A Look Back at DWR, 1983 - 1998

When David N. Kennedy took the other as DWR’s new Director on June 22, 1983, he and his staff were faced with the aftermath of a divisive battle over the Peripheral Canal, and new challenges in the water field. What follows are some of the major work completed during the span of 15 years.


Attitudes toward managing and protection the State’s natural resources have dramatically changed since 1957 when the DWR’s first comprehensive water plan was published.

Through the 1960s and the early ‘70s, the Department designed and constructed one of the largest State multipurpose water projects in the United States. Financed by the Burns Porter and Central Valley Project acts, DWR built a water storage and delivery system of reservoirs, aqueducts, pipelines, powerplants and pumping plants that extends for more than 600 miles spanning two-thirds the length of the State. It brought water and associated economic benefits to the San Francisco Bay area, the san Joaquin Valley, and Southern California.

While the Project was being built, however, public awareness and concern for protecting the environment were sharply rising. New and revised State and federal laws have reflected this sentiment, as exhibited in the National Environmental Policy Act (1969), the California Environmental Quality Act (1970), the California Wild and Scenic River Act (1972), the Clean Water Act amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (1972 and 1976), the Federal Endangered Species Act (1973), the California Endangered Species Act (1984), and numerous other federal and State statutes regulating toxins and pollution.

Concerns about the environment have also bolstered the widespread public view that water supplies must be clean and dependable. The need to protect the environment while making sure we have adequate water supplies has stimulated competition among urban, agricultural, and environmental interests over the use of the State’s limited water resources.

Without question, these attitudes and laws have made a major impact on how the DWR and other federal, State, and local agencies, manage the State’s water resources and the State Water Project.

The following list of projects performed by DWR’s employees during the past 15 years reflects these societal changes. The list represents a significant body of work, but by no means, covers all the work performed by DWR. Many projects were not included due to space limitations. A number of the listed projects are multi-agency efforts and could not have been completed without major assistance from numerous federal, State and local agencies, and stakeholders. DWR News salutes the more than 2600 employees who contributed their talents to managing the State’s water resources, in cooperation with other agencies, to protect, restore and enhance the natural and human environments.


Water Management
By 1983, concern about the environment was creating a changing atmosphere in which water policies were evolving. Such policies reflected the need to look beyond traditional water management approaches. Water remains a key issue for the State, with predicted shortages looming in the future. How to best serve all users-urban, agriculture, and the environments-is the question that will shape California’s future management of its water resources.

1982
California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS)

DWR begins providing CIMIS weather data to farmers to help them determine when crop fields should be irrigated and how much water should be applied. Developed by the Department and the University of California at Davis, CIMIS data can also be used to produce irrigation schedules for parks, golf courses, and other large landscape areas. Eight-five computerized weather stations containing climatological data can be accessed for free, 24 hours a day through modems and the Internet.

1986
Coordinated Operation Agreement (COA)

After more than 25 years of negotiations, the agreement between DWR and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is signed. The COA sets forth the basis for operating the SWP and CVP to ensure that each project receives an equitable share of the Central Valley’s available water, and guarantees the two water projects will operate more efficiently in combination. The major provision are:
1) commits the USBR to meeting Delta water quality standards set by D1485,
2) enables DWR to contract with USBR to buy interim federal water for the SWP,
3) allows DWR to wheel federal water through the California Aqueduct for federal contractors, and
4) enables the USBR to initiate the contract process for sale and delivery of additional CVP water.

1987
Administration of State G.O. Bonds for Loans and Grants to Local Government
(Propositions 25, 44, 82, 204)

DWR begins providing loans to local water districts for capital outlay water conservation programs, including such projects as the lining of irrigation canals and the replacement of leaking water mains and lateral. Funding is also provided for groundwater recharge and local water supply projects.

1987
Update of California Water Plan Update, Bulletin 160-87

DWR completes the fifth update since the bulletin was mandated in 1957 to assess California’s water use, forecast future usage, and recommend solutions in years of shortages. This report states that in most years the State’s water resources will meet its needs. In dry years however California must withdraw stored water from reservoirs and groundwater basins. With a diverse range of water management approaches, rationing should rarely be necessary.

1990
Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Rights Settlement Act

The Settlement Act is the result of several years of negotiations between the State of California and Nevada. Among other things, P.L. 101-618 provides for apportionment of water between the two States. The Act also provides a framework for settlement of most of the longstanding litigation over water rights in the area, including lawsuits filed by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. DWR represented the State of California in negotiating the Settlement Act, and continues to represent the State in the Truckee River Operating Agreement negotiations. The TROA must be completed and analyzed in EIS/EIR pursuant to NEPA *and CEQA**, and adopted as a federal regulation before most provisions of the Settlement Act, including the interstate apportionment and settlement of litigation, enter into effect.

