Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are some orchards dying while others are thriving?
It’s all about who gets the water. Our water supplies are painfully finite, and water rights are complex; but in general terms, many industrial growers simply have deeper pockets. That means they can sink deeper wells to access remaining groundwater. Also, some growers have senior water rights under antiquated and inequitable state water doctrine. That gives them priority for existing surface water, even during drought years.
What is the public trust doctrine?
Written into the California State Constitution, the public trust doctrine states that “…No water…can be taken from a stream, lake, or other natural resource without a careful assessment of the harm that might be done…”.
This legal doctrine stipulates that some of the state’s waters, tidelands and wildlife resources are held in trust for all the people, with the state designated as the “trustee” empowered to protect these resources for present and future generations. The doctrine also extends to the protection of navigable surface waters, non-navigable tributaries of those waters, and to their aquatic resources, including birds and other wildlife. Though this legal obligation is explicit, it’s frequently ignored in policy making.
Who uses the most water in California?
Agriculture – by far. More specifically, agribusiness uses the lion’s share. Fully 80 percent of California’s developed water (water obtained through reservoirs and conveyance systems or commercial-scale groundwater pumping) is used by agriculture, including large industrial agricultural enterprises in the San Joaquin Valley.
Are California salmon really going extinct?
Yes. Our wild salmon runs are functionally extinct in many watersheds, and barely hanging on in others. At this point, the salmon fishery is largely sustained by hatchery fish. But even their returns are dwindling due to restricted freshwater flows through the Sacramento, Klamath, and Trinity River systems, the primary remaining habitats for California’s salmon.
Why is everyone so concerned about the Delta smelt?
The Delta smelt is California’s aquatic “canary in the coal mine.” Once the most abundant fish in the Delta, it now exists in remnant populations. Smelt feed directly on plankton, and in turn nourish larger fish and water birds.
The disappearance of this once spectacularly abundant forage fish points to the imminent biological collapse of the entire Delta ecosystem. That portends catastrophe for important commercial and sport fisheries, including salmon, Dungeness crab and striped bass. But it’s not just fish and wildlife that will suffer from a dying Delta. As freshwater flows dwindle, saltwater intrudes from Suisun Bay, threatening urban water supplies, family farms, parks, and conservation areas from Stockton to Sacramento.
Who has water rights?
Water rights are complicated. The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) regulates the diversion of water from streams and rivers. Landowners are entitled to riparian rights for properties that border a stream, river, or lake.
Water rights obtained for use on non-riparian land are authorized by license from the SWRCB and are known as appropriative rights. Also, landowners are entitled to water under their properties. Recent legislation has begun regulation of wells to ensure groundwater basins are not over drafted. While wildlife and the environment don’t have legal rights, Fish & Game Code 5937 requires sufficient water “…to pass over, around and through dams to keep fish in good condition.” However, enforcement of Code 5937 has been minimal.
Indigenous rights – the right of native people to access water and associated natural resources, particularly fish – are assured under federal treaties; but like Code 5937, these rights are not consistently recognized, quantified and enforced.
Will we run out of water?
We have enough water in California under virtually all climate change scenarios – assuming we implement strong policies that assure equitable water distribution.
Do we have enough water for cities, the environment, and responsible agriculture? Yes – with the right policies in place. Conservation, water recycling, stormwater capture, groundwater recharge, water line repairs and upgrades, and code requirements for water-efficient appliances – all solutions that are increasingly implemented by California cities – will do much to assure adequate water supplies for the future.
But do we have enough to irrigate millions of acres of land in the Central Valley, including salt-laden and selenium-impaired soils? No. Agriculture – including industrial agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley – uses 80 percent of California’s developed water and accounts for only 2 percent of the state GDP. By reallocating water to where it provides the greatest possible economic, public health and environmental equity, we can assure true water security for California.
What is the Delta?
The source of half of California’s developed water.
The Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta – often simply called the Delta – is the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of the Americas. It’s fed by 26 major rivers and streams and multiple groundwater basins, and is a critical habitat for hundreds of species of wildlife and fish. It is also the collection basin for the transport of water to Southern California from the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountains. Two-thirds of the population of California gets their water from the Delta.
“Delta outflow” – the volume of freshwater that transits through the Delta to San Francisco Bay and out the Golden Gate – is essential to the economic and ecological stability of much of California. Robust outflows stop saltwater from intruding into the Delta and up the Sacramento River, preventing the elevated salinity that would make water supplies for cities and farms unusable from Sacramento to Stockton. Freshwater flows also create the brackish “lens” in the Delta that is essential for the health of a wide variety of species, including salmon.
