California: Contra Costa County - Diverse
Measures Protect CA Watershed
Background
The Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) in northern California supplies wholesale and
retail water to over 500,000 people in Contra Costa County. The primary source of water
for this system is the surface water of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The
Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers flow from the mountains and join at the Delta.
CCWD primarily diverts water from Old River near Discovery Bay and Rock Slough near
Knightsen. The diverted water is then stored in the Los Vaqueros Reservoir near
Brentwood and delivered to CCWD's untreated water customers, or treated and
delivered to CCWD's treated water customers. The Los Vaqueros watershed area of
18,500 acres is managed by the CCWD to protect source water quality.
Formed in 1936 to provide water for irrigation and industry, CCWD is now one of the
largest urban water districts in California and a leader in drinking-water treatment
technology and source water protection. CCWD's customers also include 10 major
industries, and 12 smaller industries and businesses. The mission of the Contra Costa
Water District is to strategically provide a reliable supply of high quality water at the
lowest cost possible, in an environmentally responsible manner.
Source water protection efforts by CCWD are extensive and diverse. Strategies and
initiatives include regulatory controls, voluntary pollutant reduction by agricultural
irrigators upstream of CCWD's water supply, the Los Vaqueros Reservoir Project,
grazing management on lands within the watershed, and partnerships designed to
improve and increase the modeling and analysis of water-related problems in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley.
Priority Contamination Threat
Livestock grazing is the priority contamination threat to the drinking water.
Local Involvement and Developing the Protection Plan
A significant management step taken by the CCWD to protect and improve the county's
drinking water was the building of the Los Vaqueros Reservoir Project, which was
completed in 1998. In anticipation of building the project, CCWD established a Water
Resources Group within the District's Planning Department. The Group is responsible for
tracking conditions in the Sacramento/San Joaquin River and Delta system and
watching the release patterns and salinity levels of the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta.
The Group maintains close contact with State and federal agencies to exchange
information and report on the conditions of the Delta. These efforts allow for advanced
planning for CCWD's operations. CCWD has also developed a speaker's bureau for
public education and outreach.
Prior to, and throughout, the building of Los Vaqueros, the CCWD Public Information
Office conducted extensive community relations outreach to its ratepayers, the media,
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and the general public. All were kept apprised of public meetings and scoping sessions
and construction progress. Communications continue today to help educate all
audiences on the value of water and the importance of source water protection and
water conservation. Community Relations programs include: a watershed scouting
program, construction project outreach, public outreach bus tours of CCWD facilities, a
speakers' bureau, Los Vaqueros Interpretive Center weekend programs, and booths at
local fairs. In addition, CCWD conducts a comprehensive Water Education Program
(WEP) that reaches 30,000 students, teachers and parents a year. The WEP includes a
range of free activities for public and private schools throughout the CCWD service area.
Program elements include:
• Watershed Education Restoration Activities and Field Trips;
• Water Treatment Plant Facility Tours;
• Classroom Presentations;
• School Assembly Interactive Program;
• Canal Safety Outreach Program;
• Research Vessel Floating Laboratory Excursions in the Delta; and
• Teacher Development Workshops. .
Upon completion of construction of the Los Vaqueros Reservoir in 1998, CCWD adopted
a public recreation plan for the 18,500-acre watershed. This was the culmination of a
seven-year planning process that involved extensive public outreach. The outreach
activities were designed into the development of the watershed management and
recreation plan from the beginning. Part of the challenge was to make the community
aware of this large but relatively unknown area of the urban region and the significance
of the district's decision to protect it for public needs. Outreach activities included
speaking engagements, newsletters, tours, public meetings, public surveys, letters,
single-subject publications, taped phone messages and website outreach.
CCWD Directors and staff participated in several hundred speaking engagements on the
project, including local agency and civic group presentations and tours of the watershed
and dam site. Several widely advertised public meetings were conducted by the district
early in the planning process for the watershed plan. More than 100 people attended
some of the meetings, providing extensive input that the staff and consultants used to
shape the plan and address as many interests as possible.