*National Environmental Policy Act, ** California Environmental Quality Act

1992
Governor’s Water Policy

After negotiation with local water agencies, environmental groups, DWR and other state and federal agencies, Governor Pete Wilson announces a longterm comprehensive water policy framework to bring an end to water wars that have resulted in polarization and paralysis among urban, agricultural, and environmental sectors. The policy includes:
1) fix the Delta via a CEQA-NEPA investigation (with oversight by Bay-Delta committee) of solutions,
2) build more off-stream storage facilities,
3) reduce groundwater overdraft,
4) promote water marketing and transfers,
5) restore and enhance fish and wildlife populations,
6) conserve water,
7) recycle water,
8) desalinate water,
9) transfer the federal CVP to State control, and
10) bank Colorado River Water

1993
California Water Plan Update Bulletin 160-93

DWR Publishes its sixth Update. This is the first report to present drought and average year water budgets and to quantify environmental water demands. The report states that Southern California is losing a portion of its Colorado river supplies to other States while in-State demands are growing. Urban areas are beginning to run short of water and are looking at ways to manage existing supplies efficiently and augment supplies where necessary. More water is also needed by the environment, as was clearly shown during the 1987 - 1992 drought.

Bulletin 160-93, based on the Governor’s Water Policy, includes completing the SWP facilities in the South Delta. Water transfers, water marketing, and water banking will play a larger role in the future. Only with “demand management” techniques, such as conservation and transfers and new facilities, can demand be met.

1994
Framework Agreement and Bay-Delta Accord

In July Governor Wilson, in coordination with various federal agencies, reaches a compromise resulting in a historic “Framework Agreement.” The Agreement consists of a process designed to provide more reliable water supplies for Northern and Southern California. It also provides a process for the protection of wildlife in the Bay-Delta ecosystems and prohibits the listing of more endangered species. The Agreement pledges that State and federal agencies would work together in three areas of Bay-Delta management: 1) establishment of water quality standards for the Bay-Delta estuary; 2) coordination of the State Water Project operations with endangered species, water quality and CVP Improvement Act requirements; and 3) establishment of longterm solutions to problems in the Bay-Delta estuary.

This effort triggers the formation of CALFED, a State/Federal organization charged with developing longterm solutions for the Bay-Delta estuary. In addition, the Bay-Delta Advisory Council is formed with a membership of more than 30 citizen-advisors selected from California’s agricultural, environmental, urban, business, fishing, and other interests.

The Framework Agreement also sets the direction for the unprecedented “Bay-Delta Accord,” which is signed by the Governor and other federal representatives in December. The Accord sets new interim water quality standards for the Bay-Delta for three years, provides for new “nonflow” projects (e.g., fish screens and ladders) to protect the Bay-Delta ecosystem, and prohibits additional listing of species on the Bay-Delta for the next three years.

1994
Monterey Agreement between D.W.R. and the State Water Contractors

The Agreement changes the way the SWP allocates, stores, and sells water. Among other things, provisions include:

• Water allocated in time of shortage will be based on contractual entitlement.
(Previously allocations were based on need and historical use.) Now when shortages occur, agricultural and urban contractors are treated equally.

• DWR would turn over the Kern Fan Element to the Kern Water Bank Authority in exchange for permanent retirement of 45,000 acre-feet of water entitlement by agricultural contractors.

• When needed, the stored water in Perris and Castaic reservoirs could be used by contractors to more efficiently manage local water supplies.

• Contractors could transport non-SWP water through SWP facilities and store water outside their service areas until needed.

• A new interruptible water service program would allow contractors to take delivery of available uncontrolled flows in the Delta in proportion to their entitlement for the year, when DWR determines such supplies exist.

• Funds would be managed to create more stable water rates. DWR will estimate its revenue needs for the following year and then reduce the billing to the contractors so that only that amount of revenues will be collected.

1998
California Water plan Update, Bulletin 160-98

DWR’s seventh Update states if no action is taken to improve water supply by 2020, Californians will be short and estimated 7 maf during a drought and 2.9 maf in an average year. By the year 2020, if currently planned facilities and water management actions are put into place, California will still fall short: in a drought year by 5.2 maf; in an average water year by 1.6 maf.

State Water Project
Over the past 15 years, DWR has focused on completing construction of SWP facilities including its most recent, the Coastal Branch. Work continues on an extension of the East Branch to better meet the water needs of Southern California. A faster, improved communications network and Project Operations Center were also inaugurated, as well as projects to ensure water supply reliability for its contractors and improve water quality in the Delta.

1985
Thermalito Diversion Dam Powerplant

The plant’s one generating unit utilizes Feather River fishery releases at the Thermalito Diversion Dam to generate electrical energy.

