California State Water Project Research Articles

Large-scale water development in the United States: TVA and the California State Water Project

ABSTRACT Assessments of large-scale water resources projects in two regions of the United States provide lessons about long-term outcomes. In the humid East, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) serves multiple objectives and is the largest public power enterprise in the nation. In the West, California’s State Water Project serves nearly 27 million people and some 750,000 acres of farmland with extensive infrastructure. Assessing the outcomes of such large-scale projects requires integrated analysis and involves different value propositions. The major lessons are about government actions in river basin and public power systems development and their impacts on agriculture, urban development, and a vulnerable and changing delta ecosystem.

Artificial Neural Network for Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta Flow–Salinity Relationship for CalSim 3.0

AbstractThe California State Water Project (SWP) along with the Central Valley Project (CVP), under various environmental regulations, manage California’s complex water storage and delivery system....

Integration of Transport, Survival, and Sampling Efficiency in a Model of South Delta Entrainment

A Bayesian hierarchical model that integrated information about state and observation processes was used to estimate the number of adult Delta Smelt entrained into the southern Sacramento−San Joaquin Delta during water export operations by the California State Water Project and the Central Valley Project. The model hierarchy accounted for dynamic processes of transport, survival, sampling efficiency, and observation. Water export, mark−recapture, and fish facility count data informed each process. Model diagnostics and simulation testing indicated a good fit of the model, and that parameters were jointly estimable in the Bayesian hierarchical model framework. The model was limited, however, by sparse data to estimate survival and State Water Project sampling efficiency. Total December to March entrainment of adult Delta Smelt ranged from an estimated 142,488 fish in 2000 to 53 fish in 2014, and the efficiency of louvers used to divert entrained fish to fish facilities appeared to decline at high and low primary intake channel velocities. Though applied to Delta Smelt, the hierarchical modeling framework was sufficiently flexible to estimate the entrainment of other pelagic species.

Analysis of future climate change impacts on snow distribution over mountainous watersheds in Northern California by means of a physically-based snow distribution model

The impacts of climate change on snow distribution through the 21st century were investigated over three mountainous watersheds in Northern California by means of a physically-based snow distribution model. The future climate conditions during a 90-year future period from water year 2010 to 2100 were obtained from 13 future climate projection realizations from two GCMs (ECHAM5 and CCSM3) based on four SRES scenarios (A1B, A1FI, A2, and B1). The 13 future climate projection realizations were dynamically downscaled at 9 km resolution by a regional climate model. Using the downscaled variables based on the 13 future climate projection realizations, snow distribution over the Feather, Yuba, and American River watersheds (FRW, YRW, and ARW) was projected by means of the physically-based snow model. FRW and YRW watersheds cover the main source areas of the California State Water Project (SWP), and ARW is one of the key watersheds in the California Central Valley Project (CVP). SWP and CVP are of great importance as they provide and regulate much of the California's water for drinking, irrigation, flood control, environmental, and hydro-power generation purposes. Ensemble average snow distribution over the study watersheds was calculated over the 13 realizations and for each scenario, revealing differences among the scenarios. While the snow reduction through the 21st century was similar between A1B and A2, the snow reduction was milder for B1, and more severe for A1FI. A significant downward trend was detected in the snowpack over nearly the entire watershed areas for all the ensemble average results.

Improving the multi-objective evolutionary optimization algorithm for hydropower reservoir operations in the California Oroville–Thermalito complex

This study demonstrates the application of an improved Evolutionary optimization Algorithm (EA), titled Multi-Objective Complex Evolution Global Optimization Method with Principal Component Analysis and Crowding Distance Operator (MOSPD), for the hydropower reservoir operation of the Oroville–Thermalito Complex (OTC) – a crucial head-water resource for the California State Water Project (SWP). In the OTC's water-hydropower joint management study, the nonlinearity of hydropower generation and the reservoir's water elevation–storage relationship are explicitly formulated by polynomial function in order to closely match realistic situations and reduce linearization approximation errors. Comparison among different curve-fitting methods is conducted to understand the impact of the simplification of reservoir topography. In the optimization algorithm development, techniques of crowding distance and principal component analysis are implemented to improve the diversity and convergence of the optimal solutions towards and along the Pareto optimal set in the objective space. A comparative evaluation among the new algorithm MOSPD, the original Multi-Objective Complex Evolution Global Optimization Method (MOCOM), the Multi-Objective Differential Evolution method (MODE), the Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA), the Multi-Objective Simulated Annealing approach (MOSA), and the Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization scheme (MOPSO) is conducted using the benchmark functions. The results show that best the MOSPD algorithm demonstrated the best and most consistent performance when compared with other algorithms on the test problems. The newly developed algorithm (MOSPD) is further applied to the OTC reservoir releasing problem during the snow melting season in 1998 (wet year), 2000 (normal year) and 2001 (dry year), in which the more spreading and converged non-dominated solutions of MOSPD provide decision makers with better operational alternatives for effectively and efficiently managing the OTC reservoirs in response to the different climates, especially drought, which has become more and more severe and frequent in California.

