 
above  the  Delta  have  a  prior  right 


-152- 


to  contract  for  water  service  from 
the  State  Water  Project.   These 
principles  are  incorporated  in  the 
contracts  between  the  State  and 
the  31  water  service  contractors 
for  water  deliveries  from  the  State 
Water  Project. 

Of  the  ik.H-   million  acre-foot 
nominal  yield  for  the  1990  time 
period,  approximately  3-9  million 
acre-feet  can  be  provided  by  the 
initial  conservation  facilities  of 
the  State  Water  Project  and 
10.5  million  acre-feet  by  the 
Central  Valley  Project.   Correspond- 
ing estimates  taking  into  account 
the  2020  level  of  upstream  local 
development  are  approximately  3-8 
and  10.4  million  acre-feet  per 
year,  respectively. 

These  estimates  of  water  supply 
capability  for  the  Central  Valley 
Project  and  State  Water  Project  are 
premised  on  a  minimum  Delta  outflow 
of  1,800  cubic  feet  per  second. 
This  minimum  outflow  should  not  be 
construed  as  representing  the 
average  outflow  which  can  be  ex- 
pected in  a  normal  or  above-normal 
year.   For  example,  estimates  are 
that  under  full  2020  development, 
normal-year  outflow  would  frequently 
exceed  1,800  cubic  feet  per  second. 
As  a  comparison,  1,800  cubic  feet 
per  second  continuous  outflow  would 
amount  to  I.3  million  acre-feet  per 
year,  whereas  normal  outflow  to  the 
Bay  under  2020  development  would 
average  7  million  acre-feet  per 
year,  or  about  five  times  the 
minimum  outflow. 


The  Role  of  the  Peripheral  Canal 

The  Peripheral  Canal  is  an  important 
feature  of  the  Central  Valley 
Project-State  Water  Project  system. 
The  State  has  authority  to  construct 
the  Canal  alone  or  by  joint  venture 
under  the  1959  Burns-Porter  Act. 
However,  congressional  authority  is 
needed  for  the  Bureau  of  Reclamation 
to  participate  in  the  Canal  as  part 
of  the  federal  Central  Valley 
Project. 


The  Peripheral  Canal  will  not  add 
any  new  service  'sreas  to  the  state 
or  federal  projects  nor  will  it 
increase  the  authorized  amount  o'" 
water  slated  for  delivery  by  these 
projects.   The  Canal  simply  solves 
the  water  conveyance,  water  quality, 
and  fishery  problems  in  the  Delta 
related  to  carrying  water  across 
the  Delta  to  the  existing  state 
and  federal  conveyance  facilities 
and,  at  the  same  time,  makes  pos- 
sible the  redistribution  of  water 
within  the  Delta  itself. 

Specifically  the  Canal  would: 
(1)  protect  and  enhance  the  com- 
mercial and  sport  fisheries  and 
other  aquatic  life  that  are 
dependent  upon  the  Delta  by  elim- 
inating flow  reversals  and  making 
releases  from  the  Canal;  (2)  avoid 
using  existing  Delta  channels  as 
conduits  for  conveyance  of  Project 
water,  thereby  eliminating  possible 
channel  scour  and  levee  erosion 
problems;  (3)  provide  a  firm  supply 
and  improve  water  quality  in  the 
interior  Delta  by  redistributing 
water  through  release  facilities; 
(4)  provide  salinity  control  in 
the  Delta  in  accordance  with  con- 
ditions established  by  the  State 
Water  Resources  Control  Board  and 
agreements  with  local  interests; 
and  (5)  fulfill  the  water  transfer 
and  water  quality  requirements  of 
the  State  Water  Project  and  the 
federal  Central  Valley  Project, 
including  the  proposed  Kellogg  Unit, 
or  some  similar  project,  to  provide 
water  to  the  Contra  Costa  County 
area. 

The  Peripheral  Canal  will  consist 
of  a  43-mile-long  unlined  channel 
that  will  skirt  the  easterly  edge 
of  the  Delta  region.   It  will 
originate  at  a  diversion  structure 
on  the  Sacramento  River  near  Hood, 
and  will  terminate  in  the  Clifton 
Court  Forebay  at  the  southwesterly 
portion  of  the  Delta.   Twelve 
outlet  structures  will  provide 
freshwater  releases  at  the  crossings 
of  Delta  channels  in  amounts 
necessary  to  best  control  and  improve 
water  quality  in  many  interior 
waterways . 


-153- 


The  release  works  and  the  isolation 
of  water  transfer  from  the  existing 
Delta  channels  will  eliminate  the 
reverse  flow  problem  during  the 
migration  season  for  salmon,  shad, 
steelhead  and  striped  bass.   This, 
in  conjunction  with  adequate 
waste  discharge  treatment,  is  ex- 
pected to  assist  in  a  restoration 
of  San  Joaquin  River  migratory 
fish  runs  and  enhance  the  Delta 
fishery,  particularly  the  striped 
bass.   The  separate  transfer 
channel  will  also  eliminate  the 
possibility  of  scour  and  levee 
erosion  in  certain  Delta  channels, 
and  water  level  drawdown  in  south- 
ern Delta  channels.   Salt  water 
intrusion  from  San  Francisco  Bay 
can  be  better  controlled  by  canal 
releases . 

Operation  of  the  Peripheral  Canal 
will  enable  a  very  high  degree  of 
flexibility.   With  its  many  release 
gates  and  with  control  of  pumping 
rates,  coordinated  with  upstream 
reservoir  releases,  a  wide  variety 
of  flow  and  water  quality  patterns 
could  be  provided  within  the  Delta. 

Recent  operation  studies  conducted 
by  the  Department  indicate  that 
for  water  transportation  purposes, 
completion  of  the  Peripheral  Canal 
should  be  scheduled  not  later  than 
1980.   However,  fish  and  game 
interests  want  the  Peripheral 
Canal  constructed  as  soon  as 
possible  to  prevent  the  further 
deterioration  of  the  Delta  envi- 
ronment and  its  fishery  and  to 
provide  for  enhancement. 


Projected  Water  Demands  on 
the  Federal  and  State  Systems 

Upon  completion  of  those  facilities 
of  the  Central  Valley  Project  and 
the  State  Water  Project  now  under 
construction,  this  federal-state 
water  resource  development  system 
will  be  capable  of  providing  water 
services  to  all  hydrologic  areas  of 
California  except  the  North  Lahontan 
area.   Although  no  direct  deliveries 
for  use  within  the  North  Coastal 
area  are  anticipated  from  existing 


facilities,  the  Trinity  Division 
of  the  Central  Valley  Project 
possesses  the  potential  to  make 
such  deliveries  if  and  when  a 
demand  may  occur. 

Table  10  indicates  the  water 
service  anticipated  to  be  supplied 
from  facilities  of  the  two  projects 
new  being  completed  and  Table  11 
shows  the  additional  service  which 
could  be  provided  from  future 
expansion  of  these  projects. 


Possible  Central  Valley 
Project  Expansion 

An  expansion  of  service  under  the 
Central  Valley  Project  by  addition 
of  the  planned  major  conveyance 
facilities,  namely  the  initial 
East  Side  Division  and  the  West 
Sacramento  Canals  Unit,  appears  to 
be  the  most  favorable  option  for 
meeting  the  bulk  of  the  supple- 
mental water  demands  anticipated 
to  occur  within  the  Central  Valley 
Basin.   Other  areas  of  projected 
deficiencies  in  dependable  water 
supplies  in  the  Central  Valley 
could  be  served  through  addition 
of  the  Cosumnes  River  Division  and 
the  Allen  Camp  Unit,  plus  an  ex- 
tention  of  service  under  the 
existing  San  Luis  Unit.   These 
possible  future  additions  to  the 
Central  Valley  Project  are 
illustrated  on  plate  1. 

The  East  Side  Division  could  provide 
new  and  supplemental  water  service 
to  potential  service  areas  along 
the  east  side  of  the  San  Joaquin 
Valley  from  the  vicinity  of 
Stockton  to  Bakersfield.   This 
proposed  extension  could  also  pro- 
vide beneficial  services  in  the 
categories  of  water  quality  control, 
flood  control,  recreation,  and 
fishery  and  wildlife  habitat  en- 
hancement.  It  is  envisioned  that 
the  Initial  Phase  would  serve 
1,500,000  acre-feet  annually  to 
Fresno,  Kings,  Tulare  and  Kern 
Counties.   The  water  supply  would 
be  derived  from  operation  of  ex- 
isting storage  facilities.  Auburn 
and  New  Melones  Reservoirs  which 


-154- 


TABLE  10 

SUMMARY  OF  I967  AND  PROJECTED  FUTURE  WATER 
DEMANDS  ON  EXISTING  FACILITIES  OF  THE  CENTRAL  VALLEY  PROJECT 
AND  STATE  WATER  PROJECT- 
(1,000  Acre-Feet) 

^^-- I 

'•   Central  Valley  Project-   •  State  Water  Project 
Hydrologic  Study  Area   .    ^^^^   .  ^g^^   .  5020   :   1967  :   1990   :  2020 


San  Francisco  Bay  60  220 

Central  Coastal  0  80 
South  Coastal 

Sacramento  Basin  2,210  2,750 

Delta-Central  Sierra  98O  1,270   1.330 


460 

60 

230 

260 

110 

0 

80 

80 

-- 

0 

1,190 

2.200 

080 

0 

40 

40 

San  Joaquin 

1,580 

1,670 

1 

,720 

0 

10 

10 

Tulare  Basin 

1,460 

2,690 

2 

,690 

0 

1,350 

1,350 

South  Lahontan 

— 

— 

— 

0 

210 

210 

Colorado  Desert 

— 

— 

— 

0 

80 

80 

Recreation  Deliveries 
&  Conveyance  Losses 

— 

502^ 

50^/ 

-- 

290 

290 

Total  Demands  on 
CVP  £[nd  SWP 

6,290 

8,730 

9 

,440 

60 

3.480 

4,520 

1/  Includes  facilities  under  construction. 

2/  Includes  conveyance  via  project  facilities  of  exchange 

supplies  in  consideration  of  water  rights. 

