1. California’s Water Water Law California’s Water Projects –Los Angeles Aqueduct –Hetch-Hetchy –Salton Sea –Colorado Aqueduct –Central Valley Project

3. Water Law Riparian Rights (Sharing) –from English Common Law –applies to surface waters –owner of waterfront land to use amounts correlated with other riparian owners. –Works well in areas with water surplus Prior Appropriation (1st come, first served) –from Spanish law –no preference given to those adjoining water course –water rights based on use; earliest has rights –use protected as long as it is continuous and “reasonable”

4. Water Law Correlative Rights –applies to ground water –about 40% of all California water (not a sustainable withdraw) –Overlying landowners entitled to “reasonable” use. Rights are correlated with other landowners overlying the aquifer The California Doctrine –1928 amendment to California Constitution –“Most reasonable beneficial use” –Blend of riparian and appropriation rights –Problem: California water geography is unbalanced. Plenty of water in the north. Most people in the south.

5. California Water Code Highest priority for domestic use Second priority goes to irrigation Applications by municipalities for use of water by residents given priority over most other uses. Water Board determines allocation to serve public interest. Board must work within state water plans. Owens Valley issue highlights how contentious this process can be.

6. Los Angeles Aqueduct (DWP) Eastern Sierra Started in 1908 by William Mulholland appropriated water feeding Owens Valley taps surface flow from Eastern Sierra south 250 miles, cost $25,000,000 and took five years pipe and flume, tunnel, and trench gravity feed, no pumping generates hydroelectric power L.A. purchased riparian land, used appropriation rights to get away with this. Ranchers in Owens Valley fought back with dynamite and guns - California’s only range war.

7. LA Aqueduct is

9. Mono Lake In 1941, L.A. DWP started diverting Mono Basin streams to add to L.A. Aqueduct. Mono Lake’s volume halved while salinity doubled. The simple ecosystem began to fail and threatened migrating birds and nesting gulls. The state and courts now mandate raising the level of the lake 17 feet. It will take about 20 years.

11. Hetch Hetchy: San Francisco Water Hetch Hetchy Vallley, in Yosemite National Park, damned. Completed in 1931. 175 mile aqueduct and O’Shawnasy Dam, powerhouse, provide cheap power to the city of San Francisco. 95 mile Mokelumne aqueduct, starts at Pardee Dam and resevoir. Together they provide about 1/3 of Bay Area water. Controversy helped to strengthen John Muir’s Sierra Club.

13. The Salton Sea Man-made by accident in 1905. Irrigation in Imperial Valley had flooded an ancient overflow channel of the Colorado River. Unusually heavy spring runoff and lack of control gates caused a two-year flood into the Salton Sink. The Southern Pacific Railroad had to move its tracks five times that season to higher ground. Eventually the S.P.R.R. took control and put the river back but by then the Salton Sea was created. Hoover Dam now controls Colorado and prevents delivery of sediment to Yuma and the delta.

17. Colorado River Aqueduct Established 1928 to bring water to L.A. and rest of SoCal first delivery in 1940; serves 15 million people Lawsuit from Arizona (1953) finally began to be implemented in 1985 - amount will decrease and this amount will be replaced by State Water Project water. 5 pumping stations diversions for agriculture

19. The State Water Project: The California Aqueduct Constructed beginning in the 1960s. About 1/2 for irrigation, about 1/2 for domestic use. Domestic use supply helps offset that lost to Arizona in 1985 court case. Pumps at Tracy lift water, then it flows by gravity to the Tehachapi Mountains. Includes the huge Oroville Dam on Feather River in Sierra foothills.

20. California Aqueduct

22. Oroville Dam on Feather River

23. Dams and Global River Degradation AswanDam, Egypt Lake Nasser Shasta Dam, CA

24. The Geography of Large Dams Over 39,000 large dams by 1986

25. World Reservoir Inundation Area submerged –size of France or California

26. The Impact of Dams Northern third of the world: 77% overall impacted by dams and river regulation. (Dynesius and Nilsson, 1994) Industrialized counties - more impact –USA: 98% (Escheverria et. al., 1989)

27. Upstream Impact of Dams Environment –Loss of terrestrial/riparian habitat and species –Creation of artificial lacustrine (lakes) system –exotic species introductions –Reservoir/storage for contaminants

28. Upstream Impact of Dams Cultural / social –Loss of cultural resources –Displacement of families (villages, regions) –Water quality hazard Economic –Shift in land use / economy –Water loss via evap. –Water loss via seepage Aesthetic –landscape inundated

29. Upstream Impact of Dams Built 1956-1966. Aesthetics: Glen Canyon, Colorado River

30. Upstream Impact of Dams Aesthetics: Glen Canyon, Colorado River

32. Downstream Impacts of Dams Altered hydrology - no seasonality Altered water quality/character Modify nutrient cycling Reduce sediment supply Channel adjustments Habitat modification Species impacts River fragmentation

33. The ‘Dam’ Balance Some dam removal (small dams) or operational changes (larger dams) Bruce Babbit (Secretary of the Interior) oversaw the creative destruction of two California dams in 2000 (Saelzer Dam on Clear Creek near Redding, for Salmon, and Matilija Dam in SoCal). Dams continue to be built until good sites are gone, or it is not economic to build them. Global numbers? We do not know.

34. Three Gorges Dam World's largest hydroelectric dam, Three Gorges,Yangtze River. 1.2 - 1.9 million will be displaced. The entire project is to be completed in 2009.

35. Summary of California Water Systems Very complicated. Politically controversial - Owens Valley, Dams, Habitat changes, reduced flushing of SF Bay Delta. California has the most advanced and expensive water delivery system in the world. Most of the water (about 80%) is used by agriculture; essential to California’s huge farm industry.