CCWD published a special project "key constituent" newsletter for more than 1,000
influential members of the public and people whom the district had identified as having a
strong interest in Los Vaqueros. The "Los Vaqueros Project Update" included maps,
goal and objective charts, construction updates, and answers to common questions. The
newsletter also advertised a telephone "Los Vaqueros Hotline" with updated information
on the project for the public. The newsletter was a key tool in keeping people informed
about the this high-visibility, high-interest project
Management Measures
CCWD completed the Los Vaqueros Project in 1998. It is a 2,000 surface acre reservoir
surrounded by 18,500 acres of watershed. Los Vaqueros has a storage capacity of
100,000 acre-feet. The Los Vaqueros Project has significantly improved the quality of
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drinking water that CCWD supplies to its customers. CCWD stores high quality water
that is available in the Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta during the Winter and
Spring from Sierra runoff and snowmelt. The stored water can then be used later in the
year to improve water quality when there are reduced inflows into the Delta.
The 18,500 acre watershed is managed by CCWD to protect water stored in the Los
Vaqueros Reservoir from both point and non-point sources of pollution. Key to CCWD's
watershed protection strategy is its 99 percent ownership of the Watershed. This allows
land use to be carefully controlled. Historic land uses on the watershed were ranching,
dryland farming and wind energy. Dryland farming has been discontinued. Grazing and
wind energy activities are managed to protect water quality.
More than half of the Los Vaqueros Watershed is comprised of non-native annual
grasslands typical of the California foothills, Grazing is a necessary activity within these
non-native grasslands to reduce fire danger and maintain wildlife habitat. The watershed
grazing program is designed to protect water quality and also meet these other
objectives. Livestock are excluded from a 600-foot buffer zone around the reservoir.
Major tributaries are fenced to create a 150-foot grazing buffer zone. CCWD embarked
on a 2-year program to fence the remaining tributaries. Livestock utilization of the range
is carefully controlled. For example, cow-calf pairs are excluded from the Watershed
until after the winter runoff period.
Annual grazing plans are developed for each grazing lease on the Watershed. Livestock
numbers and distribution are reviewed monthly for each lease to prevent overgrazing.
CCWD is in the process of implementing its range management program on a
Geographic Information System to further improve its range management capability.
Wildlife protection is an important aspect of CCWD's management of Los Vaqueros
Watershed. The Watershed provides important habitat for populations of threatened
wildlife species including: California red-legged frog, California tiger salamander, and
Alameda Whipsnake. The Watershed has a large population of golden eagles that nest
in the watershed. The annual grasslands are managed to create suitable habitat for San
Joaquin kit fox. CCWD has a permanent staff of environmental professionals who
monitor wildlife and maintain wildlife habitat.
CCWD has created a Watershed recreation program that permits public enjoyment of
the watershed and protects water quality. In the increasingly urban environment of the
San Francisco Bay Area, open space is becoming increasingly important. The
Watershed's 18,500 acres combined with other large public ownerships in the center of
Contra Costa County create an open space legacy for current and future generations in
the San Francisco Bay Area. The reservoir is regularly stocked with catchable trout. A
marina at the south end of the reservoir rents electric boats to fishermen at nominal fees.
Fifty-five miles of hiking trails are maintained. Some of these are multiple use trials
where horseback riding and mountain biking is permitted. The District built and maintains
an environmental interpretive center at the north end of the Los Vaqueros Watershed.
The interpretive center hosts an environmental education program for local elementary
schools. Each year more than 2,000 children participate in the program. The center is
open on weekends and holidays to the public.
CCWD also took necessary steps to protect the source water quality in Contra Loma
Reservoir, a Federal Central Valley Project facility operated by CCWD. This facility
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provides further operational flexibility, flow regulation, and emergency storage for
CCWD. CCWD's action was in response to a 1997 California Department of Health
Services order to CCWD that required that either body-contact recreation in the Contra
Loma Reservoir cease, or CCWD stop using the reservoir for domestic water supplies.
Extremely high levels of fecal coliform are measured in the reservoir, in particular in the
swimming areas during high summer swimming usage. High coliform levels are
indicators of increased pathogen risk. In September 2000, CCWD and the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation completed environmental documentation for construction of a $2.2
million swimming lagoon at one end of the reservoir. The lagoon will reduce the risk of
water supply contamination from body-contact recreation, and protect the historical
water supply uses of the reservoir. At the same time, it will minimize impacts on
recreation and protect swimmers from pollution caused by body contact.
