Tag: water storage
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Water storage successes, failures, and challenges from Proposition 1
by Jay Lund The California Water Commission recently allocated $2.7 billion from Proposition 1 bonds for eight water storage projects. Proposition 1 was passed in 2014 to fund a range of projects, including “public purposes” of water storage projects, such as for ecosystem support, flood risk reduction, water quality, recreation, and emergency response. Among its…
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Shaping water storage in California
By Jay Lund, Maurice Hall and Anthony Saracino With the continuation of California’s historic drought and the recent passage of Proposition 1, the potential value of additional water storage in the state is an area of vigorous discussion. In a new study released today, we look at the different roles of storage in California’s integrated water system and…
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Should California expand reservoir capacity by removing sediment?
By Jay Lund Removing sediment from reservoirs is often suggested as a potentially better way to expand storage capacity than raising dam heights or building new reservoirs. This is a natural notion to explore given the cost and likely environmental impacts of traditional expansions. For perspective, the construction cost of conventional reservoir expansion is about…
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Water Storage in California
Jay R. Lund, The Ray B. Krone Chair of Environmental Engineering, University of California – Davis “With a larger reservoir, there is some increasing gain with further size, but in a diminishing ratio.” – Alan Hazen (1914) Water storage capacity is an important tool in California’s water system for capturing lower-value water for higher-value uses…