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The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is responsible for the management of water resources in California. Its stated mission is, "To manage the water resources of California in cooperation with other agencies, to benefit the State's people, and to protect, restore, and enhance the natural and human environments."
The California State Water Project is one of the department's major projects. The State Water Project provides the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California with water. Its facilities include the California Aqueduct, South Bay Aqueduct, Feather River Project, San Luis Canal and the San Luis Reservoir. As of 2006, DWR employees approximately 2,700 engineers, environmental scientists, technicans, lawyers, and governmental analysts to provide water to an estimated 23 million people. With an annual budget of around $6 billion *, the Department also is involved in flood control, state-wide snow surveys, environmental restoration, state-wide dam safety, levee maintenance and repairs, water quality improvements, water conservation and education programs, and local assistance programs.
History
Prior to becoming a state in 1850, California had three different types of water rights in practice: pueblo rights, riparian rights, and appropriative rights. Pubelo water rights date back on the Spanish and Mexican communities built in Southern California. Riparian rights date back to English common law, and though better suited for water rich climates such as the US east coast, farms alongside California rivers were entitled to use a share of the water flowing past the property. Appopriative rights date back to the California Gold Rush when gold miners would divert large quantities of water from rivers and streams in order to practice hydraulic mining. In 1850, when California became a state, all of these systems were adopted into the legal system, and numerous disputes over water errupted. A new policy of "beneficial use", in which municipal and non-riparian agricultural uses were also encouraged were soon incorporated into the California Constitution (Article X, Section 2). However, by the early 1900s most of the state's runoff had been claimed under one of these four systems of water rights.
In 1878 the William Hammond Hall, of the Office of State Engineer, conducted a series of investigations into developing California's Central Valley and drafted a series of plans calling for various publicly funded and owned irrigation projects. Hall's study was accomplished on a budget of $100,000.* The Central Valley continued to grow in the absence of a state run project, however, Central Valley land owners and coastal cities (including San Francisco) began acquiring water rights in the Sierra Nevada mountain range for use in the valley. Under Hall's tenure, a series of permanent flow guaging stations were established 0n a number of California rivers.
In response to growing political and legal contests for limited water resources, the Water Commission Act of 1914 established the State Water Board to oversee permits associated with the rights to use surface water. Landowners or water users that had established a use of water prior to 1914 became senior water rights users in many of the more accessible watersheds in the state.
In 1919, Col. Robert B. Marshall, Chief Surveyor for the U.S. Geological Survey, purposed a plan for the US Federal Government to build a series of diversion dams and two grand canals along the sides of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, in order irrigate California's Central Valley. Key to Marshall's plan was the construction of a dam near Redding. Though national interest in Marshall's plan was limited, there was an interest in California for pursuing the proposed project.
In 1927, the California legislature passed a law authorizing the Department of Finance to file applications with the State Water Board to reserve any unappropriated surface water for future development, and on July 30, 1927, the Department appropriated a number of unclaimed water rights for future use. In 1933 the California legislature approved the construction of a Central Valley Project, with initial plans to build a 420 foot dam at Kennett that could also provide regular flows out to the San Francisco Estuary in order to reduce salinity intrusion into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Unable to finance the construction of Kennett Dam, the state applied to the Federal government for aid. After the US House of Representatives Committee on Rivers and Harbors reviewed the state plans, Congress enacted the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1935, giving the US Federal government control over the Central Valley Project (CVP).
In the mid-1950s California was experiencing substantial growth. San Francisco's Caspar W. Weinberger, Chairman of the California Assemble Government Oranigzation Committee, held a series of state-wide hearings in 1954 and 1955 focused on creating a State Water Project that could supply the growing municiple and agricultural demands of the State. On July 5, 1956 in a special session of the California Assembly, Governor Goodwin J. Knight signed Weinberger's bill to combine the then Division of Water Resources of the Department of Public Works with the State Engineer's Office, the Water Project Authority, and the State Water Resources Board into a new Department of Water Resources. Consulting engineer Harvey O. Banks was appointed by Knight as the Department's first Director and tasked with quickly developing a plan for the then proposed State Water Project.
In 1959, the legislature enacts the Burns-Porter Act which proposed to authorize $1.75 billion in general obligation bonds for the counstruction of the proposed State Water Project. The Burns-Porter Act was approved by California voters in 1960 and in the same year the Whale Rock Dam, located near San Luis Obispo was completed. This was DWR's first major water project.
In 1961, William Warne is appointed Director of the Department and oversees the construction of a key facility in the operation of the State Water Project, Oroville Dam. DWR and the United States Bureau of Reclamation also sign an agreement to design a joint reservoir in San Luise. This facility is particularly important, since water from Orville and Shasta (for the then existing Central Valley Project) would be moved down the existing Sacramento River channel into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta when there were excess flows through the Delta and then stored in the Central Valley until needed in the valley, Central Coastal region, or Southern California. Construction of the Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant, located near Tracy, California, began in 1963.