3,/  Additional  recreational  deliveries  and  conveyance  losses 

for  Central  Valley  Project  are  included  in  the  study  area  values, 


-155- 


TABLE  11 

SUMMARY  OF  POSSIBLE  FUTURE  WATER  DEMANDS  ANTICIPATED 
TO  BE  SUPPLIED  BY  FUTURE  FACILITIES  OF  THE 
CENTRAL  VALLEY  PROJECT  AND  STATE  WATER  PROJECT 

(1,000  Acre-Feet) 


•  Central  Valley  Project—  •   State  Water  Project- 


Hydrologic  Study  Area 


1990 


2020 


1990 


2020 


San  Francisco  Bay 
South  Coastal 
Sacramento  Basin 
Delta-Central  Sierra 
San  Joaquin  Basin 
Tulare  Basin 
Colorado  Desert 
Conveyance  Losses 


— 

— 

30 

300 

— 

— 

0 

130 

210 

310 

— 

-- 

90 

160 

— 

-- 

300 

590 

~ 

-- 

1,170 

1,840 

0 

250 

200 


200 


Total  Supplemental  Demands 

on  CVP  and  SWP  1,970 


3,100 


0 

250 

0 

ko 

-- 

Uo 

30 


760 


1/  Supplemental  CVP  facilities  required  to  meet  these  demands  include: 
East  Side  Division,  West  Sacramento  Canals  Unit,  Cosumnes  River  Unit, 
Allen  Camp  Unit,  and  service  extension  within  the  existing  San  Luis 
Unit,  plus  future  conservation  facilities  yet  unidentified. 
2/  Supplemental  SWP  facilities  required  include  parallel  North  Bay 
and  South  Bay  Aqueduct  facilities,  California  Aqueduct  modifications, 
plus  future  conservation  facilities  yet  unidentified. 


are  presently  under  construction, 
and  the  offstream  storage  features 
to  be  associated  with  the  East  Side 
Division.   This  surface  water  sup- 
ply could  offset  the  present  annual 
ground  water  overdraft  (in  excess 
of  1,000,000  acre-feet)  and  the 
projected  future  increase  in  demand. 

Physical  features  of  the  Initial 
Phase  include  the  East  Side  Canal, 


five  reservoirs,  associated  pumping 
plants,  and  a  distribution  and 
drainage  system.   The  East  Side 
Canal,  with  source  connections  to 
the  Sacramento  River  by  means  of 
the  Hood-Clay  connection,  and  to 
the  American  River  by  means  of  the 
authorized  Folsom  South  Canal, 
would  extend  330  miles  to  its  ter- 
minus at  the  Kern  River.   Two  of 
the  five  reservoirs,  Montgomery  and 


-156- 


Hungry  Hollow,  would  serve  as 
major  offstream  storage  facilities 
with  986,000  acre-feet  of  combined 
active  storage. 

Through  provisions  for  stream 
maintenance  releases  for  fisheries, 
recreation  and  water  quality  im- 
provement purposes  the  East  Side 
Division  would  have  the  potential 
for  considerable  environmental 
enhancement  of  the  Sierra-Nevada 
streams  from  Dry  Creek  in  Sacramento 
County  to  the  Kern  River  in  Kern 
County. 

The  West  Sacramento  Valley  Canals 
Unit  could  provide  future  water 
service  from  the  Central  Valley 
Project  to  the  Yolo-Zamora,  Lower 
Cache  Creek,  and  Solano  service 
areas  in  Yolo  and  Solano  Counties. 
Principal  features  would  include 
an  enlarged  portion  of  the  Tehama- 
Colusa  Canal,  presently  under  con- 
struction; an  extension  of  that 
canal;  and  Sites  Reservoir,  a 
1,200,000  acre-foot  pumped-storage 
reservoir.   This  new  lake  would  be 
located  in  western  Colusa  County 
on  lands  which  do  not  appear  to 
have  significant  recreational  value 
or  high  development  potential.   The 
West  Sacramento  Canal  could  pro- 
vide for  an  annual  water  conveyance 
of  360,000  acre-feet,  a  portion  of 
which  is  developed  by  existing 
Central  Valley  Project  conservation 
facilities,  with  the  remainder  to 
be  supplied  through  operation  of 
the  Sites  pumped-storage  facility. 

The  Cosumnes  River  Division  could 
develop  and  convey  120,000  acre- 
feet  of  water  per  year  for  irri- 
gation and  an  additional  25,000 
acre-feet  annually  for  municipal 
and  industrial  use,  by  means  of 
three  reservoirs  and  an  extensive 
distribution  system  to  service 
areas  in  the  foothill  regions  of 
Sacramento,  El  Dorado,  Amador  and 
San  Joaquin  Counties.   The  main 
storage  feature  of  the  Cosumnes 
River  Division  would  be  the 
900,000-acre-foot  Nashville  Reser- 
voir.  Recreation  facilities  would 
be  provided  at  the  reservoirs,  and 
flood  protection  would  be  provided 
for  floodplain  lands  now  subject 


to  overflow.   The  meager  fishery 
resources  of  the  lower  Cosumnes 
River  system  would  be  enhanced  by 
reservoir  releases ,  and  a  new  reser- 
voir fishery  W'.al'i  be  estribli  shed  . 

The  proposed  Allen  Camp  Unit  would 
provide  benefits  to  the  Big  Valley 
area  of  Lassen  and  Modoc  Counties 
through  irrigation,  flood  control, 
fish  and  wildlife  enhancement,  and 
recreation.   Flows  of  the  Pit  River 
would  be  controlled  and  conserved 
by  the  proposed  190,000-acre-foot 
Allen  Camp  Reservoir  which  could 
provide  a  dependable  annual  yield 
of  50,000  acre-feet.   Diversions 
would  be  made  to  irrigate  22,000 
acres . 


Possible  State  Water 
Project  Expansion 

Current  water  demand  studies  by  the 
Department  indicate  that  supplemental 
water  service  from  the  State  Water 
Project  may  be  desired  within  four 
hydrologic  study  areas  commencing 
sometime  after  1990.   These  are  the 
San  Francisco  Bay  area,  Tulare 
Basin,  and  the  Colorado  Desert  and 
South  Coastal  areas.  The  term 
"supplemental  water  service",  as 
used  here,  refers  to  the  delivery 
of  water  over  and  above  the  present 
contract  entitlements.   The  quan- 
tities of  potential  supplemental 
water  service  presently  projected 
to  2020  for  these  areas  are  listed 
in  Table  11. 

San  Francisco  Bay  Area.   Within  the 
San  Francisco  Bay  area  possible 
supplemental  water  demands  from  the 
State  Water  Project  could  be  on  the 
order  of  30,000  acre-feet  annually 
by  1990  and  300,000  acre-feet  an- 
nually by  2020.   Of  this  amount  the 
30,000  acre-feet  in  I99O  and 
170,000  acre-feet  in  2020  would  be 
contingent  upon  location  of  an 
industrial  complex  in  the  Collinsville 
area  of  southern  Solano  County.   The 
additional  130,000  acre-feet  of 
anticipated  supplemental  demand  by 
2020  would  develop  in  Santa  Clara 
County  and  the  inland  portions  of 
Alameda  and  Contra  Costa  Counties, 
if  recent  growth  trends  continue. 


-157- 


Tulare  Basin.   Most  of  the  fore- 
casted  supplemental  water  demands 
within  the  Tulare  Basin  would  be 
located  on  the  east  side  or  within 
areas  contiguous  to  the  present 
federal  San  Luis  Unit  service  area. 
However,  an  additional  250,000  acre- 
feet  of  annual  supplemental  water 
service  is  estimated  to  be  required 
in  western  Kern  County  by  2020, 
mostly  in  the  Antelope  Plain  area 
adjacent  to  present  service  areas 
of  the  California  Aqueduct.   It  is 
assumed  that  the  supplemental  demand 
in  this  area  would  be  met  by  the 
State  Water  Project. 

Colorado  Desert  Area.   A  sizable 
amount  of  urban  growth  is  projected 
for  the  Colorado  Desert  region 
because  of  its  proximity  to  Southern 
California  urban  centers.   Water 
available  from  the  State  Water 
Project  could  make  possible  the  lo- 
cation of  new  urban  developments  in 
areas  that  are  without  water  today. 
Other  urban  areas  may  desire  State 
Project  water  because  of  its  better 
quality  than  from  other  available 
sources . 

Expanded  State  Water  Project  deliv- 
eries to  the  Colorado  Desert  areas 
would  primarily  serve  increasing 
municipal  and  industrial  demands, 
especially  in  Coachella  Valley  and 
the  uplands  to  the  west  and  north 
of  that  valley.   Possible  supple- 
mental water  service  to  accommodate 
urban  growth  within  the  Colorado 
Desert  areas  is  assumed  here  to  be 
40,000  acre-feet  annually  by  2020. 

South  Coastal  Area.  The  combined 
dependable  water  supplies  available 
to  the  South  Coastal  area  from  ex- 
isting sources,  from  facilities 
under  construction,  and  from  waste 
water  reclamation  projects  now 
definitely  planned  appear  adequate 
to  meet  water  demands  in  this  area 
until  after  the  turn  of  the  century. 
Projections  are  that  by  2020  con- 
tinued growth  will  require  supple- 
mental supplies  on  the 
order  of  650,000  acre-feet  per  year. 
The  shortage  in  supply  is  indicated 
to  begin  by  about  2010  (refer  to 
Figure  21  on  page  108) . 


Table  8  and  the  discussion  in 
Chapter  VI  identify  three  principal 
options  for  meeting  this  projected 
long-range  demand  for  supplemental 
supplies.   These  are:   future 
waste  water  reclamation  in  addition 
to  the  300,000  acre- feet  per  year 
which  is  now  definitely  planned, 
desalination  of  sea  water,  and  sup- 
plemental imports  via  the  State 
Water  Project.   Although  these  de- 
mands may  possibly  be  met  from  any 
one  of  these  supply  options,  they 
will  probably  be  met  by  a  combination 
of  these  sources. 


The  State  Water 
potential  for  p 
service  to  the 
as  arrangements 
Southern  Califo 
provide  future 
certain  reaches 
Aqueduct.   This 
about  190  cubic 
Kettleman  City 
delivery  equiva 
feet. 


Project  has  the 
roviding  expanded 
South  Coastal  area, 
have  been  made  by 
rnia  contractors  to 
use  capacity  in 
of  the  California 
reserve  capacity  is 
feet  per  second  for 
southward  or  an  annual 
lent  of  130,000  acre- 


For  purposes  of  this  analysis,  this 
reserve  capacity  is  assumed  to  be 
utilized  and  the  State  Water  Project 
is  assumed  to  supply  supplemental 
water  service  of  130,000  acre-feet 
annually  to  the  South  Coastal  area 
by  2020.   The  remainder  of  the 
projected  supply  deficiency  could 
be  met  by  waste  water  reclamation 
and/or  desalination.   Future  studies 
by  the  Department  and  the  concerned 
water  agencies  may,  of  course,  in- 
dicate the  desirability  for  either 
greater  or  less  future  deliveries 
from  the  State  Water  Project  than 
assumed  here.   Considerable  addi- 
tional study  is  needed;  however, 
ample  time  is  available  for  such 
study  and  for  a  determination  by 
the  people  concerned  regarding  the 
most  favorable  course  of  action. 


