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<br />involving the area where the Sacramento and
<br />San Joaquin rivers meet San Francisco Bay. Along
<br />with water conservation, water marketing, water
<br />supply reliability, storage and conveyance, eco-
<br />system restoration is a key part of the action plan
<br />announced by CALFED in June 2000,
<br />
<br />
<br />The adoption of environmental restoration as a policy
<br />goal in the CALFED and CVPIA processes has
<br />helped spark debate about the efficacy of various
<br />restoration strategies. If complete environmental
<br />restoration is not feasible, how can competing
<br />interests be reconciled to reclaim at least parts of
<br />California's rich ecosystem heritage? Early restora-
<br />tion efforts, such as recovery plans for endangered
<br />species, tended to focus on a particular species, or
<br />a specific geographic area.
<br />
<br />New approaches are emerging that expand the
<br />concept of species-specific plans. These approaches
<br />are being tried individually and in combination with
<br />one another across California in settings ranging
<br />from short river and creek reaches to entire water-
<br />sheds. Many observers believe that combinations of
<br />strategies tailored to the needs at specific areas hold
<br />the most promise.
<br />
<br />COLORADO RIVER
<br />
<br />The Colorado River has been called the '1hread
<br />that ties the tapestry of the Southwest together."
<br />But the thread has been cut in several places
<br />along the river's 1,450-mile length by several
<br />dams and diversions, which caused major
<br />changes, particularly on the Lower Colorado River
<br />along the California-Arizona border, A 30-year
<br />period of dam-building ended in the 1960s, and
<br />gave way in the 1990s to efforts to restore portions
<br />of the river to a semblance of its former wiid state,
<br />
<br />Diversions on the Colorado were relatively insig-
<br />nificant until the 1922 Colorado Compact divided
<br />the river into two basins and allotted 7,5 million
<br />acre-feet to the upper basin states of Colorado,
<br />New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, 7,5 million acre-
<br />feet to Arizona and Nevada, and 1.5 million acre~
<br />feet to Mexico, California got 4.4 million acre-feet.
<br />The first dam on the river, Boulder Dam (com-
<br />pleted in 1935 and later renamed Hoover Dam),
<br />hinted at the environmental effects to follow when
<br />it changed the river's seasonal flows and blocked
<br />the transport of silt that proved critical to the
<br />support of downstream habitats on the Lower
<br />Colorado,
<br />
<br />Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in a 1999 speech
<br />said the biggest task facing his department in the
<br />new century will be to restore rivers, wetlands and
<br />fisheries using a combination of water marketing,
<br />conservation and other innovations, "It is time to
<br />acknowledge that the natural values of river systems
<br />can no longer be treated as table scraps, left over
<br />after every conceivable consumptive appetite has
<br />been fully satisfied," he said,
<br />
<br />Whatever strategies are pursued, it seems certain
<br />that environmental restoration is here to stay as an
<br />important part of California's water-management
<br />process, While it is impossible to turn back the clock
<br />and return to California's pre.Gold Rush environ-
<br />ment, it may be possible to restore major parts of it
<br />and initiate water-management policies that preserve
<br />them for future generations,
<br />
<br />This guide, part of an ongoing series by the Water
<br />Education Foundation, discusses the emergence of
<br />environmental restoration strategies as tools for pre-
<br />serving some of California's most unique resources,
<br />its watersheds, wetlands and wildlife, Related issues
<br />are discussed in the Layperson's Guides to the Cen-
<br />tral Valley Project, the Delta and Water Rights Law,
<br />
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<br />
<br />What is perhaps the defining moment in Colorado
<br />River restoration efforts occurred in March 1996,
<br />when an artificial flood was created by releasing
<br />more than 120 million gallons of water from
<br />Glen Canyon Dam in northeast Arizona, The
<br />release was designed to test a new approach to
<br />dam management that could help restore some
<br />of the Colorado River ecosystem, Observers
<br />say it helped improve breeding areas for fish
<br />by cleansing backwater channels and stabilizing
<br />shorelines without depriving farmers of irrigation
<br />water or power systems of water to generate
<br />electricity,
<br />
<br />
<br />Foliowing the 1996 release, the Interior Depart-
<br />ment announced major operational changes in
<br />the Bureau's management of Glen Canyon Dam,
<br />Those changes include removing dikes and
<br />releasing water on schedules that more closely
<br />resemble the river's natural flow patterns, steps
<br />that are expected to benefit native fish species
<br />that use seasonally flooded bottomlands for
<br />breeding and rearing,
<br />
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