Use of the calcite saturation index as an indicator of environmental suitability for dreissenid mussels

Determining environmental suitability for dreissenid mussel survival is important in managing water resources. The saturation index for calcite (SIcalcite) was examined as a potential predictor of environmental suitability for dreissenids. SIcalcite was calculated for 500 lakes from Ontario, Canada and Vermont and Wisconsin, USA. A lower limit of -0.9 was determined necessary for successful establishment of longterm mussel populations. This limit was then applied to sites in the California State Water Project. When compared with using calcium alone or paired calcium and pH values, SIcalcite was better at identifying environmental suitability at the extremes of calcium and pH ranges.

Hydrodynamic Simulation of Circulation and Residence Time in Clifton Court Forebay

Circulation in Clifton Court Forebay (CCF) was simulated using the three-dimensional (3–D) hydrodynamic model UnTRIM. These numerical simulations were performed to provide a better understanding of circulation patterns, flow pathways, and residence time in Clifton Court Forebay in support of ongoing studies of pre-screen loss and fish facility efficiency for delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) at the California State Water Project (SWP) export facilities. The 3–D hydrodynamic model of CCF was validated through comparisons to observed water surface elevations inside CCF, and comparisons to observed drifter paths and velocity measurements collected by the U.S. Geological Survey as part of this study. Flow measurements collected near the radial gates for 2 days during relatively low inflows suggest that the Hills (1988) gate equations may over-estimate inflow by as much as 39% when the CCF radial gates are only partially opened. Several alternative approaches to improve the implementation of the radial gate flows in the UnTRIM model were evaluated. The resulting model accurately predicts water surface elevations and currents inside CCF over a range of wind and operating conditions. The validated model was used to predict residence time and other transport time scales for two 21-day simulation periods, one of very low daily SWP export pumping averaging 19.3 m3 s-1 and one for moderate daily SWP export pumping averaging 66.6 m3 s-1. The average transit time, indicating the time from entering CCF to reaching the fish facility, was estimated as 9.1 days for low export conditions and 4.3 days for moderate export conditions. These transport time scale estimates may be used to inform estimates of pre-screen losses inside CCF due to predation or other causes.

Practical Studies of the Electrolysis and Volatilization of the Bromide from Drinking Water to Minimize Bromate Production by Ozonation

In four recently published articles, a process for the oxidation of bromide to bromine and the volatilization of bromine from drinking water sources was presented. This process was shown to be able to remove up to 35% percent of the bromide found naturally in the California State Water Project. Although bromide itself is quite harmless, it has been shown to react with commonly used disinfectants to produce compounds or disinfection by-products (DBPs) of suspected carcinogens. Bromide reacts with ozone to form bromate. This article presents two studies of pilot scale, flow-through electrolytic reactors that oxidize bromide to bromine and volatilize bromine at <pH 3.5, which occurs at the anode as a result of the oxidation of water. One reactor had 14 anodes that were 91 cm deep and the other had 13 anodes 1.2 cm deep. The bromide removal rates were studied at several different water flows and power settings for different bromide concentrations for both reactors. The results show removal of bromide is impacted by water flows and power settings for different bromide concentrations. Effluent from the deep reactor did show some reduction in bromate concentration as compared to control samples but the results were inconsistent. This appeared to be caused by significant differences in the ozone demand produced by different experimental conditions, difficulty determining the concentration of chlorine, and the use of hydrogen peroxide as a dechlorinating agent. Using the shallow reactor, these difficulties were overcome by developing a more consistent determining chlorine concentration, using much larger ozone doses to overwhelm the ozone demand, and by using ascorbic acid instead of hydrogen peroxide. With these changes, it could be shown that the electrolytic reactor not only lowered the concentration of bromide in the water but when ozonated, the amount of bromate formed was reduced in direct proportion to the amount of bromide removed for an equal dose of ozone.