Central  Valley  Project  Water 
Demand-Supply  Relationship 

Figure  39  illustrates  the  water 
demand-supply  time  relationship  for 
the  Central  Valley  Project  with  the 
East  Side  Division,  West  Sacramento 


-158- 


Canals  Unit,  Cosumnes  River  Division, 
and  the  Allen  Camp  Unit  added.   The 
solid  blue  line  indicates  the  water 
supplies  that  could  be  made  avail- 
able by  the  expanded  Central  Valley 
Project,  incorporating  those  facil- 
ities.  The  broken  blue  line 
indicates  the  dependable  water 
supplies  developed  by  present  proj- 
ect facilities,  including  both 
those  completed  and  under  construc- 
tion.  The  solid  and  broken  red 
lines  represent  the  demand  on  the 
expanded  project  and  the  present 
project,  respectively. 

The  figure  illustrates  that  suffi- 
cient supplies  are  presently 
developed  under  the  Central  Valley 
Project  (broken  blue  line)  to 
accommodate  a  considerable  expansion 
in  future  service  without  a  require- 
ment for  additional  conservation 
features.   However,  a  requirement 
exists  for  construction  of  major 
conveyance  facilities,  namely  the 
East  Side  Division  and  West 
Sacramento  Canal,  to  serve  areas 
of  present  and  incipient  defi- 
ciencies in  the  Tulare  and  Sacramento 
Basins . 

Figure  39  further  illustrates  that 
additional  conservation  facilities 
(exclusive  of  those  identified  in 
that  figure)  may  not  be  required 
under  the  Central  Valley  Project 
for  water  supply  purposes  alone 
until  about  2000.   The  figure 
also  indicates  that  by  2020  the 
possible  expanded  service  could 
require  additional  water  conser- 
vation features  to  provide  new  and 
supplemental  supplies  on  the  order 
of  1  million  acre-feet  annually. 
These  additional  features  are  not 
presently  identified.   They  may 
include  the  full  spectrum  of  the 
potential  supply  options  which 
were  discussed  in  Chapter  V. 


State  Water  Project  Water 
Demand-Supply  Relationship 

Figure  4o  illustrates  graphically 
the  current  assessment  by  the 
Department  of  Water  Resources  of 
the  rate  of  buildup  in  water  demand 


from  the  State  Water  Project  and 
the  water  supplies  available  from 
the  initial  conservation  facilities. 
The  blue  line  indicates  the  de- 
pendable water  yield  capability  of 
the  initial  conservation  facilities. 
The  solid  red  line  shows  the  proj- 
ected total  buildup  in  water 
demands,  and  the  broken  red  line 
indicates  the  demand  buildup  under 
the  present  water  service  contracts, 
as  estimated  by  the  Department  as 
a  result  of  a  review  with  the  water 
supply  contractors. 


Figure  kO  indicates 
tional  conservation 
first  be  needed  in 
on  the  basis  of  the 
mated  rate  of  build 
deliveries  under  pr 
This  represents  a  d 
10  years  from  the  p 
of  need  for  an  addi 
as  published  in  Bui 


that  an  addi- 
facility  would 
the  mid-1990s 

currently  esti- 
up  for  water 
esent  contracts, 
elay  of  some 
rojected  timing 
tional  facility 
letin  160-66. 


Figure  ^  also  shows  that  on  the 
basis  of  projected  total  demand 
from  the  State  Water  Project,  ex- 
panded conservation  facilities  may 
also  be  needed  commencing  in  the 
mid-1990s,  and  that  these  facilities 
might  need  to  provide  a  further 
dependable  annual  water  supply  of 
about  700,000  acre-feet  by  2020,  in 
addition  to  the  existing  contract 
entitlements . 

It  should  be  emphasized  that  the 
forecast  of  timing  of  need  for 
additional  water  is  premised  upon 
assumptions  regarding  future  events 
which  cannot  now  be  foreseen.   For 
example,  the  Department  of  Water 
Resources  believes  that  the  commit- 
ments to  provide  good  quality  water 
in  the  Delta  can  be  met  by  a  mini- 
mum Delta  outflow  of  1,800  cubic 
feet  per  second.   Should  a  decision 
by  the  State  Water  Resources  Control 
Board  impose  conditions  which  might 
require  greater  releases  than 
l.oOO  cubic  feet  per  second,  the 
timing  of  need  for  additional 
water  would  be  advanced. 


-159- 


FIGURE  39 
THE       CENTRAL     VALLEY 


PROJECT 


PROJECTED    NET   WATER    DEMANDS 

AND 
DEPENDABLE     WATER       SUPPLIES 


14,- 


10 


UJ 

o 

<  6 


PROJECTED     DEMANDS 


PROJECTED      SUPPLIES 


SUPPLIES    FROM 

EXISTING 

FACILITIES 


1970 


DEMANDS      ON 
'existing      FACILITIES 


1980 


1990        2000 
YEAR 


2010 


2020 


Figure  40 


THE       STATE        WATER       PROJECT 

PROJECTED    NET    WATER    DEMANDS 

AND 
DEPENDABLE     WATER     SUPPLIES 


6r 


PROJECTED     DEMANDS 


SUPPLIES    FROM 

EXISTING 

FACILITIES 


EXISTING     CONTRACTUAL- 
COMMITMENTS 


DEMANDS    UNDER 
EXISTING    CONTRACTS 


ADDITIONAL 

SUPPLIES 

REQUIRED 


1970 


1980 


1990 


2000 


2010 


2020 


YEAR 


Other  factors  that  would  accelerate 
the  need  for  additional  water  are: 
(l)  problems  of  quality  of  Colorado 
River  Water  which  might  necessitate 
substitution  of  water  from  the  State 
Water  Project;  (2)  more  rapid  pop- 
ulation increase  than  presently 
anticipated;  (3)  a  demand  for  proj- 
ect water  in  service  areas  not  now 
under  contract;  and  (4)  Increased 
water  use  in  areas  tributary  to  the 
Delta. 

Factors  that  would  tend  to  delay 
additional  need  for  water  are: 
(l)  a  slower  population  growth  than 
now  anticipated;  (2)  more  rapid 
development  in  technology  of  de- 
salting than  now  anticipated;  and 
(3)  a  greater  reuse  of  reclaimed 
water  than  now  projected.   A 


continuing  evaluation  of  all  these 
factors  will  be  necessary  to  effect 
the  overall  most  acceptable  means 
of  satisfying  future  demands. 

The  Department  of  Water  Resources 
is  presently  conducting  studies  of 
the  various  options  for  meeting  its 
commitments  to  water  contractors 
under  the  State  Water  Project  and 
for  supplying  the  future  supple- 
mental service  which  may  be  requested. 
Because  of  the  slowdown  in  demand 
Increase  in  relation  to  earlier 
estimates  and  the  Indicated  delay 
in  timing  of  need  for  additional 
facilities,  the  Department  will 
have  sufficient  time  available  to 
study  and  analyze  alternative 
sources  with  full  consideration  of 
environmental  factors. 


-I6l- 


Recreational  and  Environmental 

Accomplishments 

The  water  demands  and  the  supply 
capabilities  of  the  Central  Valley- 
Project  and  State  Water  Project 
have  been  presented  In  some  detail 
to  demonstrate  their  abilities  to 
fulfill  obligations  to  the  water 
supply  contractors  and  to  meet 
probable  future  supplemental  water 
demands.   In  addition  to  meeting 
these  obligations,  however,  the 
multi-purpose  facilities  of  the 
Central  Valley  Project  and  the 
State  Water  Project  have  made  pos- 
sible an  array  of  other  Important 
services.  These  include:   flood 
control,  hydroelectric  power  pro- 
duction, water  quality  control, 
water-oriented  recreation  oppor- 
tunities, and  the  improvement  of 
fisheries  and  wildlife  habitat. 
Each  of  these  services  is  Indeed 
a  water  resource  management  purpose 
in  its  own  right.   In  most  instances 
these  services  could  not  have  been 
economically  provided  except  through 
the  advantages  Inherent  in  the 
multi-purpose  management  concept. 

Contributions  of  the  two  projects 
in  providing  these  services  have 
substantially  enhanced  California's 
natural  human  environment.   Flood 
control  has  eliminated  the  threat 
of  damage  to  the  lives  and  property 
of  many  of  the  State's  citizens; 
hydroelectric  power  production 
provides  a  significant  portion  of 
the  electric  energy  needed  without 
pollution  of  the  atmosphere  or  the 
water  supplies;  and  water  quality 
control  provides  for  the  availabil- 
ity of  dry-period  streamflows  in 
many  of  California's  rivers  and 
estuaries  for  salinity  repulsion 
and  other  purposes  that  were  not 
available  under  natural  or 
pre-project  conditions. 

The  increase  in  population  and  the 
general  movement  from  rural  to 
highly  urbanized  areas  have  devel- 
oped an  unprecedented  demand  for 
water-oriented  recreation  and  other 
experiences  related  to  enjoyment  of 
the  environment.  The  following 
sections  briefly  describe  what  the 


State  Water  Project  and  the  Central 
Valley  Project  are  doing  toward 
providing  for  the  recreational  and 
environmental  needs, including  flood 
control,  of  the  people  of  California, 


Environment  and  the 

Central  Valley  Project 

Recreation  has  long  been  recognized 
by  the  Bureau  of  Reclamation  as  one 
of  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from 
the  creation  of  new  lakes.   To 
enhance  the  public  enjoyment  these 
large  bodies  of  water  have  been 
provided  with  campgrounds,  picnic 
areas,  piped  water,  sanitary  facil- 
ities, riding  and  hiking  trails, 
beaches,  boat-launching  ramps,  and 
boat  docks.   As  the  need  is  dem- 
onstrated these  facilities  are 
improved  and  expanded.   The  major 
structures  of  the  project  are 
themselves  an  attraction  to  sight- 
seers, and  many  visitors  stop  each 
year  at  the  visitor  facilities  to 
view  the  dams,  powerplants .  and 
related  facilities. 