1986
Alamo Powerplant

Alamo recovers electrical energy form water delivered through the East Branch of the California Aqueduct. It is designed to house a second turbine which will almost double the plant’s capacity.

1986
North Bay Aqueduct

DWR completes the North Bay Aqueduct, an underground pipeline that delivers 67,000 acre-feet a year to Solano (42,000 af) and Napa (25,000 af) counties. It begins at Baker Slough Pumping Plant, then goes through the cities of Vacaville and Fairfield to the Cordelia Pumping Plant. At Cordelia, water is delivered to Napa, Benicia, and Vallejo. The pipeline’s initial design was realigned to avoid vernal pools and cultural resources.

1986
Fiber Optic Installation Along Aqueduct

Fiber optic cable is buried along 446 miles of Project form Banks Delta Pumping Plant to Devil Canyon Powerplant. It connects the five field divisions’ area control center, reservoirs, pumping and hydroelectric plants, and 66 check structures.

1988
Kern Fan Element & La Hacienda Groundwater Purchase (1991)

DWR buys 19,900 acres adjacent to Kern river for approximately $31 million. The DWR property called the Kern Fan Element overlies a major groundwater basin and is located close to the California Aqueduct. DWR also buys 98,005 acre-feet of groundwater from La Hacienda. (DWR transfers the property and water in 1996 to the Kern Water Bank Authority and agrees to the option of leaving the deposit in the ground or, if needed, extracting only up to 15,000 acre-feet per year. When pumped, delivery would be restricted to water in Kern County borders.)

1990
Sherman Island Property Purchased
DWR purchases 9,183 acres on Sherman Island, a West Delta island that plays an important role in the longterm reliability of a water supply to the State Water Project, the Central Valley Project, and Contra Costa Canal. Because the island is located where the fresh and salt water mix, flooding of the island would adversely affect the water quality. Acreage is purchased with the intent to fix nonproject levees, create and maintain wildlife habitat, and provide land use options that maintain the integrity of the island by reducing the rate of land subsidence.

1992
Four Additional Pumps at Banks Delta Pumping Plant

New pumps are installed to boost the plant’s maximum pumping capacity from 6,400 to 10,300 cfs. The additional pumps’ main purpose is to allow a small increase in winter pumping and more pumping during the night when electricity is cheaper. They also act as backup in case of failure. Mitigation for the new pumps is negotiated with the California Department Fish and Game (see Four Pumps Agreement, 1986, under Environment section).

1992
Twitchell Island Property Purchase

DWR purchases the property to control subsidence and soil erosion on the island. DWR manages the property to provide agricultural and wetland/wildlife habitat, flood control, water quality and supply reliability, and additional recreational opportunities in the Delta.

1995
New Project Operations Center (POC)

The new POC is located in a new Joint Operations Center building in northeast Sacramento. The center can remotely operate the entire SWP. In 1998 the new communications and control system is completed to provide more detailed information on equipment status at remote facilities, faster data updates of change as they occur, and a more fault-tolerant, reliable system. The software system can be easily modified as operational needs change. The database reaches 70,000 monitor-and-control points, with a fast and easy-to-navigate display system. Additionally, all water and power scheduling for the SWP is accomplished at the new POC.

1996
East Branch Enlargement-Phase 1

DWR completes the first phase of the enlargement project, which will carry increased water deliveries requested by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the SWP’s largest contracting agency. MWD needs more water for its eastern and southern service area experiencing rapid development.

The enlargement includes:
• raising the canal lining 4 feet from Alamo to Mojave Siphon (1988);
• modifying overcrossings, check structures, siphons, and operating roads, and adding barrels and check gates along aqueduct;
• enlarging Devil Canyon Powerplant, adding two turbines to boost capacity to 294 megawatts, adding a second afterbay to boost power production and increase flexibility (1994);
•enlarging Pearblossom Pumping plant, adding three units and new discharge lines (1995); and
• completing Mojave Siphon Pumping Plant (1996, conditionally operational).

1997
New San Bernardino Tunnel Intake at Silverwood Lake

Under FERC order, DWR replaces the intake tower at Silverwood, which could have been damaged by an earthquake. The unique “Y” or funnel-shaped intake tower is 125 feet and draws water from one or a combination of four different lake levels. (About 15 million people in Southern California depend on water from Silverwood Lake)

1997
Coastal Branch Project Completion - Phase 2

DWR completes a 102-mile pipeline from Devils Den to Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County. The Coastal Branch annually brings 4,830 af of water to San Luis Obispo County and 42,986 af of water to Santa Barbara County. It consists of four pumping plants: three 6.7-megawatt pumping plants (Devils Den, Bluestone, and Polonio Pass), which lift water 1,500 feet over Temblor Mountain Range; and the 2.2-megawatt Casmalia Pumping Plant, which lifts water 400 feet up the Casmalia Hills to the terminus tanks. Five tank sites along the pipeline provide operational storage and hydraulic control for this segmented pipeline.