How reservoirs alter drinking water quality: Organic matter sources, sinks, and transformations

Within reservoirs, production, transformation, and loss of dissolved organic matter (DOM) occur simultaneously. While the balance between production and loss determines whether a reservoir is a net sink or source of DOM, changes in chemical composition are also important because they affect DOM reactivity with respect to disinfection by-product (DBP) formation. The composition of the DOM pool also provides insight into DOM sources and processing, which can inform reservoir management. We examined the concentration and composition of DOM in San Luis Reservoir, a large off-stream impoundment of the California State Water Project. We used a wide array of DOM chemical tracers including dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, trihalomethane and haloacetic acid formation potentials (THMFP and HAAFP, respectively), absorbance properties, isotopic composition, lignin phenol content, and structural groupings determined by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). There were periods when the reservoir was a net source of DOC due to the predominance of algal production (summer), a net sink due to the predominance of degradation (fall–winter), and balanced between production and consumption (spring). Despite only moderate variation in bulk DOC concentration (3.0–3.6 mg C/L), changes in DOM composition indicated that terrestrial-derived material entering the reservoir was being degraded and replaced by aquatic-derived DOM produced within the reservoir. Substantial changes in the propensity of the DOM pool to form THMs and HAAs illustrate that the DBP precursor pool was not directly coupled to bulk DOC concentration and indicate that algal production is an important source of DBP precursors. Results suggest reservoirs have the potential to attenuate DOM amount and reactivity with respect to DBP precursors via degradative processes; however, these benefits can be decreased or even negated by the production of algal-derived DOM. [Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Lake and Reservoir Management to view the supplemental file.]

Oxidation and volatilization of bromide by electrolysis in drinking water

To reduce the concentrations of brominated disinfection by-products, a process is presented here which removes bromide from a widely used surface water source, the California State Water Project (SWP). The process consists of oxidizing bromide to bromine and volatilizing the bromine. SWP water was passed through this unit under various conditions and the bromide was oxidized and volatilized under a variety of conditions. Five different reactor bodies with seventeen different configurations were tested. The reactors differed in the depth of the anode, in the distance between the anodes and, in the surface area of the anodes. Each reactor had SWP water pumped through the reactor at three or more different flows and at four or more different currents, producing 267 experimental conditions. Both reaction rates and removal efficiency increased with increasing current and were generally higher in the shallower reactors. The highest reaction rates were observed in the shallowest reactors and highest flow rates but the greatest efficiency was achieved is in a slightly deeper reactor at lower flows. This appears to have been the effect of the shallowest reactor having the smallest surface area that was easily saturated and but being closest to atmosphere, allowing the most rapid volatilization of bromine.

Identifying sources of dissolved organic carbon in agriculturally dominated rivers using radiocarbon age dating: Sacramento–San Joaquin River Basin, California

We used radiocarbon measurements of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to resolve sources of riverine carbon within agriculturally dominated landscapes in California. During 2003 and 2004, average Δ14C for DOC was −254‰ in agricultural drains in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, −218‰ in the San Joaquin River, −175‰ in the California State Water Project and −152‰ in the Sacramento River. The age of bulk DOC transiting the rivers of California’s Central Valley is the oldest reported for large rivers and suggests wide-spread loss of soil organic matter caused by agriculture and urbanization. Using DAX 8 adsorbent, we isolated and measured 14C concentrations in hydrophobic acid fractions (HPOA); river samples showed evidence of bomb-pulse carbon with average Δ14C of 91 and 76‰ for the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers, respectively, with older HPOA, −204‰, observed in agricultural drains. An operationally defined non-HPOA fraction of DOC was observed in the San Joaquin River with seasonally computed Δ14C values of between −275 and −687‰; the source of this aged material was hypothesized to be physically protected organic-matter in high clay-content soils and agrochemicals (i.e., radiocarbon-dead material) applied to farmlands. Mixing models suggest that the Sacramento River contributes about 50% of the DOC load in the California State Water Project, and agricultural drains contribute approximately one-third of the load. In contrast to studies showing stabilization of soil carbon pools within one or two decades following land conversion, sustained loss of soil organic matter, occurring many decades after the initial agricultural-land conversion, was observed in California’s Central Valley.