The  project  lakes  are  stocked  with 
fish,  and  in  many  cases  the  fishing 
in  streams  below  the  dams  Is  en- 
hanced by  maintenance  of  more  stable 
flows,  either  specifically  for  fish 
enhancement  or  as  a  result  of  other 
project  flow  requirements.   The 
operation  of  Shasta  Reservoir  and 
the  Coleman  Fish  Hatchery  has  been 
largely  responsible  for  the  enhance- 
ment of  the  valuable  steelhead 
trout  fishery  on  the  Sacramento 
River.   Three  fish  hatcheries  are 
operating  to  replace  spawning  areas 
cut  off  by  dams  on  the  Trinity, 
Sacramento,  and  American  Rivers. 

Central  Valley  Project  reservoirs  are 
also   used  by  waterfowl  for  nesting 
and  for  resting  during  migration. 
It  is  estimated  that  in  I969  there 
were  about  1,130,000  use-days  by 
ducks  and  geese  on  project  water 
areas.   Hunters  took  about  3^,000 
waterfowl  during  the  hunting  season. 
In  addition,  for  a  number  of  years 
the  project  has  supplied  supple- 
mental water  for  the  State's 
Mendota  Waterfowl  Management  area 
in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley. 


-162- 


Two  facilities  of  the  Central 
Valley  Project  now  under  construc- 
tion. Auburn  and  New  Melones 
Reservoirs,  will  contribute  ben- 
efits from  further  recreation, 
fisheries  and  wildlife  enhancement. 
In  addition  to  the  new  lake  areas 
for  fishing  and  recreation,  these 
deep  reservoirs  will  supply  water 
at  temperatures  lower  than  presently 
available  for  releases  to  maintain 
downstream  trout  and  salmon  fish- 
eries.  Also,  the  operation  of 
Auburn  Reservoir  in  conjunction 
with  Lake  Folsom  will  enhance  the 
already  high-quality  recreation 
provided  by  the  latter  through  a 
reduction  in  water  level  fluctu- 
ations and  the  maintenance  of 
generally  higher  storage  levels. 

Located  adjacent  to  the  Sacramento 
metropolitan  area.  Lake  Folsom  has 
been  the  most  popular  of  the  project 
reservoirs.   In  19^9  more  than 
2.U  million  visitor-days  were  re- 
corded.  Second  in  use  was  Lake 
Shasta,  the  largest  of  the  project 
reservoirs,  with  more  than  1.7  mil- 
lion visitor-days  of  recreation 
use . 

The  overall  Central  Valley  Project 
provided  a  total  recreation-use  in 
1969  of  about  6.5  million  visitor- 
days,  as  shown  by  project  facility 
in  Table  12. 

The  regulation  of  streamflow 
extremes  is  another  significant 
environmental  benefit  inherent  in 
the  operation  of  the  Central  Valley 
Project  conservation  facilities. 
The  catastrophic  floods  of  1964, 
which  caused  record  damage  in  the 
North  Coastal  area,  also  produced 
new  record  peak  runoff  in  the 
Central  Valley  Basin.   In  the  latter 
area,  however,  operation  of  flood 
control  facilities  prevented  exten- 
sive damage.   On  the  American  River, 
for  example,  the  December  1964  peak 
inflow  to  Lake  Folsom  was  280,000 
cubic  feet  per  second.   Downstream 
releases  were  limited  by  the  oper- 
ation of  Lake  Folsom  to  115,000  cubic 
feet  per  second,  the  design  capacity 
of  the  channel.   Without  Folsom  Dam 
and  Reservoir,  the  Sacramento 


metropolitan  area  would  have  been 
flooded. 

During  the  storm  of  January  1970, 
Lake  Shasta  experienced  its  greatest 
peak  inflow  of  record--210 ,000  cubic 
feet  per  second.   Downstream  re- 
leases were  held  to  a  maximum  of 
15,000  cubic  feet  per  second  at  the 
time  of  peak  inflow  into  the  lake 
and  were  increased  to  a  maximum  of 
only  79,000  cubic  feet  per  second, 
subsequently,  during  that  storm 
period,  thus  minimizing  overflow 
damage  in  the  Sacramento  Valley. 
Lake  Shasta  has  regulated  five  such 
major  flood  flows  since  its 
completion  in  1944. 

Finally,  mention  should  be  made  of 
improvement  to  salinity  conditions 
in  the  Delta  since  Shasta  Dam  com- 
menced operation  in  1944.   During 
the  25  years  prior  to  construction 
of  Shasta  Dam  there  were  seven  years 
of  severe  salinity  intrusion  into 
the  interior  Delta  channels,  and  in 
1931  salinity  from  the  ocean  in- 
truded upstream  beyond  the  City  of 
Stockton.   Since  1944  water  released 
through  operation  of  Shasta  Reservoir 
has  prevented  serious  intrusion  of 
saline  water  into  interior  Delta 
channels.   Had  no  releases  from 
storage  been  made,  salt  water  would 
have  advanced  well  into  the  interior 
of  the  Delta  in  7  of  the  10  years 
from  1955  through  1964.   The  State 
Water  Project  will  share  responsi- 
bility for,  and  maintenance  of, 
water  quality  in  the  Delta. 


Environment  and  the 
State  Water  Project 

Completed  facilities  of  the  State 
Water  Project  have  already  seen 
intensive  use  by  recreationists. 
The  three  Upper  Feather  area  reser- 
voirs (Frenchman,  Antelope,  and 
Lake  Davis),  designed  primarily  for 
recreational  purposes,  were  among 
the  first  units  completed  and  have 
supported  an  increasing  use,  with 
933,000  recreation-days  recorded  in 
1969.   These  projects  are  providing 
new  lake  habitat  for  fish,  water- 
based  sports  opportunities,  onshore 


-163- 


camping  and  picnic  areas,  mainte- 
nance of  downstream  summer  flow  for 
fish,  and  general  improvement  of 
the  streamshore  environment. 

Downstream  on  the  Feather  River, 
Lake  Oroville  became  available  for 
recreation-use  in  I968;  and  the 
Oroville  complex,  including 
Thermalito  Forebay  and  Afterbay, 
supported  517,^00  recreation-days 
of  use  in  1969-   In  addition  to  the 
usual  boating,  fishing,  and  onshore 
recreational  activities  at  Lake 
Oroville  and  Thermalito  Forebay, 
the  Afterbay,  with  4,500  surface 
acres,  offers  waterfowl  hunting. 
Besides  the  waterfowl  habitat  pro- 
vided by  the  reservoirs,  the 
5,700-acre  Oroville  Borrow  area 
will  be  developed  for  waterfowl 
and  upland  game  habitat  and  for 
warmwater  fishing  in  the  numerous 
sloughs  and  ponds. 

The  Sacramento-San  Joaquin  Delta 
perhaps  has  received  more  attention 
than  any  other  area  in  the  study  of 
the  effects  of  proposed  water 
control  facilities  on  the  preser- 
vation and  enhancement  of  the 
aquatic  environment.   Consideration 
of  fish  and  wildlife  ecological 
requirements  had  much  to  do  with 
the  choice  of  the  Peripheral  Canal 
as  the  Delta  facility  for  the  State 
Water  Project.   The  canal  was  pro- 
posed by  a  joint  interagency  com- 
mittee as  the  best  means  of 
conveying  water  to  the  pumps  of  the 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  Reclamation  Delta 
Mendota  Canal  at  Tracy  and  the  Delta 
Pumping  Plant  of  the  California 
Auqeduct,  while  at  the  same  time 
providing  for  controlled  releases 
into  the  Delta  channels  for  salinity 
repulsion,  maintenance  of  a  balanced 
ecology  in  the  Delta  necessary  for 
preservation  and  improvement  of 
sports  and  commercial  fisheries, 
and  improvement  of  the  general  Delta 
environment  as  it  relates  to  agri- 
culture and  recreation  use.   More 
than  $9  million  has  been  invested 
by  the  state  agencies  in  planning 
and  investigation  related  to  rec- 
reation and  fish  and  wildlife 
protection  and  enhancement  in 
the  Delta. 


On  the  South  Bay  Aqueduct,  in 
Alameda  County,  Del  Valle  Dam  has 
been  completed  adjacent  to  the  San 
Francisco  Bay  metropolitan  area. 
The  reservoir  replaces  a  stream  of 
intermittent  flow  with  no  fishery. 
It  has  been  stocked  with  fish  by 
the  Department  of  Fish  and  Game  and 
onshore  facilities  have  been  pro- 
vided by  the  Department  of  Parks 
and  Recreation  for  the  many  nearby 
residents  who  are  this  year  begin- 
ning to  enjoy  the  many  recreational 
activities  offered  by  this  stra- 
tegically located  body  of  water. 

Further  south  along  the  California 
Aqueduct,  San  Luis  Reservoir. 
O'Neill  Forebay,  and  Los  Banos 
Reservoir  present  an  opportunity 
for  water-based  recreation  in  an 
area  historically  void  of  signif- 
icant bodies  of  water.   Initial 
facilities  for  recreationists  have 
been  constructed  at  O'Neill  Forebay 
which  has  had  the  heaviest  use; 
however,  facilities  at  three  areas 
on  the  shore  of  San  Luis  Reservoir 
are  now  available  and  are  coming 
into  increasing  use.   Waterfowl 
shooting  is  also  available  at  all 
three  reservoirs. 

The  280-mile  completed  section  of 
the  California  Aqueduct  in  the 
San  Joaquin  Valley  already  possesses 
a  sizable  fish  population,  chiefly 
catfish  and  bass.   Four  fishing 
access  sites  have  recently  been 
constructed  along  the  aqueduct  by 
the  Wildlife  Conservation  Board 
and  opened  to  public  use.   More 
will  he   constructed  as  the  demand 
develops . 

South  of  the  Tehachapi  Mountains  in 
Southern  California,  three 
reservoirs--Pyramid,  Castaic  and 
Silverwood--are  under  construction 
and  Perris  will  soon  be  underway. 
They  will  help  meet  the  demand  in 
that  heavily  populated  area  for 
recreational  experiences  associated 
with  large  bodies  of  water.   Plans 
for  stocking  of  fish  and  for  shore 
developments  are  progressing  and 
will  be  implemented  to  provide 
access  to  and  use  of  the  reservoirs 
when  they  become  operational.   Also 


-164- 


TABLE  12 

CENTRAL  VALLEY  PROJECT 
RECREATION-USE  IN  I969 


Feature  Recreation -Days 

Clair  Engle  Lake(Trlnlty )  148,000 

Lewlston  Lake  45,000 

Whiskeytown  Lake  1,044,000 

Shasta  Lake  1,717,000 

Keswick  Reservoir  5,000 

Jenkinson  Lake  (Sly  Park)  223,000 

Folsom  Lake  2,405,000 

Lake  Natoira  (Nimbus)  370,000 

Mlllerton  Lake  (Priant)  366,000 

Lake  Woollomes  108,000 

San  Luis  Reservoir  * 

O'Neill  Forebay  * 

Los  Banos  Reservoir  * 

San  Luis  Wasteway  12,000 

Contra  Loma  Reservoir  58,000 

Red  Bluff  Diversion  Dam  4,000 

Delta  Mendota  Canal  Angling  Access  Sites  25,000 


TOTAL  6,530,000 


•Federal -state  Joint-use  features  reported  under  State  Water 
Project  in  Table  13. 