The new pipeline will help the Central Coast handle droughts, groundwater overdraft, and water marketing and transfers on a statewide basis.


Emergencies
Public safety is one of DWR’s principal functions. Such responsibilities involve the work of hundreds of DWR employees and those of other State, federal, and local agencies. From 1983 to 1998, these workers would witness and labor in some of the worst floods and droughts on record. Others would oversee repairs to the SWP system as it was impacted by such emergencies and urgencies of ita own. But in the end each experience would gain lessons learned.

1986
Flood Fight

Rainfall between February 12 and 21 creates record flows into rivers and reservoirs across the north central part of the State. The Sacramento River system’s peak discharge of about 650,000 cfs into the Delta is the greatest flow ever recorded. Folsom, Black Butte, Pardee, and Camanche reservoirs fill beyond their normal full storage levels. Releases form Oroville Dam reach 150,000 cfs, exceeding the previous record of 85,000 cfs in 1980 since the dam was completed in 1968.

On February 19, waters from the Mokelumne River flood the McCormak Williamson Tract, Dead Horse, and Tyler islands. Another Mokelumne River levee breaks February 20, flooding New Hope Tract and the town of Thronton. Later that same day a Yuba River levee breaks, inundating 10,000 acres and the towns of Linda and Olivehurst. Flooding also occurs on Van Sickle, Egbert, and Little Mandeville islands.

With 3,000 miles of levee threatened, the Flood Operations Center coordinates patrols and repair crews to survey areas for hazards. Several hundred people form DWR and local districts work around the clock during the emergency.

1986, 93, 95
Arroyo Pasajero & Cantua Creek Floods

The Arroyo Pasajero drains over 500 square miles of mostly mountainous terrain in southwestern Fresno County. The SWP intersects the Arroyo’s flood path and forms a barrier to sediment-laden floodwaters that pour out of the Arroyo during heavy rainstorms.

As demonstrated in 1995 by the failure of twin I-5 bridges spanning the Arroyo just upstream of the California Aqueduct in 1995 and earlier floods that have caused widespread regional damage, the Arroyo Pasajero remains a significant threat to the SWP.

Arroyo flooding causes structural damage and breaches portions of the aqueduct.

Floodwaters emptying into the aqueduct leaving heavy deposits of arroyo sediment on the aqueduct floor.

DWR nears the completion of a four-year flood control investigation partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation. This long-standing aqueduct problem is now closer than ever to a solution that the State and Federal water contractors impacted by Arroyo Pasajero flooding can support.

1987-92
Drought

The 1987-92 drought ranks as the most severe drought in California's recorded history. By the end of the drought, all residents have been impacted to varying degrees, but the environment and agriculture have suffered the most.

Water reserves stored in the State's major water projects help minimize economic consequences to California's economy during the first four years, but are depleted in 1991 to the point where no SWP deliveries can be made to agricultural contractors. In 1992, storage in the State's major reservoirs falls to 54 percent of average, the lowest since 1977. The SWP delivers only 10 percent of urban requests, some 225,000 acre-feet.

During the second year of the drought, DWR opens the State Drought Information Center to provide drought information to the media and a wide variety of public and private organizations, and to give technical assistance to water-short areas.

In 1991 Governor Wilson issues an executive order which establishes a Drought Action Team to direct and coordinate State efforts to combat the effects of the drought. Director Kennedy is appointed to chair the team; and DWR is directed to provide technical assistance, facilitate water banking and marketing transactions between willing sellers and buyers, recommend actions to effect increased water savings for all State agencies, and expand the Drought Information Center.

1988
Mojave Siphone Pipeline Bursts

DWR crews respond quickly to a blowout caused by a break in the pipeline. The break's force creates a crater 40 feet in diameter, littering the area with mud, concrete fragments, and twisted utility lines. Water surging from a 4-too-wide and 6-foot-high hole in the concrete pipe gushes 50 feet into the air. About 1.4 million gallons are lost. DWR crews have the siphon back in operations in three weeks.

1989
Dam Safety Inspection Following Loma Prieta Earthquake

Earthquakes such as Loma Prieta, Landers (1992), and Northridge (1994) create significant additional work for DWR. Each occurence calls for immediate need to inspect over 100 dams near the epicenter to evaluate and determine their condition. Follow-up work is also necessary to fully assess any damage that occurred and ensure their deficiences were corrected. DWR staff reports of any damages observed on dams in the earthquake zone leads to investigations of similar structures outside the damage zone for preventative purposes.