Factors Affecting Fish Entrainment into Massive Water Diversions in a Tidal Freshwater Estuary: Can Fish Losses be Managed?

AbstractWe examined factors affecting fish entrainment at California's State Water Project and Central Valley Project, two of the largest water diversions in the world. Combined, these diversions from the upper San Francisco Estuary support a large component of the municipal and agricultural infrastructure for California. However, precipitous declines in the abundance of several estuarine fish species, notably the threatened delta smelt Hypomesus transpacificus, have generated major concern about entrainment as a possible cause of the declines. We examined a 13‐year data set of export pumping operations and environmental characteristics to determine factors affecting entrainment (as indexed by salvage at fish screens) and the potential for manipulation of these factors to improve conditions for fish. Entrainment of three migratory pelagic species—delta smelt, longfin smelt Spirinchus thaleichthys, and striped bass Morone saxatilis—was primarily determined by the seasonal occurrence of particular life stages close to the export facilities. We also found that the direction and magnitude of flows through the estuary and to the export facilities were reasonable predictors of pelagic fish entrainment. Entrainment of resident demersal species (prickly sculpin Cottus asper and white catfish Ameiurus catus) and littoral species (Mississippi silverside Menidia audens and largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides) was not explained by diversion flows, although large numbers of individuals from these species were collected. Our study suggests that entrainment of pelagic species can be effectively reduced by manipulating system hydrodynamics.

Water Transport Charges and the California Divide: Implications of Ruling for Future State Capital Water Projects

This article discusses the recent case of Alameda County Flood Control &amp; Water Conservation District Zone 7 et al v. State of California Department of Water Resources et al, Case No. 05AS01775, Sac. Sup. Ct. [Aug. 21, 2009], which centers around the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) use of revenues from the Hyatt‐Thermalito Dam, operated near the large storage facility of Lake Oroville, to offset the fees it charges contracting water agencies to the California State Water Project (SWP) for transporting water through the system. The article discusses the grave importance of these transportation charges to Southern California water agencies, along with how the court's decision was influenced by the ambiguity of the text of the contract. The court found that the state acted within its discretion in setting the fee structure in the first place. DWR has a statutory authority to sell power and set the price for it under California Water Code §11454. Other sections of the water code authorize DWR to cancel power sale contracts with utilities on the condition that it continued to pay at least as much for at least as long as the utilities paid for Hyatt‐ Thermalito power. DWR developed a policy regarding how it would value Hyatt‐Thermalito power for the purposes of calculating the credit to the SWP transportation charges, and the court held that this policy decision was entitled to deference.

Assessing reservoir operations risk under climate change

Risk‐based planning offers a robust way to identify strategies that permit adaptive water resources management under climate change. This paper presents a flexible methodology for conducting climate change risk assessments involving reservoir operations. Decision makers can apply this methodology to their systems by selecting future periods and risk metrics relevant to their planning questions and by collectively evaluating system impacts relative to an ensemble of climate projection scenarios (weighted or not). This paper shows multiple applications of this methodology in a case study involving California's Central Valley Project and State Water Project systems. Multiple applications were conducted to show how choices made in conducting the risk assessment, choices known as analytical design decisions, can affect assessed risk. Specifically, risk was reanalyzed for every choice combination of two design decisions: (1) whether to assume climate change will influence flood‐control constraints on water supply operations (and how), and (2) whether to weight climate change scenarios (and how). Results show that assessed risk would motivate different planning pathways depending on decision‐maker attitudes toward risk (e.g., risk neutral versus risk averse). Results also show that assessed risk at a given risk attitude is sensitive to the analytical design choices listed above, with the choice of whether to adjust flood‐control rules under climate change having considerably more influence than the choice on whether to weight climate scenarios.

Electrochemical process for the removal of bromide from California state project water

Although bromide is generally considered non-toxic at concentrations found in most drinking water sources, it reacts with a variety of commonly used disinfectants, most notably ozone and chlorine, to produce by-products that are of serious public health concern. There are not currently any demonstrated technologies that can remove bromide in a cost effective fashion. This paper examines an electro-chemical process on a pilot-scale to remove bromide from a widely used surface water source, the California State Water Project (SWP). The process consists of oxidizing bromide to bromine and volatilizing the bromine. SWP water was passed through this unit under various conditions and the bromide removal was measured as well as the formation potential for various organic by products. This study shows up to 35% of the bromide was removed and there were up to 60% less disinfection by-products measured.