-165- 


O.   3872-5 


One  ot  lour  fishing  access  sites  constructed  along  the  Calilomia  Aqueduct 


under  investigation  is  the  develop- 
ment of  wildlife  habitat  within 
the  aqueduct  right-of-way,  partic- 
ularly in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley 
and  in  the  Antelope  Valley-Mojave 
area. 

Table  13  presents  recorded 
recreational  use  of  State  Water 
Project  facilities  in  1969  and 
estimated  use  under  full  develop- 
ment for  those  units  presently 
shceduled  for  construction.  Addi- 
tional developments  such  as  aquatic 
recreation  areas  and  ecological 
areas  in  connection  with  the  Project 
facilities  are  under  consideration 
for  inclusion  as  the  demand  develops 
and  as  funding  becomes  available. 

The  State  Water  Project  made  its 
first  major  contribution  in  the 
interest  of  flood  control  during 
the  period  of  the  extensive  I964 


flood.   Oroville  Dam,  although  only 
partially  completed,  received  a 
maximum  record  peak  inflow  of 
253,000  cubic  feet  per  second  and 
impounded  155,000  acre-feet  of 
water  during  the  storm  period.   The 
reduction  of  the  peak  flow  to 
158,000  cubic  feet  per  second  out- 
flow from  the  reservoir  is  estimated 
to  have  prevented  $30  million  in 
damages  in  the  Yuba  City-Marysville 
area. 


Summary 

This  chapter  has  described  the  roles 
of  the  Central  Valley  Project  and 
the  State  Water  Project  in  the 
management  of  California's  water 
resources.   It  has  indicated  the 
present  services  provided  by  these 
projects,  the  coordination  aspects 
of  their  operation,  and  their 


-166- 


TABLE    13 
RECREATION-USE   AT  STATE  WATER   PROJECT  FACILITIES 
(in  recreation -days) 


Feature 


Antelope  Lake 

Lake  Davis 

Frenchman  Lake 

Lake  Orovllle  and  Thermalito 
Porebay  and  Afterbay 

Peripheral  Canal 

Bethany  Reservoir 

Lake   Del  Valle 

San  Luis  Reservoir,  O'Neill 

Porebay,  and  Los  Banos  Reservoir 

Silverwood  Lake 

Lake  Perris 

Pyramid  Lake 

Castaic  Lake 

Aqueduct  Angling  Access  Sites 

Frenchman  Flat-Piru  Creek  Fishery 
Enhancement 

TOTAL 


Annual  Recreation  Use 


1969 


99,300 
439,300 
394,500 

516,400 


105,300 


:  Estimated  Under 
:  Pull  Development 


1,554,800 


301,000 
476,000 
474,000 

6,213,000 

2,500,000 

50,000 

3,370,000 

4,483,  OOoi-'"'^ 
2,188,000 
5,346,000 
70,000 
2,500,000 
2/ 

320,000 
28,291,000 


1/  Federal -state  Joint-use  facilities.  ,-,-,,, 

2/  Four  sites  were  opened  in  late  1969  and  1970.   More  sites  will  be 
opened  as  the  demand  develops. 


-157- 


potential  for  providing  future 
services  to  the  people  of 
California. 

The  chapter  has  identified  and 
discussed  the  need  for  certain 
priority  additions  to  the  convey- 
ance facilities  of  the  two  projects 
Those  additions  are  the  joint 
federal-state  Peripheral  Canal  and 
the  East  Side  Division  and  West 
Sacramento  Canals  Unit  of  the 
Central  Valley  Project,   Other 
proposed  Central  Valley  Project 
extensions  discussed,  for  which  an 
incipient  demand  is  forecast,  are 
the  Cosumnes  River  Division  and 
the  Allen  Camp  Unit. 


The  text  and 
Chapter  VII 
will  be  a  ne 
servation  fa 
Central  Vail 
State  Water 
these  latter 
be  required 
poses  as  ear 


illustrations  in 
indicate  that  there 
ed  for  future  con- 
cilities  for  both  the 
ey  Project  and  the 
Project,  but  that 

facilities  may  not 
for  water  supply  pur- 
ly  in  time  as  previous 


estimates  had  shown.   This  possible 
deferral  in  the  need  for  the  addi- 
tional conservation  facilities 
results  primarily  from  the  slower 
growth  rates  in  population, 
industry  and  agriculture  which  are 
now  projected  for  California. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  to  identify 
or  recommend,  from  among  the  array 
of  potential  source  options  (as 
discussed  in  Chapter  V),  those 
future  water  conservation  measures 
or  facilities  which  may  be  reauired 
after  the  mid-1990s.   It  is  pres- 
ently believed  that  ample  study 
time  is  available  before  specific 
recommendations  must  be  made  and 
that  ample  review  time  is  like- 
wise available  for  public 
consideration  of  those  recommendations. 

The  chapter  concluded  with  brief 
discussions  of  the  environmental 
accomplishments  of  the  Central 
Valley  Project  and  the  State  Water 
Project  with  emphasis  on  the 
recreational  opportunities  afforded. 


-168- 


CHAPTER  VIII,   POPULATION  DISPERSAL- 
IMPACT  ON  RESOURCES  DEVELOPMENT 


The  population  projections  discussed 
in  Chapter  IV  are  based  upon  recent 
population  trends.   Generally  these 
trends  indicate  the  continued  rapid 
growth  of  existing  urban  areas.  The 
purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  ex- 
plore an  approach  based  on  possible 
alternative  land  use  policies 
involving  a  redistribution  of  people 
and  estimate  the  impact  of  these 
policies  on  water  management.   Time 
limitations  have  precluded  an  in- 
depth  evaluation.   As  Indicated  in 
Chapter  III,  a  thorough  systems 
analysis  is  required  to  define  the 
impacts  and  consequences  of  such  land 
use  policy  alternatives.   However, 
it  has  been  possible  to  explore  on 
a  superficial  basis,  at  least,  some 
of  the  pertinent  ramifications. 

Considerable  concern  has  been 
expressed  by  legislative  and  public 
groups  that  a  continuation  of  the 
growth  pattern  may  have  serious 
social  and  environmental  conse- 
quences.  It  is  argued  that  existing 
metropolitan  areas,  particularly  the 
South  Coast,  already  are  overcrowded 
and  that  the  resultant  environmental 
problems,  such  as  urban  congestion 
and  air  pollution,  are  so  serious 
that  a  further  population  increase 
should  not  occur.   Some  proponents 
of  land  use  and  urban  population 
control  advocate  control  of  popu- 
lation in  Southern  California  by 
halting  construction  of  the  State 
Water  Project.   Others  express  the 
belief  that  the  people  should  move 
to  the  northern  areas  of  water  sur- 
plus to  avoid  the  necessity  of 
sending  more  water  to  the  south. 

The  need  for  land  use  and  population 
policy  has  been  widely  discussed. 
This  need  is  closely  related  to  the 
view  that  resources  development 
planning  should  take  into  account 
the  total  environment.   Both  the 
Federal  Government  and  the  State  are 
taking  steps  leading  toward  defini- 
tion and  implementation  of  such  policy. 


At  the  federal  level,  legislation  is 
being  considered  which  calls  for  a 
National  Land  Use  Council  responsi- 
ble for  general  land  use  policies. 
In  addition,  under  the  new  communi- 
ties provisions  of  Title  IV  of  the 
Housing  and  Urban  Development  Act 
of  1968,  the  Department  of  Housing 
and  Urban  Development  can  guarantee 
debt  to  a  maximum  of  $50  million  on 
a  single  new  town  or  new  community 
project . 

Chapter  II  mentioned  that  two  impor- 
tant measures  were  passed  by  the 
State  Legislature  in  1970.  '^  The 
first,  AB  2045,  required  all  state 
agencies,  boards,  and  commissions 
to  include  In  any  report  on  any 
public  program  which  could  have  a 
significant  effect  on  the  environ- 
ment of  the  State  a  detailed  state- 
ment setting  forth  specified  infor- 
mation concerning  the  Impact  on  the 
environment.   The  second,  AB  2070, 
established  a  comprehensive  state 
planning  function  in  the  Office  of 
the  Governor  known  as  the  State 
Office  of  Planning  and  Research. 
This  Office  will  be  responsible  for 
the  development  of  long-range  state- 
wide goals  and  policies  for  land 
use,  population  growth  and  distri- 
bution, open  space  and  other  factors 
influencing  quality  of  the  State's 
environment.   One  of  the  first  tasks 
will  be  to  provide  an  analysis  of 
alternative  approaches  to  accommo- 
dating future  population  growth  and 
urbanization  within  the  State.   The 
study  will  examine  the  probable 
consequences  of  continuing  to 
accommodate  future  population  within 
existing  metropolitan  and  urban 
areas  and  will  assess  the  physical, 
social  and  economic  Impacts  which 
would  result  if  a  substantial  num- 
ber of  people  were  located  in  areas 
where  urbanization  is  not  now 
anticipated.   The  Department  of 
Water  Resources  is  assisting  in  the 
land  use  and  population  policy 
study. 


-169- 


f  Highways 


Concern  has  been  expressed  that  a  continuation  of  present  urban  growth  patterns  may  have  serious 
social  and  environmental  consequences 


The  remainder  of  this  chapter  dis- 
cusses the  possible  impact  of  three 
hypothetical  alternative  patterns 
of  population  distribution  on  water 
development,  use  and  disposal.   It 
also  briefly  discusses  related  con- 
siderations of  electric  power, 
transportation  and  air  pollution. 
These  three  population  distribution 
patterns,  or  models,  are  premised 
on  the  projected  statewide  total 
population  of  45  million  in  2020 
described  in  some  detail  in 
Chapter  IV,  but  with  different  geo- 
graphical locations  and  densities. 
The  distribution  based  on  historical 
trends  is  included  as  a  "base"  pro- 
jection to  facilitate  a  more  valid 
comparison  of  the  impacts  of  these 
three  models. 