Five earthquakes since 1989 have resulted in damage to more than 20 dams. These seismic events caused severe damage to several high hazard dams, even though the earthquakes were of considerably lower magnitude than that of the maximum credible earthquakes projected by geologic and seismologic study.

1991
Drought Water Bank

In 1991 DWR sets up the first water bank for purchasing water from willing sellers and transferring the water via SWP facilities to those with critical needs. Sellers such as farmers and water districts make water available for these banks by fallowing crops, releasing surplus reservoir storage, and substituting groundwater for surface supplies.

Staff from various parts of dWR help negotiate with sellers; prepare contracts; and provide operational, hydrologic, and environmental information needed to evaluate proposed transfers.

DWR repeats the water bank program in the water-short years of 1992 and 1994.

1993 - 98
Emergency Canal Repairs

Major seepage and badly cracked concrete panels are detected at various locations along the California Aqueduct, mainly at Pools 48, 49,and 52 along the East Branch. At most sites, the pool is lowered and sandbags and soil are placed to slow erosion. Emergency contracts are prepared for each site to replace the panels, install a waterproof membrane, and place shotcrete protective covers over the membrane.

1994
Castaic Dam Tower & Bridge Failure

DWR is currently preparing a contract to permanently repair the damaged portion of the bridge which was damaged by the Northridge Earthquake and temporarily repaired.

1995
Flood Fight

Record rainfall falls in January (and late in March), causing flooding, loss of lives, and property damage totaling millions in more than 50 counties. The new State-Federal Flood Operations Center forms around-the-clock shifts to alert emergency management agencies of high water flows as Northern California rivers rise above flood stage, endangering communities along their banks.

In the field, DWR levee inspectors and flood maintenance workers, reclamation districts, and other responsible parties patrol and report levee conditions along Northern and Central Californians rivers and in the Delta. Flood Inspection staff, trained in flood fight methods, are dispatched to coordinate flood fighting activities at threatened locations. DWR and other agencies operating the dams coordinate their releases so that flow rates and timing will not worsen impacts on downstream river already swollen by the rain.

1997
Flood Fight

Major rains strains flood control systems beyond the breaking point in January. Hundreds of DWR employees answer the emergency call, some working 36 or more hours non-stop.

For a short time on New Year’s Day, DWR releases a record-breaking 160,000 cfs form the Oroville reservoir as inflows reach 302,000 cfs, the highest on record. Over a three-day period, 1.25 million acre-feet of water flows into the lake. The flood flows require close coordination with reservoir operators who needed to adjust releases to maintain flows within downstream channel capacities.

DWR responds to more than 200 flood incidents, with State resources stretched throughout the Central Valley. Working with the crews from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Corrections, and the California Conservation Corps, DWR staff oversees repairs to levee boils, sloughing, and leakage. More than 30 breaks along the San Joaquin and Sacramento River systems are reported. Meridian is saved after a levee breaks along the Sutter Bypass by construction a 6-foot ring levee. Under DWR supervision, several hundred CDF employees builds the U-shaped berm around three sides of Meridian. Relatively few levee breaks occur in the Delta. The COE assists with flood fight effort and emergency levee repairs at scores of locations.

During the aftermath, predictions of El Niño-driven storms motivate agencies statewide to prepare. Coordinating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DWR strives to repair damaged sites before the next flood season.

1998
Flood Fight

Following a January and February with more than twice the normal precipitation, a flood alert and mobilization begin on February 2 and continue through the month. During the alert, 124 incidents are reported. DWR establishes four Incident Command Centers at Colusa, San Luis, Butte, and Grizzly Island, Providing assistance to local agencies.

The 1997 flood experience and advance preparations in 1998 (provided through El Niño workshops statewide) prove invaluable. DWR staff provides training in flood fighting techniques to more than 4,000 people and installs telemetry at more than 70 new stream gaging stations. Recently trained in the Standard Emergency Management System, DWR staff also fill dozens of new roles during the emergency.

Delta experts report that the combination of high tides, high winds, and high river levels produces the most severe lashing that Delta islands have ever had to withstand. Yet, Delta levee improvement projects, and the efforts of very proactive DWR staff, prevent any critical failures.

1998
Los Banos Reservoir High Water

Major storms threaten to cause excessive flood releases from the reservoir’s spillway beyond the capacity in Los Banos Creek. DWR cuts a “notch” in the aqueduct to take excess flood flows from the creek, while the Corps of Engineers builds a berm to protect Los Banos.

1998
Emergency Repair at Edmonston Forebay

Broken and displaced lining panels are removed and replaced with articulating fabric-formed concrete and shotcrete. Virtually all work is performed under water.


