D--048966 - CALFED Bay-Delta Program - State of California

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RICHARD KATTELMANN University of California Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory Mammoth Lakes, California ABSTRACT Hydrology and Water Resources Water is a critical component of the resource issues and conflicts of I N T R O D U C T I O N the Sierra Nevada. Almost every environmental dispute in the range involves water as principal or secondary concern. Most human activities have some potential to influence the quantity, distribution, or Water, in all its forms, is indeed the crowning glory of the Sierra. Whether in motion or at rest, the waters of the Sierra are a constant joy to the beholder. quality of water. Above all, they are the Sierra’s greatest contribution Rivers of the Sierra Nevada appear to have shown remarkable to human welfare. resiliency in recovering from the gold mining era; however, so few Farquhar 1965, 1 channels were left untouched by historic disturbances that reference streams in a completely natural state may not exist for comparison, Water management structures developed concurrently with hydraulic mining and have since come to dominate the flows of water from the Sierra Nevada. Few river systems in the range have natural flow regimes over much of their length. In most river basins, this active management of the water itself affects the annual water balance, temporal distribution, flood hydrology, minimum flows, and water quality much more than any human disturbance of the landscape. Ironi- cally, the primary benefits to society of water from the Sierra Nevada cause the primary impacts. By trying to serve the so-called highest beneficial uses, domestic water supply and production of food and power, we have caused the greatest impacts, Watershed disturbance in the form of mining, road building, logging, grazing, fire, residential development, and other uses has altered vegetation and soil properties in particular areas. Where these Water is central to the resource issues and conflicts of the Si- erra Nevada. Changes in water availability, stream-flow quantity and timing, flooding, quality of surface and ground water, aquatic and riparian habitat, soil erosion, and sedimentation have occurred throughout the range as results of land disturbance and resource management (Kattelmann and Dozier 1991). However, the magnitude of such changes, their relative importance, and the ability of natural and human communities to adapt to or recover from alterations in hydrologic processes in the Sierra Nevada are largely unknown. Con- cern about degradation of water quality is widespread in public reaction to past and proposed resource management activities. Californians need to know whether their primary water source, the Sierra Nevada, is functioning well in general and what problems need attention. The Sierra Nevada generates about 25 km3 disturbances have altered a large fraction of a watershed, including areas near stream channels, flows of water and sediment may be (20 million acre- feet [AF]) of runoff each year out of a total for California of about 88 km3 changed significantly. Nevertheless, major changes in hydrologic processes resulting from watershed disturbance have been noticed in only a few streams. More extensive changes are suspected, but they have not been detected because of the minimal monitoring network that is in place. Prol~osed programs for reducing the amounts of fuels in forests have potential for significant aquatic impacts; however, catastrophic wildfire carries far greater risks of grave damage to aquatic systems. (71 mLllion AF) or about 28% (Kahrl 1978; Callfornia Department of Water Resources 1994). This runoff accounts for an even larger proportion of the developed water resources and is critical to the state’s economy. The rivers of the Sierra Nevada supply most water used by California’s cities, agriculture, industry, and hydroelectric facilities. The storage and conveyance systems developed to utilize the water resources of the Sierra Nevada are perhaps the most Sierra Nevada Ecosyste~n Project: Final report to Congress, vol. I[, Assessments and scientific basis for management options. Davis: University of California, Centers for Water and Wildland Resources, 1996. 855 D--048967 30 D-048967
856 VOLUME II, CHAPTER 30 extensive hydrotechnical network in the world. Major water terminal lakes of the western Great Basin. In all cases, the supply systems have tapped the Tuolumne River for San Fran- waters of the Sierra Nevada enriched the lands through which cisco, the Mokelumne River for Alameda and Contra Costa they flowed. In the past century, the fluid wealth of the moun- Counties, eastern Sierra streams for Los Angeles, and the tains has been extended well beyond natural hydrographic Feather River for the San Joaquin valley and other parts of boundaries through engineering projects to distant agriculsouthern California. Irrigated agriculture throughout Califor- tural and urban areas. Electricity generated from falling wa~ nia consumes more than the annual runoff of the Sierra Ne- ter in the Sierra Nevada and distributed through the western vada and accounts for more than 90% of consumptive use in power grid affects distant communities. Crops grown with the state (U.S. Geological