Study  Criteria 

As  a  first  step  in  selecting  hypo- 
thetical areas  of  future  urbaniza- 
tion for  study,  the  Department  of 
Water  Resources  updated  its  mapped 


information  on  all  lands  presently 
irrigated  and  capable  of  irrigation 
(see  Plate  2).   The  study  was  prem- 
ised on  the  preservation  of  irri- 
gable lands  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses, and  the  identification  of 
large  blocks  of  land  in  both  public 
and  private  ownership  throughout 
the  State  which  would  be  physically 
capable  of  accommodating  urban 
development  while  avoiding  agricul- 
tural lands.   Other  criteria  for 
selecting  these  lands  were  that: 
lands  have  a  slope  no  greater  than 
30  percent;  urbanization  would  not 
result  in  the  loss  of  lands  with 
Important  value  for  resources  manage- 
ment; weight  be  given  to  those 
lands  that  were  (l)  located  in  the 
coastal  environment,  (2)  located  in 
close  relation  to  recreation 
resources  (mountains,  foothills, 
forests,  reservoirs,  desert  areas, 
etc.),  and  (3)  accessible  by  exist- 
ing transportation  facilities. 

While  the  majority  of  land  areas 
selected  for  analysis  are  in  private 


-170- 


ownership,  some  of  the  areas  are 
within  the  public  domain,  adminis- 
tered by  the  Bureau  of  Land  Manage- 
ment.  Public  lands  in  National 
Forests,  national  parks,  wildlife 
refuges,  and  Indian  and  military- 
reservations  were  excluded  from 
consideration. 

A  basic  assumption  underlying  the 
selection  process  was  that  the 
economic  conditions  required  to 
support  urbanization  would  exist. 
It  was  also  assumed  that  different 
combinations  of  land  areas  would  be 
capable  of  accommodating  approxi- 
mately 50  percent  of  the  25.2  million 
anticipated  population  growth  dur- 
ing the  period  from  1970  to  2020. 
This  would  involve  12.6  million 
people.   The  remaining  12.6  million 
people  were  considered  to  be  located 
within  existing  but  expanded  areas 
of  metropolitan  and  urban 
development . 

Three  models  for  population  distri- 
bution were  developed  within  the 
context  of  the  foregoing  criteria 
and  assumptions.   Model  "A"  empha- 
sizes a  greater  allocation  of 
population  to  the  northern  portion 
of  the  State,  Model  "B"  is  oriented 
to  the  central  portion,  and 
Model  "C"  to  the  southern  portion 
of  the  State.   Figure  4l  depicts 
the  distribution  of  the  total  popu- 
lation in  2020  by  hydrologic  areas. 
Figure  42  illustrates  the  distribu- 
tion of  people  for  each  of  the 
three  models. 

The  primary  focus  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  three  hypothetical 
population  distribution  models  was 
to  provide  a  basis  for  evaluation 
of  the  impact  upon  the  California 
water  development  program.   It 
should  be  emphasized  that  the 
assumptions  and  parameters  placed 
upon  the  study  are  very  general 
and  broad,  and  that  tHe  models 
should  not  be  Interpreted  as 
recommended  development  policies . 
The  models  were  selected  to  provide 
a  diverse  set  of  options  for  review. 

The  northern  model  (Model  "A") 
emphasizes  the  area  from  the  Delta 
north  to  the  Oregon  border  and 


reflects  essentially  a  pattern  of 
statewide  development  which  would 
bring  a  far  greater  number  of  people 
to  the  primary  sources  of  water. 
Approxim.ately  50  percent  of  the 
12.6  million  distributed  population 
would  go  to  the  northern  area. 
Excepting  the  San  Francisco  Bay, 
Stockton  and  Sacramento  areas,  most 
of  the  distribution  would  be  in  the 
upper  Sacramento  Valley  and  adja- 
cent foothill  areas  of  the  Coast 
Range  and  Sierra  Nevada.   The 
remaining  50  percent  would  be 
distributed  to  the  central  and 
southern  areas  of  the  State  in 
roughly  the  same  portions  as  would 
be  expected  by  a  continuation  of 
current  growth  trends  in  these 
areas . 

The  central  model  (Model  "b" ) 
emphasizes  the  area  between  the 
Delta  and  the  Tehachapi  Mountain 
Range  in  Kern  County.   Most  of  the 
distributed  population  would  be 
allocated  to  the  Santa  Cruz-Monterey 
and  San  Luis  Obispo-Point  Conception 
areas  of  the  Central  Coast,  and  to 
the  Sierra  Nevada  foothill  areas  in 
Fresno,  Madera,  Mariposa,  Merced, 
Stanislaus  and  Tuolumne  Counties. 
Lesser  allocations  were  made  to  the 
eastern  slope  of  the  Coast  Range 
along  the  west  side  of  the  San 
Joaquin  Valley. 

The  southern  model  (Model  "C") 
emphasizes  the  area  between  the 
Tehachapis  and  the  Mexican  border 
and  reflects  in  large  degree  a  con- 
tinuation of  current  trends  in 
population  growth  within  the 
Southern  California  region  as  a 
whole .   However,  the  model  directs 
substantial  population  to  essen- 
tially nonurban  desert  areas  and 
to  South  Coastal  areas  between  San 
Diego  and  San  Clemente.   Desert 
areas  involve  primarily  lands  in 
the  public  domain  in  the  Palm  Desert 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  Blythe  in  the 
Mojave  Desert.   Lesser  concentratiors 
of  urbanization  are  also  shown  in 
the  foothills  bordering  the 
Antelope  Valley. 

The  selection  of  areas  for  each  of 
the  three  models  was  somewhat 
arbitrary,  as  there  are  other  lands 


-171- 


FIGURE  41 


2020    POPULATION   FOR  BASE   PROJECTION 

AND    POPULATION    DISPERSAL    FOR 

MODELS     A,  B  AND  C 

HYDROLOGIC    STUDY     AREAS 


NORTH    COASTAL 
SAN    FRANCISCO    BAY 
CENTRAL   COASTAL 
SOUTH   COASTAL 
SACRAMENTO   BASIN 
DELTA- CENTRAL  SIERRA 
SAN   JOAQUIN  BASIN 
TULARE     BASIN 
NORTH    LAHONTAN 
SOUTH    LAHONTAN 
COLORADO   DESERT 


LEGEND 


E 

Q- 

1 

B 

C 

Z 

O      5   - 

_i 

1 

■ 

^ 

■ 

*    POPULATION   DISTRIBUTION   BASED   ON  HISTORICAL    TRENDS 
•  *SEE    DEFINITION   IN    TEXT. 


-172- 


FIGURE  42 


POPULATION    DISPERSAL    TO    NEW    URBAN    AREAS 
FOR    MODELS    A,   B    AND    C 

HYDROLOGIC   STUDY   AREAS 
NC  -     NORTH    COASTAL 

SAN    FRANCISCO    BAY 
CENTRAL    COASTAL 
SOUTH    COASTAL 
SACRAMENTO   BASIN 
DELTA- CENTRAL  SIERRA 
SAN   JOAQUIN   BASIN 
TULARE     BASIN 
NORTH    LAHONTAN 
SOUTH    LAHONTAN 
COLORADO   DESERT 


-173- 


that  meet  the  criteria  and  assump- 
tions described.   The  amount  of 
land  utilized  in  each  of  the  models 
is  capable  of  accommodating  the 
number  of  people  allocated  to  the 
area,  based  on  the  assumption  that 
future  development  in  new  areas 
would  occur  at  roughly  the  same 
densities  of  development  as  exist 
in  currently  developed  areas. 


Impact  of  Population  Dispersal 

on  Water  Development 

and  the  Environment 

In  considering  the  impact  of  the 
population  dispersal  models  upon 
long-range  planning  and  development 
of  the  State,  particular  considera- 
tion was  given  to  the  impact  on 
water  demands.   Other  aspects  such 
as  waste  disposal,   electric  power 
requirements,  transportation  and 
air  pollution  are  only  touched  upon, 
recognizing  that  more  intensive 
planning  and  study  would  be  required 
for  an  adequate  assessment. 


Water  Demand  and  Supply 

The  three  hypothetical  population 
distribution  models  Illustrate  the 
consequences  of  a  range  of  disper- 
sions of  future  population  growth 
with  regard  to  water  demands.   The 
projected  water  demands  in  2020  for 
the  "base"  projection  and  each  of 
the  three  models  are  shown  in 
Table  14. 

The  water  development  facilities 
presently  existing  and  under  con- 
struction by  federal,  state  and 
local  agencies  throughout  Califor- 
nia have  the  physical  potential 
and  flexibility  to  accommodate  a 
wide  range  of  alternative  future 
patterns  of  population  growth  and 
dispersal.   Technological  advance- 
ment in  such  areas  as  desalting  and 
water  reclamation  further  increase 
this  potential  and  flexibility. 
Chapter  VI  provides  information  and 
estimates  on  the  dependable  water 
supplies  which  could  be  provided  by 
these  developments. 


TABLE  14 

NET   URBAN  WATER   DEMANDS    IN   2020 
FOR   SELECTED  ALTERNATIVE   PATTERNS    OP  FUTURE  URBANIZATION 

(1,000  acre-feet) 


Hydrologic 
Study  Area 


North  Coastal 
San  Francisco  Bay 
Central  Coastal 
South  Coastal 
Sacramento  Basin 
Delta-Central  Sierra 
San  Joaquin  Basin 
Tulare  Basin 
North  Lahontan 
South  Lahontan 
Colorado  Desert 

State  Total 


Base 


210 
2,480 
470 
4,920 
880 
460 
140 
250 
130 
200 
160 

10,300 


Population  Models 


250 

1,690 

1,050 

3,480 

2,510 

830 

320 

190 

230 

340 

160 

11,050 


B 


210 

1,690 

1,770 

3,310 

1,080 

430 

560 

280 

130 

450 

160 

10,070 


250 

1,690 

820 

3,830 

1,080 

390 

140 

190 

130 

550 

1,350 

10,420 


-174- 


Table  1^  shows  that  the  three  popu- 
lation dispersal  models  reflect  a 
lesser  population  increase  and 
resultant  slower  buildup  in  net 
urban  water  demands  within  the  San 
Francisco  Bay  and  South  Coastal 
hydrologic  study  areas  than  would 
occur  under  the  "base"  projection. 
However,  there  is  essentially 
either  the  same  or  a  greater  future 
net  urban  water  demand  in  each  of 
the  other  study  areas.   It  is  also 
interesting  to  note  that  the  total 
statewide  water  demand  in  2020  is 
greater  under  P'^odel  "A"  than  under 
the  "base"  projection,  and  that 
demands  are  essentially  the  same 
under  Models  "b"  and  "C"  as  under 
the  "base"  projection.   The  higher 
water  demand  under  Model  "A" 
reflects  the  impact  of  dispersing 
people  to  inland  areas  where  per 
capita  water  use  is  generally 
greatest. 