Environment
To mitigate for operating the SWP, DWR developed and funded a wide array of studies and constructed a number of facilities to protect and enhance fish and wildlife and their habitat. Facilities were built to protect a vital brackish water marsh and to keep fish away from pumps; staff were trained on environmental regulations during construction of the Coastal Branch, DWR’s largest project built in a decade; and SWP operations were restricted during fish migrations through the Delta.

1983
Interagency Ecological Program Expansion

The program, created in 1970 to study the ecological resources of the Sacramento-San Joaquin/San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary, welcomes four additional agencies. These agencies, which include DWR, begin a number of interagency cooperative studies on an array of topics including fisheries, water quality, fish facilities, river and Delta flows, hydrodynamics, entrainment of eggs and larvae, and benthos.

These studies include: a boat- and land-based regional water quality monitoring program for the estuary, studies of estuary’s circulation and mining processes, monitoring programs on distribution and abundance of phytoplankton and zooplankton, reports on the fish resources of the Bay and Delta, establishment of real-time fish sampling and data reporting, and Delta surveys to determine the number and distribution of striped bass and delta smelt and their eggs and larvae.

1984
Suisun Marsh Protection Plan and E.I.R.

A plan of protection is designed to comply with SWRCB’s Decision 1485, which sets specific water quality standards for water project operations to meet. The plan also includes mitigation for the effects of the CVP, SWP, and a portion of other upstream diversion projects. From 1987 to present, over $80 million is spent on improving wetlands.

From 1991 to the present, 32 water management facilities and fish screens in the marsh were completed. DWR constructs a number of water conveyance facilities and structures to improve the marsh’s water quality.

1986
Suisun Marsh Salinity Control Gates

DWR installs a control structure in Montezuma Slough to control salinity levels in marsh channels and improve habitat for wildlife and fish within Suisun Marsh. This facility contains three radial gates to control the flow of water and incudes a boat lock and flashboard structure, which allows the passage of boats and barges. The entire facility stretches about 600 feet across Montezuma Slough.

1986
Four Pumps Agreement

The Agreement between DWR and the Department of Fish and Game provides mitigation for direct losses of fish caused by pumping at the Banks Delta Pumping Plant. It is negotiated as a part of the program to install the four extra pumps at Banks. The Agreement includes a $15 million component to compensate for the fact that direct losses today would probably be greater if fish populations had not been depleted by past operations.

The negotiations brings together many organizations including United Anglers; Pacific Coast Federation of Commercial Fishermen’s Associations, Inc.; the Planning and Conservation League; and the State Water Contractors.

Under the Agreement, DWR obligates the $15 million, plus annual costs of about $500,000 to $2 million annually, for mitigation projects including salmon spawning gravel replenishments, water exchange projects, fish screens, fish ladders, fish migration barriers, wardens and equipment to reduce fish poaching, expansion and modernization of fish facilities, rearing and stocking of steelhead and striped bass, pens to improve the survival of hatchery-reared salmon, and isolation and reduction of salmon predator programs.

1986
Sacramento River Fisheries & Riparian Habitat Restoration Plan

In coordination with federal, State, local, and private organizations, DWR completes a management plan for the Sacramento River and its tributaries to protect, restore, and enhance both fisheries and riparian habitat, which were both recognized as being in decline. Under SB 1086, the plan includes specific action-oriented projects and a more conceptual riparian habitat plan. Projects currently being implemented include fish bypass structures or dam removals at diversions on Sacramento River tributaries and the Shasta Dam temperature control structure. The work also includes a recently published “Sacramento River Conservation Area Handbook,” which instructs interested parties on how to restore and protect riparian corridor along 222 miles of the Sacramento River between Keswick and Verona.

1992
Skinner Fish Facility Expansion

DWR upgrades the facility to reduce fish losses at Banks Delta Pumping Plant by improving hydraulic conditions in the fish bypass system. The project includes construction of three additional holding tanks for the fish collection and transport operations.

1992
Environmental Services Office

DWR establishes ESO to provide coordination and technical support on environmental issues. Headed by Randy Brown, ESO helps the Department comply with an array of environmental laws and regulations that affect State Water Project operations and development programs. To help DWR face complex environmental challenges, ESO staff works with local, State and federal agencies to help negotiate solutions and develop measures to avoid or minimize adverse effects that may result from SWP activities, or construction of a new facility. ESO also plays a major role in collecting and analyzing data for Interagency Ecological Program investigations on the Bay-Delta estuary. Such data are used extensively by the Department, other agencies and consultants to prepare environ-mental impact reports, biological assessments, planning reports, and other documents.

1993
DWR Environmental Training (In-house)

DWR establishes an environmental training program to provide employees with a better understanding of the environmental laws that affect their work. The training helps ensure that by using preventive measures, employees avoid mishaps involving endangered species.

