This book is an account of how water rights were designed as a key part of the state’s largest public water system, the Central Valley Project. Along sixty miles of the San Joaquin River, from Gustine to Mendota, four corporate entities called “exchange contractors” retain paramount water rights to the river. Their rights descend from the days of the Miller & Lux Cattle Company, which amassed an empire of land and water from the 1850s through the 1920s and protected these assets through business deals and prolific litigation. Miller & Lux’s dominance of the river relied on what many in the San Joaquin Valley regarded as wasteful irrigation practices and unreasonable water usage. Economic and political power in California’s present water system was born of this monopoly on water control. Stroshane tells how drought and legal conflict shaped statewide economic development and how the grand bargain of a San Joaquin River water exchange was struck from this monopoly legacy, setting the stage for future water wars. His analysis will appeal to readers interested in environmental studies and public policy.

A must-have for every gardener in California looking for a new way to garden in a changing climate In recent years California has been facing extreme drought, and in 2015 they passed state-wide water restrictions that affect home owners. Unfortunately the drought is only going to get worse, and gardeners who aren’t willing to abandon their beloved pastime entirely are going to have to learn how to garden with the absolute minimum of water. The Drought-Defying California Garden highlights the best 230 plants to grow, shares advice on how to get them established, and offers tips on how to maintain them with the minimum amount of water. All of the plants are native to California—making them uniquely adept at managing the harsh climate—and include perennials, annuals, shrubs, trees, and succulents.

California experienced severe water supply shortages in 2009, which led to economic disruption across the state, incl. losses in agricultural areas in the western portion of the Central Valley ¿ areas already experiencing declines in the housing industry and the economic downturn in general. At the same time, several fish species whose habitat lie at the heart of California¿s water supply system and throughout its northern rivers are in decline and some face the possibility of extinction. This situation too has had economic implications, resulting in job and income losses in northern California. Contents of this report: (1) Intro.; (2) What is Drought?; (3) Drought in California; (4) Regulatory Restrictions Affecting Water Deliveries; (5) California Water Rights. Illus.

With abundant charts and diagrams and large-format photos, this title explores the science behind climate change, groundwater, and human water use patterns, and considers actions people and governments can take to try to improve the situation.

In California, the roughly 500-mile long Central Valley Project (CVP), one of the nation's largest water projects, provides water for multiple uses, including irrigation; municipal supply; power generation; and fish and wildlife mitigation, protection, and restoration. Reclamation, which manages the CVP, must balance these competing interests for water, which is particularly important as California enters its fourth consecutive year of an extreme drought. A series of federal laws enacted from 1992 through 2009 have affected Reclamation's management of the CVPthe CVPIA, Calfed Bay-Delta, and San Joaquinand Reclamation is one of the primary federal agencies that manages the programs established to implement specific activities authorised under the relevant legislation and requirements. The U.S. Government Accountability Office was asked to examine Reclamation's use of funding for the three programs. This book provides financial information for activities carried out under the CVPIA, Calfed Bay-Delta, and San Joaquin programs, including specific legal authorities under which Reclamation requested and expended funds since each program's inception through fiscal year 2014; and discusses drought in the United States.