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Show Chapter 3 Water Development Needs, Opportunities, and Programs The Central Valley is already highly developed. A large privately developed, profitable, specialized irrigation agriculture utilizes the water resources of the valley on an extensive scale. A well developed network of roads and railroads serves the densely populated irrigated sections of the valley floor. A large volume of hydroelectric power is generated from the steep mountain streams. The mineral and forest products industries are highly developed. The unirrigated areas are used for dry farming and grazing. More than 100 years ago Sutter discovered gold in the American River, only a few miles above Sac- ramento. That discovery made water the important resource of California for years, for the extensive placer operations that followed would not have been possible without large quantities to operate the "giants" and sluices, and to move the debris down the stream channels, and out of the miners' path. Thus many dams were built, at that time engineer- ing wonders. Many are still useful and substantial structures. Ditches, pipelines, and flumes were con- structed, many of which, upon cessation of mining, were taken over for irrigation and power use, and are still a part of the basin's economy. The Central Valley is not in any sense a frontier area. Although there are many opportunities for using the water resources more fully, these must be fitted into and supplement a complex and inten- sively developed economy. The needs are great be- cause of the rapidly growing population and the difficult social and economic problems associated with the population growth. But the present exten- sive development does not preclude further expan- sion. Opportunities are large because of high agricultural productivity and steadily growing de- mands for electric power. Nevertheless, water re- sources are limited. The program for expansion must be sound, so that maximum results may be ob- tained from the control and use of the remaining water resources. Irrigation The Present Situation Irrigation agriculture has been the backbone of the Central Valley economy since 1880. Expansion has proceeded about as far as available physical structures will permit. Present agriculture depends primarily on works constructed by private enter- prise and local public agencies. These largely are local developments, independent of each other. The area now irrigated exceeds 4 million acres. Lands are irrigated by diverting the natural flow of streams, by using storage from reservoirs, and by pumping underground water. The greatest overexpansion of agriculture has occurred in those areas primarily dependent on ground water. During the last two decades ground water levels have been lowered from 25 to 200 feet over wide areas. Without replenishment of these underground reservoirs large irrigated areas eventu- ally will have to go out of production. On the east side of the southern San Joaquin Valley alone, the total ground water deficit is estimated to be 1.9 million acre-feet annually. The only completed Federal irrigation project in the Central Valley is the Orland Project on Stony Creek, which supplies water for about 20,000 acres in the Sacramento Valley. However, parts of the Central Valley Project,1 notably Shasta Reservoir, 1 The Central Valley Project of the Bureau of Recla- mation does not include all of the Central Valley area. 89 |
