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<br />Bulletin 160~98 Public Review Draft <br /> <br />OOiJ396 <br /> <br />Chapter 1. Introduction <br /> <br />Chapter 1. Introduction <br /> <br />In 1957, the Department published Bulletin 3, the California Water Plan. Bulletin 3 was <br /> <br /> <br />followed by the Bulletin 160 series, published six times between 1966 and 1993 to update the <br /> <br /> <br />California Water Plan. A 1991 amendment to the California Water Code directed the <br /> <br /> <br />Department to update the plan every five years. Bulletin 160-98 is the latest in a series of water <br /> <br /> <br />plan updates, <br /> <br /> <br />The Department's Bulletin 160 series assesses California's agricultural, environmental, <br /> <br /> <br />and urban water needs and evaluates water supplies, in order to quantify the gap between existing <br /> <br /> <br />and forecasted future water demands and the corresponding water supplies, The report series <br /> <br /> <br />presents a statewide overview of current water management activities, and provides water <br /> <br />managers and others with a framework for use in making water resources decisions. <br /> <br /> <br />While the basic scope of the Department's water plan updates has remained unchanged <br /> <br /> <br />over time, each plan has taken a distinct approach to water resources planning, reflecting issues <br /> <br />or concerns at the time of its publication. For example, this update reviews in some detail the <br /> <br />many water.related environmental restoration programs now in active implementation. On the <br /> <br /> <br />other hand, this update does not cover nonconsumptive uses of water for hydropower generation, <br /> <br />because there has not been significant statewide activity on this subject in recent years, (In the <br /> <br />late I970s/early I980s, high energy prices and favorable tax treatment for renewable energy <br /> <br /> <br />resources had spurred a boom in small hydropower development.) As the effects of pending <br /> <br /> <br />utility deregulation actions become apparent, and as more Federal Energy Regulatory <br /> <br /> <br />Commission licenses become due for renewal on major Sierra Nevada rivers, this topic may <br /> <br /> <br />become timely for a future water plan update. <br /> <br /> <br />In response to public comments on the last water plan update, Bulletin 160-93, the <br /> <br /> <br />Department has focused this 1998 update on evaluation of water management actions that could <br /> <br />be implemented to improve water supply reliability in California, Bulletin 160-93 evaluated <br /> <br /> <br />2020 agricultural, environmental, and urban water demands in considerable detail. These <br /> <br /> <br />demands, together with water supply information, have been updated for the 1998 Bulletin, <br /> <br />which also uses a 2020 planning horizon, Much of Bulletin 160-98, however, is devoted to <br /> <br /> <br />identification and evaluation of options for improving water supply reliability. Water <br /> <br />i <br />I <br /> <br />1-1 <br /> <br />DRAFT <br />