Introduction to Water in California : Updated with a New Preface

279 Pages·2009·14.081 MB·English

by  Carle, David

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CALIFORNIA NATURAL HISTORY GUIDES
INTRODUCTION
TO WATER IN
CALIFORNIA
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California Natural History Guides
Phyllis M. Faber and Bruce M. Pavlik, General Editors
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Introduction to
WATER IN
CALIFORNIA
David Carle
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley Los Angeles London
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California Natural History Guides No. 76
University ofCalifornia Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles,California
University ofCalifornia Press,Ltd.
London,England
© 2004 by the Regents ofthe University ofCalifornia
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Carle,David,1950–.
Introduction to water in California / David Carle.
p.cm.—(California natural history guide series;76)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–520-23580-0 (hardcover :alk.paper).—ISBN 0–520-24086-3 (pbk.:
alk.paper)
1.Water-supply—California. 2.Hydrology—California. 3.Water-supply—
California—Management. I.Title. II.Series.
TD224.C3C3723 2004
363.6'1'09794—dc22 2003061246
Manufactured in China
10 09 08 07 06 05 04
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992 (R 1997) (Permanence ofPaper).A
Cover:Mill Creek in Lundy Canyon.
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The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous
contributions to this book provided by
the Gordon and Betty Moore
Fund in Environmental Studies
and
the Heller Charitable
and Educational Fund
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction—Water Web: Connected Californians xi
TAPPING INTO A PLANETARY CYCLE 1
A Great Water Wheel 3
The Vital Molecule 18
“Normal” Weather: Anything but “Average” 23
Droughts, 23 (cid:2)Floods, 29
CALIFORNIA WATER LANDSCAPE 35
Pristine Waterscape 37
Groundwater 48
Hydrologic Regions 52
North Coast Region, 52 (cid:2)Sacramento River
Region, 58 (cid:2)North Lahontan Region, 61 (cid:2)
San Francisco Bay Region, 64 (cid:2)San Joaquin
River Region, 65 (cid:2)Central Coast Region, 68 (cid:2)
Tulare Lake Region, 71 (cid:2)South Lahontan
Region, 74 (cid:2)South Coast Region, 78 (cid:2)
Colorado River Region, 81
THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM 85
Expanding Watersheds 87
The State Water Project 92
The Central Valley Project 103
Colorado River Delivery Systems 110
The Los Angeles Aqueduct 115
The Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct 118
The Mokelumne Aqueduct 123
The North Bay 125
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CHALLENGES TO CALIFORNIA WATER
MANAGEMENT 133
Extinction Is Forever 135
A Thirsty Garden 146
The Salton Sea 153
Animal Impacts 155
Beneath Your Feet 157
Out of Sight, Out of Control 160
Can You Drink the Water? 164
Giardia 166
Mass Medication 167
The Bottled-Water Phenomenon 169
The Problem Is Us 171
Where Does Your Dog Go? 174
Unchecked Growth: Messing with the Cycle 175
MEETING THE CHALLENGES:
CALIFORNIA’S WATER FUTURE 179
The Public Trust 181
Restoration 184
CALFED 187
The Debate Over Dams 191
Build More Behemoths? 193 (cid:2)Off-Stream
Dams? 194 (cid:2)Raise Existing Dams? 195 (cid:2)
Raze Existing Dams? 197
Storage in the Bank 200
Transfers: Water As a Commodity 204
Short-Cutting the Cycle 208
Squeezing the Sponge 211
Clean Water 215
Lemonade from Lemons 216
What Future Do You Choose? 219
Acronyms and Abbreviations 225
Historical Timeline 227
Agencies and Organizations 235
References 237
Photo Credits 245
Index 247
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My thanks go to Dorothy Green for her review ofthe manu-
script and for suggesting my name to UC Press when it de-
cided to add a book on water to the long list oftitles in the
California Natural History Guide series.Thanks,also,to Rita
Schmidt Sudman,executive director ofthe Water Education
Foundation,who reviewed the manuscript.The foundation’s
field trips and publications,including its Layperson’s Guides
to every aspect of California water,are excellent sources of
balanced information.Anyone interested in this subject will
benefit from its materials and educational programs.Frances
Spivey Webber,executive director ofthe Mono Lake Commit-
tee, also reviewed the manuscript, as did committee co-
founder Sally Gaines.Hydrographer Rick Kattelmann,Ph.D.,
was another reader who provided helpful comments and cor-
rections;he also made several excellent photographs available
as illustrations.
Sources for illustrations have been cited,but I must partic-
ularly acknowledge the helpfulness offisheries scientist Tina
Swanson and hydrologist Peter Vorster of the Bay Institute;
Arya Degenhardt, communications director for the Mono
Lake Committee; Rebecca Boyer, with the Department of
Water Resources photographic collection; Michele Nielsen,
San Bernardino County Museum archivist; Siran Erysian,
GIS specialist for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Norma
Craig,who handles the Yosemite National Park slide archives;
Barbara Beroza and Linda Eade,with the Yosemite Library;
Richard Harasick of the Los Angeles Department of Water
and Power;Joseph Skorupa with U.S.Fish and Wildlife;and
photographer Frank Balthis.The staffat the Water Resources
Center Archives at UC Berkeley,as always,were very accom-
modating.
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