1995
San Joaquin River Management Program

DWR coordinates with San Joaquin Valley interests to prepare a program which will improve the San Joaquin River Basin. More than 80 measures are being implemented to address the quality, flood control, habitat, fishery, recreation, and supply issues of the San Joaquin River.

1995
SWP Operations to Protect Environment

In May the SWRCB adopts revisions to D1485 water quality standards proposed in the Bay-Delta Accord (see Framework Agreement and Bay-Delta Accord, 1994, under Water Policy Management). These standards plus biological opinions for winter-run salmon and delta smelt significantly change SWP and CVP operations. The changes reduce the project’s potential effects on Delta fisheries while providing more flexibility and reliability to the project operators. Changes in operations reduce the overall deliveries of the two projects significantly.

These operational changes include:
• closing the Delta Cross Channel gates during critical salmon out-migration periods to provide a more direct route to the ocean;
• restricting exports during specified fish migration periods; and
• adding water quality conditions to restrict salinity intrusion.

1995
Formation of CALFED Operations Group

The group includes State and federal regulatory agencies and stakeholders who meet monthly in a public forum to identify and seek consensus on ways to minimize SWP/CVP impacts on fisheries, while meeting the two projects’ contractual obligations.

Flood Management
Flood control requires data, design, and construction of facilities, cooperation, and funds. Since 1983 significant strides have been made - levees rehabilitated, sediment removed, funds and technical assistance made available. Two new Flood Operations Centers opened in Sacramento and Eureka, and water conditions data can now be accessed via the Internet. However, a major report indicates there is still much to learn and accomplish to ensure public safety.

1984
California Data Exchange Center

In cooperation with other agencies, CDEC is established to provide real-time hydrologic data and a centralized common database for many agencies. The system contains data on precipitation, stream and tidal stages, snow, temperature, flow and water quality, and reservoir operations. The system also stores daily and monthly data, including information from manually measured snow courses and manually observed precipitation stations and reservoir storage.

CDEC grows to include real-time data from over 480 precipitation stations, 240 stream gage and tide stations, 95 real-time snow sensors, 66 reservoirs, and 67 water quality stations. CDEC becomes a premiere water management and information tool for a host of users. In 1995, CDEC is made available on the Internet.

1985
Urban Streams Restoration & Flood Control Program

The program provides communities with funds and technical assistance to repair stream bank erosion, restore watershed stability, prevent local flooding, and clean up streams. To date, more than 180 projects have been completed.

1988
Delta Flood Protection Fund

Senate Bill 34 creates the Delta Flood Protection Fund to provide $12 million a year for flood protection in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Six million dollars of the fund goes for local assistance under the Department’s Delta Levee Maintenance Subventions Program; the other $6 million goes to special flood control projects for eight western Delta islands, the towns of Walnut Grove and Thornton, and other locations in the Delta and northern Suisun Bay.

1994
New Eureka Flood Center

The Eureka Flood Center moves to Woodley Island and shares quarters with the National Weather Service. The Eureka center is a one-person satellite office of the Flood Operations Center. It serves the North Coast communities during flood conditions.

1995
New Flood Operations Center

A redesigned Flood Operations Center and Media Room move to the second floor of the Joint Operations Center in northeast suburban Sacramento. Joint river forecasting and flood information dissemination are performed by Flood Management’s Flood Operations and Hydrology Branches in cooperation with the National Weather Services’ California-Nevada River Forecast Center and Sacramento Weather Forecast Office.

The center, modernized with new equipment, increases the accuracy, timeliness, and efficiency of DWR’s flood emergency response. The center also improves media accessibility and takes full advantage of the California Data Exchange Center hydrometeorological database.

1997
Flood Emergency Action Team (FEAT)

In the midst of the disastrous winter storms, Governor Wilson creates FEAT to identify the short-term and long-term flood management challenges facing California. FEAT members complete a comprehensive report making 65 recommendations arranged in four categories: emergency response, floodplain management, flood control system restoration and improvement, and further studies.

Following the FEAT recommendations, the Governor orders a wide-ranging series of actions including investing nearly $31 million over the next two years in flood-control facility improvements. The Governor also signs two executive orders aimed at upgrading California’s emergency response system and creating a Floodplain Management Task Force.

1998
Statewide Floodplain Mapping Program/Comprehensive River Basins Study

Work is underway for mapping 11 creeks and rivers in Northern and Central California, including a reach of the Feather River at Oroville and San Joaquin River upstream of Fresno. Flood levels determined by DWR mapping will be used by communities to carry out floodplain management objectives of the National Flood Insurance Program.

A comprehensive study of the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins is funded to examine strategies to improve flood management and restore riparian habitat throughout the Central Valley. The four-year study will produce an interim report to Congress by April 1999 and a final report and programmatic EIS/EIR.