The  following  paragraphs  provide  a 
very  general  discussion  of  the 
potential  for  supply  exchanges  in 
connection  with  existing  develop- 
ment and  the  additional  water 
supply  measures  and  options  indi- 
cated by  the  population  growth 
patterns  envisioned  by  the  three 
models.   It  must  be  recognized  that 
numerous  legal  and  administration 
issues  would  need  resolution  to 
carry  out  some  exchanges. 


Northern  Model  "A".   The  resultant 
increase  in  anticipated  urban  water 
demands  in  the  North  Coastal  region 
could  be  met  by  local  streams 
development  along  the  Mendocino 
Coast.   In  the  Central  Coastal 
region,  future  demands  around 
Monterey  Bay  could  be  met  from 
reserve  supplies  from  the  South  San 
Francisco  Bay  area  (water  which 
would  not  be  needed  with  a  shift  of 
future  population  increase);  and 
similar  demands  in  the  southern 
portion  of  the  region  could  be  off- 
set by  transfers  of  reserve  supplies 
from  the  South  Coastal  area. 

Water  demands  for  the  new  urban 
center  in  the  upper  Sacramento 
Basin  could  be  provided  by  reserves, 
local  streams  development  or  by 


importation  from  the  North  Coastal 
area.   Additional  demands  in  the 
Delta-Central  Sierra  area  could  be 
supplied  in  part  from  American  and 
Cosumnes  Rivers  sources  with  addi- 
tional supplies  obtained  from 
reserves  available  to  the  San 
Francisco  Bay  area  or  by  other  im- 
ports from  the  Sacramento  Basin. 

New  cities  in  the  Sierra  foothills 
and  other  new  demands  in  the  San 
Joaquin  Basin  could  be  served  from 
the  Friant  Unit  and  the  proposed 
East  Side  Division  of  the  Central 
Valley  Proj'ect.   New  urban  develop- 
ments on  the  east  and  west  sides  of 
the  Tulare  Basin  could  be  served, 
respectively,  by  the  East  Side 
Division  and  by  diversions  of  water 
supplies  from  the  California  Aque- 
duct that  would  not  be  needed  in  the 
South  Coastal  area  under  this  popu- 
lation distribution  alternative. 
Additional  demands  in  the  North 
Lahontan  area  could  only  partially 
be  met  by  developing  local  streams 
and  probably  would  require  imports 
from  the  Sacramento  Basin. 

The  projected  additional  urban  water 
demands  in  the  South  Lahontan  area 
could  be  supplied  by  diversions  of 
water  supplies  from  Los  Angeles 
Aqueduct  or  the  California  Aqueduct 
that  would  not  be  needed  in  the 
South  Coastal  region  under  conditions 
imposed  for  this  population  model 
study.   The  Colorado  Desert  could 
similarly  be  served  by  diversions 
from  the  Colorado  Aqueduct. 


Central  Model  "B" .   Under  this  cen- 
tral-oriented model  major  new  popu- 
lation centers  are  envisioned  along 
the  Central  Coastal  areas  of  Monterey 
Bay  and  the  Santa  Maria  and  Santa 
Ynez  Valleys.   New  cities  are  also 
envisioned  along  the  Sierra  foothills 
in  the  San  Joaquin  Basin.   As  in  the 
other  models,  the  population  increase 
in  the  San  Francisco  Bay  and  South 
Coastal  areas  would  be  less  than 
anticipated  under  the  "base"  pro- 
jection.  The  much  larger  demands  in 
the  Central  Coastal  area  could  be 
satisfied  by  a  transfer  of  reserve 
supplies  from  the  San  Francisco  Bay 
and  South  Coastal  areas,  coupled 


-175- 


with  local  streams  developments  and 
by  the  desalting  of  sea  water. 
Also,  water  reclamation  could  assist 
in  extending  the  water  supply.  The 
additional  Model  "B"  urban  water 
demands  in  the  Sacramento  Basin 
could  be  supplied  from  reserves ; 
and  those  in  the  Delta-Central 
Sierra  could  be  met  from  American 
River  sources.   For  the  most  part, 
the  new  communities  along  the  east 
side  of  the  San  Joaquin  Basin  could 
be  supplied  by  the  proposed  East 
Side  Division  of  the  Central  Valley 
Project.   The  new  cities  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Tulare  Basin  could 
also  be  served  by  the  East  Side 
Division,  and  the  California  Aque- 
duct could  provide  the  necessary 
water  supplies  for  those  cities  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Basin.   Demands 
in  the  North  Lahontan  area  could  be 
met  by  the  development  of  local 
streams.   Supplies  for  the  new 
urban  centers  in  the  South  Lahontan 
and  Colorado  Desert  areas  could  be 
provided  by  diversions  of  water 
from  the  Los  Angeles  and  Colorado 
Aqueducts  that  would  not  be  needed 
in  the  South  Coastal  area  under  the 
assumptions  of  this  population 
model . 


Southern  Model  "C".   For  the 
southern-oriented  population  model 
the  largest  new  cities  are  suggested 
in  the  South  Lahontan  and  Colorado 
Desert  areas.   New  cities  in  the 
desert  region  would  require  an 
Importation  of  more  water  from 
greater  distances  than  in  the  other 
models . 

The  large  new  cities  suggested  in 
the  Mojave  area  could  be  served  by 
increased  deliveries  via  the 
California  Aqueduct.   Extension  of 
the  aqueduct  could  also  serve  por- 
tions of  the  water  demand  created 
by  the  suggested  cities  in  the 
Colorado  Desert.   Colorado  River 
water  supplies  presently  allocated 
to  the  South  Coastal  region  could 
also  be  used  to  meet  part  of  the 
needs  in  these  new  cities. 

The  additional  urban  demands  sug- 
gested by  the  southern-oriented 
model  in  the  North  Coastal, 


San  Francisco  Bay,  South  Coastal, 
Sacramento  Basin,  Delta-Central 
Sierra,  Tulare  Basin  and  North 
Lahontan  areas  could  be  met  by 
essentially  the  same  means  as  the 
projected  demands  in  the  central 
model.   New  cities  in  the  Central 
Coastal  area  could  be  served  by  a 
reserve  supply  available  to  the 
San  Francisco  Bay  area,  by  develop- 
ing local  streams,  desalting,  and 
water  reclamation;  and  those  in  the 
San  Joaquin  Basin  could  be  served 
in  part  by  supplies  from  the  San 
Francisco  area  and  by  the  proposed 
East  Side  Division. 

From  the  analysis  of  the  water 
demand-water  supply  relationships 
for  the  "base"  projection  and  the 
three  hypothetical  models  it  can 
be  concluded  that:   (l)  no  matter 
how  the  population  may  be  distri- 
buted in  the  future,  demands  for 
developed  water  will  remain  essen- 
tially the  same,  and  it  will  be 
primarily  a  matter  of  the  optional 
sources  of  water  supply  and 
variation  of  patterns  and  costs  of 
transportation  of  supplies  to  areas 
of  need  (Table  14 ) ;  (2)  the  water 
supplies  available  from  existing  or 
definitely  planned  facilities  would 
be  some  5  million  acre-feet  per 
year  short  of  satisfaction  of  2020 
demands,  thus  requiring  development 
of  5  million  acre-feet  annually  frctri 
new  sources  (see  Table  8  in 
Chapter  VI);  and  (3)  as  compared 
with  the  "base"  projection  there 
would  be  a  reduced  opportunity  for 
sea  water  conversion  for  Models 
"A"  and  "C",  because  of  their 
greater  inland  concentration  of 
population. 


Waste  Disposal 

The  concept  of  new  cities  offers  an 
opportunity  for  applying  a  compre- 
hensive systems  approach  to  the 
entire  problem  of  waste  management. 
In  existing  urban  areas,  corrective 
measures  generally  are  not  taken 
until  considerable  damage  has 
already  been  done  to  the  environ- 
ment.  In  a  new  city,  however,  waste 
management  facilities  can  be 
designed  concurrently  with  the 


-176- 


total  urban  coinplex  so  that  the 
most  safe,  esthetically  pleasing 
and  efficient  results  can  be 
obtained.   With  proper  zoning  and 
other  controls  over  growth  and 
types  of  development,  facilities 
for  disposing  of  wastes  need  never 
become  inadeauate. 

New  cities  in  coastal  locations 
would  present  about  the  same  waste 
water  disposal  problems  that  would 
be  e>:pected  if  an  equivalent  devel- 
opment should  take  place  adjacent 
to  existing  coastal  metropolitan 
areas.   The  better  quality  waste 
waters  could  be  reclaimed  for 
selected  reuse  applications,  such 
as  environmental  enhancement 
projects  or  ground  water  recharge 
with  the  poorer  quality  water  dis- 
posed of  in  the  ocean  after  ade- 
quate treatment.   Carefully  designed 
deep  ocean  disposal  of  adequately 
treated  waste  water  should  cause 
little  ecological  degradation  and 
may  be  beneficial  in  some  areas 
where  present  nutrient  levels  are 
not  adequate  for  desirable  bio- 
logical growths.   The  future, 
however,  holds  the  possibility  of 
much  greater  recycling  of  waste 
water. 

In  the  Central  Valley  large  con- 
centrations of  people  and  the 
industrial  base  to  support  them 
could  present  major  waste  water 
management  problems .   The  problems 
would  intensify  with  distance  from 
the  ocean  as  the  ocean  is  the 
ultimate  natural  repository  of 
wastes,  and  added  mineral  loads  in 
the  water  supply  must  be  removed  or 
find  their  way  to  the  ocean. 

Water  reclamation  would  appear  to 
be  an  essential  element  of  any 
waste  vjater  management  plan  for  new 
cities  in  the  Central  Valley. 
Excessive  algal  growths  could  cause 
particular  damage  to  fisheries, 
recreational  uses  and  esthetics. 
On  the  other  hand,  nutrients 
retained  in  the  treated  effluent 
when  used  for  irrigation  help  meet 
fertilizer  requirements  and  further 
reduce  nutrient  concentration  in 
the  return  water.   Overall  salt 


loads  returned  to  streams  would 
remain  about  the  same  with  or  with- 
out a  reclamation  phase,  however, 
because  neither  treatment  methods 
nor  irrigation  would  reduce  dissolved 
minerals  in  the  waste  water. 