DWR Timeline
| Year | Event(s) |
|---|---|
| 1850 | California becomes the 31st state in the United States of America |
| 1878 | Office of State Engineer established with appointment of civil engineer William Hammond Hall |
| 1887 | California Legislature approves the Wright Act which enables citizens to create local irrigation districts |
| 1919 | US Geological Survey Lt. Colonel Robert Marshall publishes a plan to transfer water from the Sacramento River to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California |
| 1929 | First California Snow Survey conducted | In response to the St. Francis Dam disaster, California Legislature creates a dam safety program
| 1933 | Bond act approved for Central Valley Project (CVP), but funding was not enough for State to build the project, thus the CVP was turned over to the US Federal Government |
| 1951 | Bulletin 1, an inventory of California water resources, is published by the State Water Resources Board | State Engineer A.D. Edmonston proposed the Feather River Project (which later becomes the State Water Project)
| 1955 | Bulletin 2, which updates the information from Bulletin 1 and forecasts future water needs, is publised by the State Water Resources Board |
| 1956 | Governor Goodwin Knight calls a special session of the CA Legislature to create a Department of Water Resources | Harvey O. Banks is appointed as the first Director
| 1957 | Work begins in the city of Oroville for construction of a dam on the Feather River | Bulletin 3, now named the California Water Plan Update, is published by DWR
| 1959 | Burns-Porter Act passes CA Legislature, authoring construction of a State Water Project |
| 1960 | Voters approve bond to finance the State Water Project | Metropolitan Water District of Southern California signs up as first contractor for SWP water US Congress authorizes construction of the San Luis Unit of the CVP
| 1961 | Frenchman Dam is completed | Davis-Dolwig Act passes CA Legisluatre, allowing for recreation, fish, and wildlife enhancement
| 1962 | Work begins on Oroville Dam | Patterson Dam completed
| 1963 | California State Supreme Court rules that DWR can sell additional revenue bonds to finance SWP construction |
| 1964 | Antelope Dam is completed | Oroville Fish Barrier Dam is completed
| 1965 | Santa Clara Terminal Reservoir is completed |
| 1966 | Dos Amigos Pumping Plant is completed |
| 1967 | Grizzly Dam (Lake Davis) is completed | Oroville Dam is completed
| 1968 | Oroville Diversion Dam is completed | Thermalito Afterbay Dam is completed
| 1969 | Thermalito Pumping / Generating Plant is completed | South Bay Pumping Plant is completed
| 1970 | John E. Skinner Delta Fish Protection Facility is completed |
| 1971 | California Aqueduct constructed to Tehachapi Crossing | Cedar Springs Dam (Silverwood Lake) is completed
| 1972 | Buena Vista and Terrink Pumping Plants are completed | Oso Pumping Plant is completed
| 1973 | Chrisman Pumping Plant is completed | Pyramid Dam and Castaic Power Plant are completed
| 1974 | Castaic Dam is completed | Devil Canyon Power Plant completed
Legal and Political Authorization
Though DWR was formed in 1956 with the purpose to build and operate the State Water Project, as a State organization responsible for the development and protection of water resources, the Department has since been subject to numerous legislative, judicial, and administrative orders that dictate how the Department should protect the public trust. Like any other water user, DWR must apply for water rights permits from the State Water Resources Control Board. The water rights decisions of the Control Board limit the amount of water that the Department can provide to communities and also are responsible for many of the legal, administrative, and environmental projects that the Department has adopted. Unlike most other users, the Department also must answer to the Governor's Office and State Legislature. Flood control and local assistance programs often have a basis in DWR's role as a resource trustee, while water supply, environmental mitigation, and electricity generation are often related to DWR's role as a water permittee.
List of DWR Projects
Conveyence and Storage Facilities
- Oroville Dam (1967)
- North Bay Aqueduct
- Clifton Court Forebay
- Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant (1968)
- South Bay Aqueduct
- California Aqueduct
- O'Neill Forebay
- San Luis Reservoir (1967)
- Coastal Branch
- Whale Rock Dam (1960)
- Edmonston Pumping Plant (1971)
- West Branch
- East Branch
- Lake Perris
Flood Control Projects
- Sutter Bypass
- Tisdale Weir
- Tisdale Bypass
- Sacramento Weir
- Yolo Bypass
Mitigation / Restoration Projects
The following is a list of projects that DWR oversees or contributes to that are designed to mitigate the impacts of the operation of the State Water Project.
- Feather River Salmon and Steelhead Hatchery (1967)
- Thermalito Afterbay (1968)
- Yolo Bypass Wildlife Recreation Area
- Suisun Marsh
- Skinner Fish Facility
- South Delta Improvements Program *
- South Delta Temporary Barriers Program
External references
Government of California | History of California | Engineering | Hydrology organizations | Water management authorities
"California Department of Water Resources"