Flood Control Projects
The following lists projects completed by the State Reclamation Board, which is an independent board administratively under DWR but functions with the assistance of DWR staff.

1983
Major Sediment Removal

From 1983 to 1996 more than 8 million cubic yards of sediment is removed from the Colusa and Tisdale bypasses, the Yolo Bypass at Fremont Weir, and the Cherokee Canal. This work restores the design flood-carrying capacity of these critical features of the Sacramento River Flood Control Project.

1984
Cache Slough-Yolo Bypass Cross Levee Project

DWR constructs a new 3,000-foot levee across a wedge-shaped peninsula at the southern end of the Yolo Bypass. The existing federal project levees, surrounding the tip of the peninsula, had been subsiding for decades and were difficult to maintain. After the construction of the cross levee, the old levees are deauthorized and excluded from the Sacramento River Flood Control Project. A mitigation bank is established in the area of the old levees.

1992
Fairfield Vicinity Streams

The project, which includes enlarged channels on five streams in and adjacent to the city of Fairfield, will provide for 100-year protection to urban and agricultural areas that have been subjected to frequent flooding. Total project cost is about $40 million.

1993
Cache Creek Settling Basin

Levees surrounding the Cache Creek Settling Basin are raised 12 feet, and the outlet weir by 6 feet. The project will provide for 50 years of sediment storage capacity for Cache Creek’s heavy sediment load, preventing about one million cubic yards annually form being carried into the Yolo Bypass. The Total cost of the project is $22 million.

1993
Sacramento Urban Area Levee Reconstruction

Working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State Reclamation Board, DWR assists with the rehabilitation of 32 miles of Sacramento urban levees to restore their structure and integrity. Certain stretches of levees along the Sacramento River are upgraded, either by placement of a slurry wall inside the levee (to stop seepage) or a stability berm at the landside toe. In addition, the river wall in Old Sacramento is strengthened.

1993
Sacramento Urban Area Levee Reconstruction

Working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Sate Reclamation Board, DWR assists with the rehabilitation of 32 miles of Sacramento urban levees to restore their structure and integrity. Certain stretches of levees along the Sacramento River are upgraded, either by placement of a slurry wall inside the levee (to stop seepage) or a stability berm at the landside toe. In addition, the river wall in Old Sacramento is strengthened.

1994
Cache Slough Mitigation Bank

The levees outside the new cross levee surrounding the tip of the peninsula are breached in two locations, and the previously dry area is allowed to flood. Two islands are constructed and vegetation planted in the flooded area. The interior banks of the levees are also planted. The intent is to create the first “mitigation bank” to provide riparian habitat for the Sacramento River Bank Protection Project. The area also provides unanticipated benefits as a spawning and rearing area for delta smelt.

1995
Castle Dam

DWR completes this flood control dam to provide protection to Merced and surrounding areas. The cost of this unit of Merced County Stream Project is approximately $10 million.


Water Education
Public awareness of important water topics is an important goal for DWR. Public outreach is conducted through a number of venues including distribution of materials (brochures, videos, exhibits, curricula, etc.), visitors facilities, and a water safety program with mascots Albert and Einstein. A Collections and Archives Program was established to preserve items form the Department’s past and to use these artifacts to educate the public about the SWP and its significance.

1987
Water Awareness Public Education Program

Working with other water agencies, DWR launches a statewide campaign to raise public awareness on the importance of water and water projects. Water Awareness Week later becomes a month-long celebration for hundreds of local water organizations with their own events, including open houses at water facilities, tours of low-water using gardens, poster contests, water carnivals, shopping mall displays, and seminars.

Today Water Awareness Month is observed by nearly 300 water organizations, contributing over $100,000 to the campaign. For the May event, DWR’s field divisions conduct tours, fishing derbies, and other events at their SWP facilities.

1991
SWP Water Safety Public Education Program

After 36 drownings occurred in 1990, DWR initiates a Water Safety Program aimed at educating the public about staying safe while recreating at SWP facilities. In the ensuing years, brochures, a children’s activity book (featuring DWR water safety mascots Albert and Einstein), and presentations by DWR staff reach more than 70,000 individuals. The number of drownings drops below the 1990 record.

1993
Vista Del Lago Visitors Center Opening

DWR opens an 18,500-square-foot visitors center on a bluff overlooking Pyramid Lake.

Located 60 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, the center houses exhibits featuring water’s importance to California. Exhibits show the amount of water we use daily; the way California’s unique geography affects water distribution; the SWP, its magnitude and its function as a water delivery system; the history of water’s role in shaping California’s past and present; and current water issues and their impacts on the future.

1996
DWR Archives & Collections Program Created

The program will preserve and store artifacts, documents, photos, memorabilia, and other rich heritage from the Department's past and present activities.