In  the  Colorado  Desert  area  disposal 
of  waste  water  from  large  population 
centers  may  be  even  more  complex 
than  in  the  Central  Valley.   Waste 
effluents  cannot  be  discharged  into 
the  Colorado  River  without  adding  to 
the  already  highly  dissolved  salt  con- 
centrations of  the  river.   One  solu- 
tion that  appears  reasonable  would 
be  to  allow  waste  water,  after  bene- 
ficial reuse,  to  drain  into  artifi- 
cial salt  lakes  where  evaporation 
would  concentrate  the  salts  and  no 
further  use  would  be  intended.  Sites 
would  have  to  be  selected  where  per- 
colating highly  mineralized  water 
would  not  degrade  usable  ground 
water  supplies.   The  ecologic  impact 
of  such  new  sinks  would  require 
study.   Deep-well  injection  of  waste 
water  may  be  a  possible  alternative 
to  evaporation  lakes. 

The  problem  of  disposal  of  solid 
wastes  is  one  which  is  growing  more 
intense  as  our  society  becomes  more 
affluent,  complex  and  sophisticated. 
Solid  waste  disposal  covers  a  wide 
range,  including  garbage,  trash, 
clothing,  furniture,  automobiles, 
other  miscellaneous  household  and 
commercial  discards,  debris  from 
building  construction  or  demolition, 
sewage  sludge,  agricultural  wastes, 
industrial  refuse,  and  last  but  not 
least,  hazardous  wastes  such  as 
explosives  and  radioactive  materials. 
While  production  of  solid  wastes 
presumably  would  be  the  same, 
irrespective  of  population  distri- 
bution, the  disposal  sites  would  be 
substantially  influenced. 

At  the  present  time  many  methods  of 
handling  solid  waste  are  being 
experimented  with,  including  land  fill, 
composting,  improved  methods  of 
Incineration,  dumping  at  sea, 
destructive  distillation,  pyrolytlc 
decomposition,  wet  digestion  or 
combinations  of  these  techniques. 
Most  of  the  disposal  methods  create 


■177- 


further  pollution  problems  in  other 
areas,  i.e.,  land  fill  may  pollute 
underlying  ground  water  and  may 
produce  gaseous  or  other  noxious 
effects,  and  sea  dumping  may  pollute 
coastal  areas . 


Electric  Power 
Requirements 

In  the  "base"  projection  it  was 
assumed  that  the  primary  source  of 
additional  electric  power  in  the 
future  would  be  from  steam  electric 
plants,  mostly  nuclear.   In  gen- 
eral, the  plants  would  be  located 
along  the  coastline,  because  of  the 
need  for  large  quantities  of  cooling 
water  and  because  most  of  the  popu- 
lation, and  therefore  power  require- 
ments, would  be  located  in  the 
coastal  areas. 

The  hypothetical  models  would,  in 
general,  move  the  population  inland. 
However,  it  is  anticipated  that  the 
location  of  powerplants  would  remain 
along  the  coastline,  with  the  power 
transmitted  to  Inland  areas  of  need, 
as  necessary.   This  would  require 
the  construction  of  substantial 
transmission  facilities  of  high 
capacity.   Significant  environ- 
mental issues  would  be  involved. 
It  is  considered  that  the  popula- 
tion dispersal  would  not  have  a 
significant  effect  on  overall  power 
requirements . 

Dispersal  of  population  to  Northern 
California  probably  would  be  the 
most  advantageous  from  an  electric 
power  standpoint.   With  the  increase 
in  population  in  Northern  Califor- 
nia, plants  could  be  moved  farther 
north  into  less  populous  coastal 
areas.   In  regard  to  transmission, 
power  that  would  be  wheeled  to 
Southern  California  over  the  exten- 
sive grid  traversing  the  valley 
could  be  absorbed  enroute  by  con- 
struction of  minimum  facilities. 

In  the  case  of  population  increase 
along  the  foothills  of  the  Sierra 
in  Central  California,  extra  trans- 
mission would  be  required  from  the 
coastal  powerplants  to  the  Sierra 
foothills.   However,  the  major 


north/south  bulk  transmission  grid 
in  the  Central  Valley  would  minimize 
the  additional  transmission  facilities 
which  would  be  required. 

The  most  difficult  possibility  with 
regard  to  electric  power  would 
result  from  dispersal  of  the  popula- 
tion into  the  southern  portion  of 
the  State.   In  this  assumption, 
large  numbers  of  people  would  be 
located  in  the  desert  areas  in  the 
Colorado  Desert  and  the  southern 
portion  of  the  South  Lahontan  area. 
This  would  require  substantial 
amounts  of  transmission  facilities 
to  serve  the  people  in  the  desert 
areas .   Due  to  the  high  population 
density  of  the  Southern  California 
areas,  the  addition  of  transmission 
facilities  is  difficult  from  an 
environmental  as  well  as  practical 
standpoint,  and  quite  expensive.  The 
southern  dispersal  of  population, 
particularly  to  the  desert  areas, 
would  require  special  attention 
with  regard  to  electric  power. 


Other  Considerations 

Population  dispersal  would  have  an 
impact  on  a  number  of  environmental 
and  other  factors  which  were  not 
considered  in  the  analysis  of  the 
hypothetical  models.   However,  other 
state  agencies  provided  some  insight 
on  air  pollution  and  transportation  as 
related  to  population  distribution 
patterns . 

V/ith  regard  to  air  pollution,  the 
Office  of  Planning  and  Research  is 
undertaking  a  study  to  evaluate  the 
impact  of  alternative  population 
distribution  patterns.   It  is  antic- 
ipated that  the  Air  Resources  Board 
and  other  state  and  local  agencies 
will  be  involved  in  providing  a 
detailed  assessment  of  this  problem. 
At  this  point  it  is  possible  to  do 
no  more  than  draw  attention  to  the 
major  issues  concerning  air  pollution 
and  to  hypothesize  as  to  the  relation- 
ship between  population  distribution 
and  the  problems  of  air  pollution. 

Land  use  and  population  policies  can 
be  utilized  to  control  the  quantity 
of  pollutants  emitted  in  an  area. 


-178- 


with  a  substantial  effect  on  air 
quality.   Generally  the  greater  the 
population  in  an  area,  the  greater 
the  number  of  sources  and  the  total 
emissions.   Thus,  prevention  of 
concentrations  of  harmful  pollutants 
may  necessitate  control  of  one  or 
more  of  the  following:   (l)  the 
total  number  of  people  in  an  area, 

(2)  the  population  density,  and 

(3)  the  location,  size,  number,  and 
strength  of  sources  of  pollution. 

Meteorological  conditions  determine 
the  amount  of  air  available  to 
dilute  concentrations  of  pollutants 
emitted  to  the  air.  Therefore, 
population  policies  which  locate 
people  in  areas  with  favorable 
meteorological  conditions  will  be 
beneficial  in  elim.inating  future 
pollution  problems  within  the  State. 
Generally,  dilution  is  greater  along 
the  California  Coast  than  Inland 
and  greater  in  Northern  California 
than  Southern  California.   The 
implication  is  that  the  air  pollu- 
tion problem  can  be  reduced  in 
intensity  in  metropolitan  areas 
through  population  dispersal;  but 
insufficient  knowledge  is  available 
to  enable  a  quantitative  determina- 
tion of  the  overall  impact. 

In  our  present  automobile -oriented 
society,  highways  have  served  a 
dual  role  of  reacting  to  develop- 
ment pressures  whil^e  at  the  same 
time  stimulating  further  develop- 
ment in  and  adjacent  to  the  areas 
served.   The  approach  being  investi- 
gated by  the  Office  of  Planning  and 
Research  suggests  new  transportation 
priorities  and  probable  shifts  of 
resources . 

All  three  models  contain  population 
redistribution  centers  within  the 
Pacific  Coastal  Mountain  Ranges  to 
one  degree  or  another.   Primary 
corridor  linkages  in  this  area  lie 
on  a  north-south  axis,  with  only 
limited  east-west  connections  to 
the  central  interior.   Expansion  of 
the  number  of  large  urban  centers 
in  the  coastal  area  will  require 
expansion  of  the  north-south 
corridor  facilities.   Further, 
vastly  Improved  connections  between 
the  coast  and  the  central  interior 


probably  would  be  essential  to 
improve  communications  between  these 
two  areas. 

Current  transportation  corridors  in 
the  Sierra-Cascade  foothills  area 
lie  on  a  north-south  axis  on  the 
valley  floor.   Development  of  large 
urban  centers  within  the  foothills 
areas  would  require  expanded  trans- 
portation facilities  within  the 
north-south  corridors  as  well  as 
improvem.ent  of  east-west  corridor 
connections  to  urban  centers  on  the 
valley  floor  and  in  the  North  and 
Central  Coastal  areas . 

Development  of  new  urban  centers  in 
the  southern  portion  of  the  State 
would  require  expansion  of  the 
corridor  facilities  between  the 
desert  interior  and  the  southern 
coastal  area.   Improved  north-south 
corridor  facilities  within  the 
southern  coastal  zone  would  probably 
be  necessary  to  maintain  an  adequate 
level  of  intraregional  com,municatlon. 
Expanded  north-south  corridor  facili- 
ties between  Southern  California  and 
Northern  California  areas  most  likely 
will  be  necessary  to  accommodate  the 
demand  generated  by  the  growth 
centers  in  these  respective  regions. 

Transportation  is  therefore  easily 
identifiable  as  a  major  factor 
impacting  upon  population  distribu- 
tion.  The  type,  speed,  cost,  con- 
venience and  com.fort  of  various 
transportation  modes  can  signifi- 
cantly affect  the  distribution  of 
population  and  land  uses. 

In  summary,  the  impacts  of  popula- 
tion dispersal  discussed  in  this 
chapter  are  based  only  on  very 
cursory  examination.   With  exception 
of  the  Impact  on  water  demands,  the 
conclusions  that  can  be  drawn  are 
more  significant  in  the  questions 
raised  rather  than  in  definitive 
information.   They  point  out  the 
need  for  careful  study  of  any  pro- 
posed population  center  to  evaluate 
meaningfully  the  potential  problems. 
It  is  apparent  that  suggestions  to 
direct  people  to  areas  of  surplus 
water  involve  various  problems,  all 
of  which  must  be  considered  together. 


-179- 


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STATE  OF  CALIFORNIA 
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THE  RESOURCES  AGENCY 

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