California Wildlife Refuges

Rimmed by the Sierra Nevadas on the east and the Coastal Range on the west, the Central Valley of California is a 450-mile-long, 50-mile-wide basin largely drained by two rivers. The Sacramento River flows from the north, meets the north-flowing San Joaquin River, where a huge delta is formed, and drains into San Francisco Bay. The Central Valley's farm production in one year exceeds all of the value of gold mined in California since 1848, when the valley was first inhabited. It has the largest concentration of fruit farms and orchards in the United States. Most of the farmland is in the south, while most of the water is in the north.

The Central Valley Project, the largest reclamation endeavor ever undertaken, became the remedy for the imbalance of land and water in the valley. But it also transformed millions of acres of wetland to cropland and threatened well over half of all the birds in the Pacific Flyway. Now 11 national wildlife refuges represent a remnant of the historic marshlands and seasonally flooded wetlands and vernal pools, playing a crucial role in preserving the habitat for a wide range of vulnerable species.

But refuges could not maintain wildlife populations without water, most of which went to agriculture. Only recently have the water needs of refuges been put on a par with those of agriculture.

The Central Valley Project, or CVP for short, is the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's most ambitious project, supplying irrigation water from dams and reservoirs and connecting canals to an area over 400 miles long and up to 100 miles wide. Work began after the project was authorized by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935, but was never finished as planned.

Controversies over dam construction and the environmental impacts on migratory salmon blossomed in the 1960s and 1970s, halting further consideration of new dams including what would be the largest on the American River. Nevertheless, the Central Valley contains one-sixth of the irrigated land in the United States.

Agricultural, urban, and environmental interests competing for California's water led to passage of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act of 1992. It makes the Bureau of Reclamation responsible for delivering water to refuge boundaries all year.

Refuges are granted the same high priority given to agriculture and reductions may not exceed 25 percent during drought years. By the year 2002, the water allocated to refuges is to be at the level wildlife biologists determined is needed to maintain optimum habitats.

Although President George Bush and the U.S. Congress called it the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, California's governor and farmers called it a disaster.

Cosponsored by California's Representative George Miller (D) and enacted by President Bush in 1992, the law says that valley refuges are no longer at the bottom of the list in water priority. Further, refuges no longer have to pay the Bureau of Reclamation, a sister agency in the Interior Department, for the water diverted to them.

A lawsuit failed to stop it, and now only the environmental-assessment process must pass muster before the system can be modified to deliver the increased water.

Because of capacity restraints and maintenance requirements, the current system does not permit either year-round or large enough deliveries. To provide the additional water to Sacramento, Delevan, Colusa, and Sutter NWRs in the north and Kern and Pixley NWRs in the south requires the construction of new pipelines, enlargement of existing canals, and installation of pumps and weirs at an estimated cost of nearly $24 million. Annual operating cost is expected to be slightly over $1 million.

Draft environmental assessments were released in May 1997 for public review and comment. After completion of the environmental review process, construction can begin with funds set aside from the fees charged to water customers. Separate environmental analyses of modifications to water-delivery systems for San Luis and Modesto NWRs are planned for release later.

For more information, contact Division of Planning, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825, 916-979-2297.

From Refuge Reporter, an independent quarterly journal to increase recognition and support of the National Wildlife Refuge System