Charles V. Stern and Pervaze A. Sheikh updated (24 March 2021) this important CRS report: 'Central Valley Project: Issues and Legislation'. This is one of the reports that get updated on a regular basis.
Click on the graphics to display/enlarge them.
Introduction
The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), part of the Department of the Interior (DOI), operates the multipurpose federal Central Valley Project (CVP) in California, one of the world’s largest water storage and conveyance systems. The CVP runs approximately 400 miles in California, from Redding to Bakersfield (Figure 1). It supplies water to hundreds of thousands of acres of irrigated agriculture throughout the state, including some of the most valuable cropland in the country. It also provides water to selected state and federal wildlife refuges, as well as to some municipal and industrial (M&I) water users. The CVP’s operations are coordinated with the state’s other largest water supply project, the state-operated State Water Project (SWP).This report provides information on hydrologic conditions in California and their impact on state and federal water management, with a focus on deliveries related to the federal CVP. It also summarizes selected issues for Congress related to the CVP.
Recent Developments
The drought of 2012-2016, widely considered to be among California’s most severe droughts in recent history, resulted in major reductions to CVP contractor allocations and economic and environmental impacts throughout the state. These impacts were of interest to Congress, which oversees federal operation of the CVP. Although the drought ended with the wet winter of 2017, below-normal hydrologic conditions (e.g., winter snowpack) in 2020 and 2021 have ensured the debate continues. Absent major changes to existing hydrologic, legislative, and regulatory baselines, most agree that at least some water users are likely to face constrained water supplies. Due to the limited water supplies available, proposed changes to the current operations and allocation system are controversial.
As a result of the scarcity of water in the West and the importance of federal water infrastructure to the region, western water issues are regularly of interest to many lawmakers. Legislation enacted in the 114th Congress (Title II of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation [WIIN] Act; P.L. 114-322) included several CVP-related sections. These provisions directed pumping to “maximize” water supplies for the CVP (including pumping or “exports” to CVP water users south of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers’ confluence with the San Francisco Bay, known as the Bay-Delta or Delta) in accordance with applicable biological opinions (BiOps) for project operations. They also allowed for increased pumping during certain storm events generating high flows, authorized actions to facilitate water transfers, and established a new standard for measuring the effects of water operations on species. In addition to operational.
The drought of 2012-2016, widely considered to be among California’s most severe droughts in recent history, resulted in major reductions to CVP contractor allocations and economic and environmental impacts throughout the state. These impacts were of interest to Congress, which oversees federal operation of the CVP. Although the drought ended with the wet winter of 2017, below-normal hydrologic conditions (e.g., winter snowpack) in 2020 and 2021 have ensured the debate continues. Absent major changes to existing hydrologic, legislative, and regulatory baselines, most agree that at least some water users are likely to face constrained water supplies. Due to the limited water supplies available, proposed changes to the current operations and allocation system are controversial.
As a result of the scarcity of water in the West and the importance of federal water infrastructure to the region, western water issues are regularly of interest to many lawmakers. Legislation enacted in the 114th Congress (Title II of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation [WIIN] Act; P.L. 114-322) included several CVP-related sections. These provisions directed pumping to “maximize” water supplies for the CVP (including pumping or “exports” to CVP water users south of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers’ confluence with the San Francisco Bay, known as the Bay-Delta or Delta) in accordance with applicable biological opinions (BiOps) for project operations. They also allowed for increased pumping during certain storm events generating high flows, authorized actions to facilitate water transfers, and established a new standard for measuring the effects of water operations on species. In addition to operational
Background
California’s Central Valley encompasses almost 20,000 square miles in the center of the state (Figure 1). It is bound by the Cascade Range to the north, the Sierra Nevada to the east, the Tehachapi Mountains to the south, and the Coast Ranges and San Francisco Bay to the west. The northern third of the valley is drained by the Sacramento River, and the southern two-thirds of the valley are drained by the San Joaquin River. Historically, this area was home to significant fish and wildlife populations.The CVP was originally conceived as a state project; the state studied the project as early as 1921, and the California state legislature formally authorized it for construction in 1933. After it became clear that the state was unable to finance the project, the federal government (through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE) assumed control of the CVP as a public works construction project under authority provided under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1935.4 The Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration subsequently transferred the project to Reclamation. Construction on the first unit of the CVP (Contra Costa Canal) began in October 1937, with water first delivered in 1940. Additional CVP units were completed and came online over time, and some USACE-constructed units have also been incorporated into the project. The New Melones Unit was the last unit of the CVP to come online; it was completed in 1978 and began operations in 1979.
The CVP made significant changes to California’s natural hydrology to develop water supplies for irrigated agriculture, municipalities, and hydropower, among other things. Most of the CVP’s major units, however, predated major federal natural resources and environmental protection laws such as ESAand the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. §§4321 et seq.), among others. Thus, much of the current debate surrounding the project revolves around how to address the project’s changes to California’s hydrologic system that were not major considerations when it was constructed.
Today, CVP water serves a variety of different purposes for both human uses and fish and wildlife needs. The CVP provides a major source of support for California agriculture, which is first in the nation in terms of farm receipts. CVP water supplies irrigate more than 3 million acres of land in central California and support 7 of California’s top 10 agricultural counties. In addition, CVP M&I water provides supplies for approximately 2.5 million people per year. CVP operations are also critical for hydropower, recreation, and fish and wildlife protection. In addition to fisheries habitat, CVP flows support wetlands, which provide habitat for migrating birds.
Cutting to the chase...
Concluding Observations
The CVP is one of the largest and most complex water storage and conveyance projects in the world. Congress has regularly expressed interest in CVP operations and allocations, in particular pumping in the Bay-Delta. In addition to ongoing oversight of project operations and previously enacted authorities, a number of developing issues and proposals related to the CVP may be of interest to congressional decisionmakers. These include study and approval of new water storage and conveyance projects, updates to the state’s Bay-Delta Water Quality Plan, and the status of previous efforts by the Trump Administration to make available more water for CVP water contractors, in particular those south of the Delta. Drought or other stressors on California water supplies are likely to further magnify these issues.
Enjoy - and read it all, especially the tables and figures.
"There are two things that cannot be taken out of water: one is salt and the other is politics." – J. Turley
Comments