Seasonal Variations in Concentrations of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Drinking Water and Reclaimed Wastewater in Southern California

Southern California imports nearly all of its potable water from two sources: the Colorado River and the California State Water Project (Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin). Sewage treatment plant effluent (STPE) heavily impacts both of these sources. A survey of raw and treated drinking water from four water filtration plants in San Diego County showed the occurrence of several polar organic "pharmaceuticals and personal care products" (PPCP). These included phthalate esters, sunscreens, clofibrate, clofribric acid, ibuprofen, triclosan, and DEET. Several of these were also found in the finished water, such as di(ethylhexyl) phthalate, benzophenone, ibuprofen, and triclosan. Occurrence and concentrations of these compounds were highly seasonally dependent, and reached maximums when the flow of the San Joaquin River was low and the quantity of imported water was high. The maximum concentrations of the PPCPs measured in the raw water were correlated with low flow conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that feeds the State Water Project. The PPCP concentrations in raw imported water in the summer months approached that of reclaimed nonpotable wastewater.

Using Temperature and Salinity Tolerances to Predict the Success of the Shimofuri Goby, a Recent Invader into California

Shimofuri gobies Tridentiger bifasciatus recently invaded the San Francisco Estuary of California and appear to be physiologically well suited to the region. To assess the range expansion capability of the shimofuri goby, I used standard techniques to measure the critical thermal maxima (CTMax) at eight combinations of temperature (10°C and 20°C) and salinity (0, 5, 10, and 20‰) and I measured chronic upper salinity tolerance (CUST) at 20°C. Shimofuri goby CTMax was 37°C when acclimated to 20°C and was 31–34°C when acclimated to 10°C. These values surpass those of most other resident fishes and allow the gobies to survive in small isolated pools at low tide, where temperatures change quickly and often exceed 30°C. Shimofuri goby CUST was 17‰, typical for estuarine fishes, but insufficient to allow for range expansion through seawater. Shimofuri gobies have been transported via the California State Water Project into freshwater reservoirs, where they appear to have established reproducing populations. From these populations, they may disperse downstream into southern Californian estuaries, possibly threatening the federally endangered tidewater goby Eucyclogobius newberryi.

Ancient blue oaks reveal human impact on San Francisco Bay salinity

San Francisco Bay is one of the most important estuaries on the west coast of the Americas. Its water quality is controlled primarily by streamflow from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. In fact, freshwater inflow from the Sacramento‐San Joaquin Delta explains 86% of the salinity variability at the mouth of the San Francisco Bay estuary [Peterson et al., 1989]. The massive diversion of streamflow by the California State Water Project and the Central Valley Project, part of the largest manmade water control system on Earth [Reisner, 1988], has raised salinity in the estuary on daily, seasonal, and annual timescales [Nichols et al., 1986; Peterson et al., 1989].

Oxidation of MTBE by ozone and peroxone processes

These two processes effectively remove MTBE but may also increase bromate.Initial pilot‐scale investigations demonstrated that both ozone alone and a combination of ozone and hydrogen peroxide (known as peroxone) can remove methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) from water sources used by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Under the tested conditions, peroxone more effectively removed MTBE than did ozone alone. In pilot tests, peroxone (here, 4 mg/L ozone and 1.3 mg/L hydrogen peroxide) removed an average of about 78 percent of the MTBE from water samples taken from the California State Water Project and the Colorado River. However, in peroxone‐treated samples from both water sources at ambient conditions, bromate was produced at concentrations above the maximum contaminant level of 10 μg/L for bromate in drinking water. A lower pH of 6.5 reduced bromate formation by about 20 percent in samples from both water sources, but it did not reduce the bromate concentration below 10 μg/L (the water sources contained about 0.1 mg/L bromide). Further optimization of the peroxone process may minimize bromate formation while providing acceptable MTBE removal and disinfection.

Build It And They Will Come: A Reexamination of the California State Water Project

Research Article| April 01 1998 Build It And They Will Come: A Reexamination of the California State Water Project Martin A. Nie Martin A. Nie Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Southern California Quarterly (1998) 80 (1): 71–88. https://doi.org/10.2307/41171881 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Martin A. Nie; Build It And They Will Come: A Reexamination of the California State Water Project. Southern California Quarterly 1 April 1998; 80 (1): 71–88. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/41171881 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentSouthern California Quarterly Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 1998 Historical Society of Southern California Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.