- California State Water Project
The California State Water Project, commonly known as the SWP, is the world's largest publicly built and operated water and power development and conveyance system. The SWP was designed and is operated by the
California Department of Water Resources . The original purpose of the project was to provide water for aridSouthern California which lacks adequate local water resources to provide for the growth the region has experienced. Today, the SWP provides drinking water for over 23 million people and generates an average 6.5 millionMWh ofhydroelectricity annually. However, as the largest single consumer of power in the state, its net usage is 5.1 millionMWh . [ [http://www.publicaffairs.water.ca.gov/swp/swptoday.cfm The SWP today] ]Construction began in the late 1950s, with major funding approved in a 1960
bond measure . The vote on the bond split along North-South lines, as Northern Californians opposed the measure as a boondoggle and an attempt to steal their water resources. Most of the water (roughly 80%) carried by the project is used for agriculture, primarily in theSan Joaquin Valley , since pumping the water over theTehachapi Mountains is costly and Southern California has other sources of water such as theOwens River , tributary creeks toMono Lake and theColorado River .Primary features of the project include
Oroville Dam ,San Luis Reservoir , and theCalifornia Aqueduct . In dry years, water pumped from theSacramento River Delta creates a hazard to spring-runsalmon , as the currents that the salmon spawn normally follow to thePacific Ocean go to the pumps instead. This and other water use and environmental problems led to the creation of theCALFED Bay-Delta Program or CALFED in 1994.In May 1972, Reader's Digest published a story about the SWP, claiming that it is one of the only two manmade objects visible from space (the other being the
Great Wall of China ).List of SWP facilities
*
Antelope Dam on Indian Creek inPlumas County , California
*Lake Palmdale on theCalifornia Aqueduct inLos Angeles County , California
*Oroville Dam on theFeather River inButte County , CaliforniaExternal links
* [http://www.publicaffairs.water.ca.gov/swp/ California Department of Water Resources State Water Project overview]
* [http://calwater.ca.gov/ CALFED]
* [http://www.valleywater.org/Water/Where_Your_Water_Comes_From/Imported_Water/State_Water_Project.shtm State Water Project - Santa Clara Valley]References
*"
Cadillac Desert ",Marc Reisner , (1993) ISBN 0-14-017824-4
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