About the State Water Project
The State Water Contractors purchase water from the California State Water Project, the nation's largest state-built water and power development and delivery system that stretches from Northern California, thru the Central Valley and into Southern California. It is a multi-faceted system that includes reservoirs, lakes, storage tanks, canals, tunnels, pipelines and pumping and power plants that capture, store, and convey water to 27 public agencies. Almost any issue that affects the State Water Project’s operations directly affects members of the State Water Contractors and the 25 million residents, businesses and farms that they serve.
Water
Water is the defining resource for California prosperity. On the farm, in the factory, around the home – the availability of clean and affordable water is the critical ingredient in creating the state’s thriving economy and world-renowned quality of life.
Providing water to areas throughout California has been a central – and ongoing – story in the state’s history. From the San Francisco Bay area, to the Central Valley, to the southern coastal plain and the southeastern deserts, far-sighted leaders of our state have developed water supply and delivery systems to supplement local sources and to ensure the state’s future.
The State Water Project exemplifies Californians’ investment in their collective future. And it’s certainly no coincidence that development of this important water supply closely parallels California’s rise to the forefront of the national economy, and the state’s stature as the world’s sixth largest economy.
In 1960, California voters approved $1.75 billion in general obligation bonds to finance construction of the State Water Project. Water supply contracts were signed between the state and public agencies stretching from counties in the north, to the San Francisco Bay area, through the San Joaquin Valley, and into Southern California. Water deliveries from the project began in 1965. By 1997, 27 public agencies throughout California were serving 22 million people and 1 million acres of farmland.
Under the contracts signed between the state and public agencies (known as the State Water Contractors), it was agreed that the agencies would receive specified amounts of water each year from the State Water Project. In return, the agencies agreed to repay the full cost, including interest, of financing, building, operating and maintaining the water delivery system.
The State Water Project is operated and maintained by the California Department of Water Resources, and it extends from three recreational lakes in Plumas County in Northern California to Riverside County in Southern California. Its pumping plants move the water through canals, underground pipelines, siphons, and tunnels, including the 444-mile California Aqueduct.
The State Water Project's water supply capability depends on rainfall, snowpack, runoff, reservoir storage, pumping capacity from the San Francisco/Sacramento - San Joaquin Bay – Delta (Delta), and regulatory and environmental constraints on project operations. Project water supply comes from storage at Lake Oroville and high runoff flows in the Delta. Water deliveries have ranged from 1.4 million acre-feet in dry years to almost 4.0 million acre-feet in wet years. Given there is no assured or “guaranteed” annual water supply, local State Water Contractor agencies have worked hard to develop additional local water supplies.
Today, there are 27 member agencies of the State Water Contractors that purchase water from the State Water Project. Water from the project serves more than 25 million residents, business and farms throughout California, irrigates more than 750,000 acres of prime agricultural lands and directly sustains $400 billion of the statewide economy.
The State Water Project is one of the most ambitious and economically beneficial investments Californians have ever made to promote and ensure their well-being. Inextricably linked with the Delta, the project’s full promise will only be realized when a sustainable and balanced solution is implemented in the Delta. The State Water Project is vital to ensuring and extending California’s prosperity and quality of life.
Energy
In addition to being the nation’s largest state owned and operated water delivery system, the State Water Project is the single largest power consumer in California. In order to provide some of the energy needed to pump water to the areas served by the State Water Contractors, the California Department of Water Resources included a system of hydroelectric power plants in the State Water Project. The significant amount of energy produced by the system has made the State Water Project California’s fourth largest energy producer.
Member agencies of the State Water Contractors have a vital interest in the generation and consumption of State Water Project power, which is needed to maintain reliable water deliveries to their service areas in Northern, Central and Southern California.
State Water Contractors’ members pay the California Department of Water Resources for all costs associated with power facilities and water deliveries. Energy is the largest component of the State Water Contractors’ annual bills, comprising approximately 45% of the forecasted water delivery costs for 2007. The organization works closely with the California Department of Water Resources on an ongoing basis to contain pumping costs and enhance power generation value.
To reduce the overall cost of energy for water deliveries, the State Water Project is carefully operated to maximize pumping during off-peak hours, when California’s daily energy demands are lowest and therefore cheaper, and to minimize pumping during on-peak hours when energy demands are highest and more expensive. In addition, the California Department of Water Resources, as a bulk power utility, can sell surplus power when State Water Project energy demands are less than its power resources. This revenue helps keep the net cost of water deliveries affordable.
For more information on the State Water Project, please visit, www.ca.water.gov. |
