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

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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
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