C-WIN’s primary focus is the Delta because it has been catastrophically reduced in size and biological richness by water exports to industrial farms in the San Joaquin Valley and urban Southern California through two aqueduct systems, the federal Central Valley Project (CVP) and the State Water Project (SWP).
Experts generally agree that more water is claimed from the Delta than exists. Consumptive water right claims are more than five times the amount of available water.
Where does California’s water come from?
Californians obtain their water through a variety of sources, mainly rivers, streams, and wells. Some water is stored in local reservoirs and is augmented by water transferred from other geographical areas. A variety of agencies – state, federal, regional, and local – oversee water distribution.
Water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin River, their tributaries, and the Trinity River is collected in their joint delta for distribution to the Bay area, the San Joaquin Valley, the Central Coast, the Los Angeles metropolitan area and San Diego. It’s transported by two large aqueduct systems, the State Water Project (SWP) and the federal Central Valley Project (CVP). Los Angeles and San Diego also receive water from the Colorado River; Los Angeles obtains additional water from the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains through the Owens Valley aqueduct.
What is the State Water Project (SWP)?
The SWP transports Feather River water via the Delta to Southern California, Bay Area and Central Coast cities and large agribusiness operations in the San Joaquin Valley. Consisting of 21 dams and more than 700 miles of aqueducts and pipelines, it includes the highest “water lift” in the world: 2,882 feet from the southern San Joaquin Valley over the Tehachapi Mountains to south state cities. Because of these pumping requirements, the SWP is the largest consumer of electric power in California. Its operations are managed by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and supported by local ratepayers.
What is the Central Valley Project (CVP)?
The CVP is similar to the SWP, with dams on the Sacramento, Trinity, Stanislaus, San Joaquin, and American River watersheds. Like the SWP, it transports released reservoir water collected in the Delta to southern destinations. In the case of the CVP, most of the water is used for industrial agricultural operations in the Sacramento Valley and western San Joaquin Valley.
The Federal Bureau of Reclamation operates the CVP. It was financed and built by the federal government in the 1930s and offers contracted water at subsidized rates to Central Valley agriculture. The federal government owns and operates all but one of the large dams on the major rivers that feed both the SWP and the CVP.
The SWP and CVP have been identified as prime causes for the disastrous decline of California’s salmon and other anadromous fish, the ongoing ecological unraveling of the Bay/Delta ecosystem, and the destruction of wetlands and wildlife habitat in the Central Valley.
Why don’t we build more dams and reservoirs?
New dams and reservoirs won’t increase California’s water supplies. In most years, there’s not enough precipitation in the state to fill the nearly 1,500 reservoirs that already exist. Virtually every river in California that can be dammed is already dammed. The new projects proposed by dam advocates – Sites, Temperance Flat, and Pacheco – represent tremendous expenditures of taxpayer money, resulting in spiraling water rates with little increase in water supplies.
As climate change accelerates, these projects are likely to become “stranded assets” – huge public works that can’t fulfill their primary intended purpose. Finally, like all impoundments, the new projects would have profound negative environmental impacts, most notably for salmon. In some areas, proposals to build new dams or raise existing ones would violate the rights of Indigenous people by degrading subsistence resources and depriving them access to their traditional lands.
Why aren’t there more desalination plants?
“Desal” is expensive, energy-intensive, and requires extensive permitting. It is a contentious issue in the water equity community, though it’s clear it may have some practical and reasonable applications. Small plants that utilize renewable energy and are employed on an emergency basis can make sense for some coastal communities, especially during drought.
How do I find out where my water comes from?
Unless you obtain water exclusively from a well, your water comes from a public and/or private agency. If you live in a city or unincorporated area and are not in agriculture, you can obtain information from the urban water agency or county public works department that serves your property.
If you live in a rural area, you may belong to an irrigation or conservation district. To find out more, contact your county government.
Is it a “waste” to let some water flow into the ocean?
Absolutely not. Fresh water that flows into bays and estuaries is essential for the healthy aquatic ecosystems that people, fish, and wildlife require to thrive.
The “unimpaired” flows that once characterized the Delta’s hydrology also supercharged the estuary’s food web, supporting rich biological diversity through San Francisco Bay and outlying waters. The same can be said for the Klamath/Trinity system, which is also extensively dammed.
Finally, reduced flows in any estuarine system allow saltwater intrusion upstream. In the case of the Bay/Delta, this phenomenon threatens water quality for Delta farms, cities – and ultimately, the City of Sacramento.