California Water Plan

In 1919, a report, titled “Irrigation of Twelve Million Acres in the Valley of California,”[5] provided the first comprehensive plan for water management.

The initial Water Plan (known as Bulletin 3)[6] was released in 1957 under the direction of DWR’s first director, Harvey Oren Banks (March 29, 1910 – September 22, 1996).

The plans were gradually expanded to reflect the growing conflicts over California’s limited water resources.

The approach involves dialogue and exchanges among Water Plan teams, committees, stakeholders, and the public.

The governor’s five-year plan, released in January 2014, outlines actions intended to bring reliability, restoration, and resilience to California’s water resources.

This conjunctive use project is designed to provide for enhanced recharge of the groundwater basin beneath the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in northern San Diego County.

There are also chapters on two overlay areas (the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Mountain Counties) that don’t qualify as hydrologic regions, but deserve attention because of their contributions and importance to California’s water systems.

[17] It targets three intersecting concepts including stressing climate urgency, stretching watershed resilience and achieving equity in water management.

[18] The 2023 plan update encourages climate resilience in water sectors and all throughout regions with a statewide vision, defined goals and an indicator dashboard that monitor's progress.

[20] The California Water Plan 2023 update emphasizes the significance of working with local partners to develop watershed based solutions, climate resilience and equity throughout the state.

[21] The 2023 update promotes the idea that “All Californians benefit from water resources that are sustainable, resilient to climate change, and managed to achieve shared values and connections to our communities and the environment”.

Volume 1, The Strategic Plan: Investing in Innovation and Infrastructure , of Update 2013.
The Sierra Nevada snowpack is the state’s largest surface “reservoir,” providing an average of 15 million acre-feet of water per year, mostly between April and July.
Since the earliest days of statehood, California has invested in water and flood management infrastructure to promote growth and economic development. A period of resource extraction led to a booming economy, while at the same time creating a number of unintended consequences, including environmental degradation. Environmental laws and regulations were enacted in the latter part of the 20th century to help remedy the consequences and restore the environment.
Foreground: Mark Cowin (right), Director of DWR, converses with Dick Quigley, Director of Zone 7 Water Agency, as Gordon Burns, Undersecretary for the California Environmental Protection Agency, listens in after a panel discussion at the Association of California Water Agencies’ (ACWA’s) Spring Conference and Exhibition at the Sacramento Convention Center. Background: John Laird, California Secretary for Natural Resources, talks with John Coleman, President of the ACWA. The panel focused on drought and its impact on the state’s economy and environment. May 6, 2015.
Three Themes Graphic from Update 2013.
The intertie between the California Aqueduct and the Central Valley Delta-Mendota Canal allows for operational flexibility. These state and federal structures, respectively, meet at the O’Neill Forebay, part of the San Luis Joint-Use Complex.
The San Francisco Bay/ Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary supplies water for much of California.
1997 Yuba City Flood.
Santa Margarita River: With the Santa Margarita Conjunctive Use Project (San Diego County), surface water from the river would be diverted to groundwater percolation ponds.