Survey I984; California Department and containing water precipitated over the Sierra Nevada are of Water Resources 1994). More than 150 powerhouses on Si- sold around the world. The recreational and aesthetic qualierra Nevada rivers produce about 24 million megawatt-hours ties of Sierran rivers and lakes attract visitors from throughof electricity per year (see Stewart 1996). Operations of most out the United States and the world. Artwork portraying water of the water projects are quite sensitive to fluctuations in cli- in the Sierra Nevada is found around the globe; for example, mate over periods of a few years. Sierra Nevada rivers sup- a watercolor mural in traditional Chinese style of waterfalls port extensive aquatic and riparian communities and maintain in Yosemite Valley hangs in the Taipei airport as an example the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta estuary ecosystems (see of Chinese scenery. Jennings 1996; Moyle 1996; Moyle and Randall 1966; Moyle Water has played a critical role in Euro-American affairs in et al. 1996; Erman 1996). the Sierra Nevada since the discovery of gold in a channel Perhaps the most common perception of water from the leading to a water-powered sawmill in 1848. Water was es- Sierra Nevada is no perception at all, merely benign igno- sential to large-scale gold mining and processing. Water derance. For many, water is something that appears at the velopment for mining led to one of the nation’s earliest major kitchen faucet, showerhead, garden hose, or is a choice among decisions in environmental law (that halted hydraulic minbottled beverages. Water rarely makes the general news ex- ing) and to our intricate network of hydrotechnical structures cept in times of serious shortage or excess. Agricultural and that transfer water from the Sierra Nevada to farms, cities, urban communities of the Central Valley that are dependent and powerhouses. Conflicts over water from the Sierra Neon water from Sierra Nevada rivers probably have the great- vada are likely to be a continuing part of the California scene. est direct interest in water issues, but they are chiefly con- Water is simply too valuable to society and all forms of life to cerned about the amount delivered and how fisheries policies be anything but a high priority for resource policies and manmight affect those deliveries. Most residents of the Sierra agement. Water eventually emerges in almost all environmen- Nevada are probably knowledgeable and concerned about tal disputes, even when the debate starts on some other local water supplies and ground water but are not known to distinct issue. All parties to the dispute can usually agree that harbor any common misperceptions about the local resource, water is an influence on or is influenced by the original issue. just a shared hope that there always will be enough water Water is tied to all other issues considered by SNEP, with some available. People in cities benefiting from water supplies ex- links more obvious than others, but it is literally an integral ported from the Sierra Nevada are concerned about quantity component of the ecosystem approach. and quality of water at the tap, but many are unsure about the source of their water. Visitors to the Sierra Nevada are usually concerned about the aesthetic qualities of water that they see. Environmentally conscious segments of the public may believe the water resources of the Sierra Nevada are sub- GENERAL STATE OF stantially degraded. Serious water problems in parts of the KNOWLEDGE Sierra Nevada and throughout the country may be extrapolated and perceived as occurring throughout the Sierra Ne- Despite the importance of water to California, there have been vada. For example, if poor logging practices in the Pacific remarkably few integrative studies of water resources in the Northwest are initiating landslides and ruining fish habitat, state or the Sierra Nevada. State agencies have issued reports then some people may assume the same things are happen- about statewide water matters for more than a century (e.g., ing within the Sierra Nevada. Water issues highlighted in Hall 1881; Conservation Commission 1913; California Departpopular books (e.g., Reisner 1986; Postel 1992; Doppelt et al. ment of Public Works 1923). The first California Water Plan 1993; Palmer 1994) are often assumed to apply to the Sierra was released by the Department of Water Resources in 1957. Nevada but may not be of similar severity. Originally a description of proposed water projects, updates Water flowing from the Sierra Nevada has far-reaching ef- to the California Water Plan have evolved into a more thorfects. On the western slope, runoff naturally flowed through ough evaluation of water supply, demand, and management the Central Valley of California and San Francisco Bay to the (e.g., California Department of Water Resources 1994). Corn- Pacific Ocean or, in the south, contributed to Tulare and Buena prehensive descriptions of water in the state appear in books Vista Lakes. On the eastern slope, streams flowed toward the by Harding (1960), Seckler (1971), and the Governor’s Office D--048968 D-048968
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D--048966 - CALFED Bay-Delta Program - State of California

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