In cooperation with stakeholders in the agricultural community, CCWD has worked to
reduce pollutant loads to the Delta tributaries and the reservoir from agricultural drainage
and is working within the California-wide CALFED Bay- Delta Program to address other
sources of drinking water contamination in CCWD's water supply from the Sacramento-
San Joaquin Delta. Programs range from providing incentives for improving water
quality, mitigating wastewater and agricultural drainage discharges, pilot studies to treat
drainage before it reaches the Delta, mine remediation, and land retirement.
In January 2006, CCWD completed two important Delta water quality improvement
projects that will improve water quality for CCWD's customers and help the State
manage water resources in the Delta. The CALFED Rock Slough and Old River Water
Quality Improvement Projects both re-located local sources of agricultural drainage that
were near CCWD's water supply intakes. Drainage from Veale Tract, which used to
discharge directly into Rock Slough, is now discharged outside of Rock Slough in an
area where strong currents quickly dilute the drainage without re-directing impacts. This
project also helps State and Federal agencies meet an important water quality standard,
and allows these agencies to provide better and more efficient operations in the Delta.
The Old River project modified an agricultural drain discharge from Byron Tract by
lengthening the outfall 150 feet further out into Old River. Previously, the outfall
extended only to the immediate bank of the river where channel velocities are slow and
dilution of the discharge was minimal. Part of the project was completed through a
partnership with the Town of Discovery Bay, which also completed a new outfall system
for the Town's wastewater discharge. A related but separate phase of this Old River
project, now in the planning stage, will further improve Delta water quality for all Delta
users by removing sediments and trace levels of substances such as heavy metals,
herbicides, and pesticides from the Kellogg Creek watershed prior to discharge into Old
River. CCWD is also pursuing an additional source water quality improvement through
the Contra Costa Canal Replacement Project, which will replace the unlined Canal with
a pipeline. This will eliminate seepage and runoff from adjacent lands, and improve
security and public safety.
CCWD has also started work on the Alternative Intake Project, a water quality project
that will provide an alternative drinking water diversion location for CCWD in the Delta
where water quality is better. The new drinking water intake will provide significant
improvement in water quality, especially during droughts, and will provide fishery
protection and water supply reliability benefits. Additional information on this water
quality project can be found atwww.ccwater-alternativeintake.com . CCWD is also
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studying expanding its Los Vaqueros Reservoir to improve water quality and water
supply reliability for San Francisco Bay Area water users and contribute to protection
and restoration of Delta fisheries by providing water to the Environmental Water
Account. This project is an important component of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program's
long-term plan to fix the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem.
Additional information on this project can be found at www.lvstudies.com .
One of the programs that CCWD has helped to develop reduces the total amount of
selenium, a naturally occurring toxic trace element, that enters the San Joaquin River
from adjacent agricultural areas on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. The San
Joaquin River is one of the sources of drinking water for Contra Costa County. The River
also serves more than 20 million Californians in Southern California, and the San
Francisco Bay Area who get their drinking water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta.
In 1996, several irrigation and drainage districts joined forces to manage agricultural
drainage collectively within the Grasslands Drainage Area, one of several areas draining
to the San Joaquin River through wildlife areas. The consortium, called the Grassland
Area Farmers, entered into a use agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation for interim
use of an existing portion of the abandoned San Luis Drain. Conveying drainage through
the existing portion of the Drain, referred to as the Grassland Bypass Channel, protects
the water quality in the wildlife refuge areas. As part of the agreement, the Bureau (the
Drain's owner) set a cap on the amount of selenium that could be discharged, with a
gradual annual decrease throughout the life of the agreement. As part of the pollution
reduction strategy, the Grassland Basin Drainage Steering Committee (GBDSC), the
governing body of the Grassland Area Farmers, initiated the tradable loads program in
June 1998. Under the program, the total allowable selenium load is divided among
member irrigation and drainage districts. These load allocations can be traded between
districts as needed. The idea was that the region as a whole will meet its reduction
measures where they are the least expensive to implement; also, the costs will be
evenly distributed among member districts.
The program has also resulted in significant improvement of local management of water
resources by the stakeholders. The selenium load limits have encouraged water
conservation in the drainage area, leading to lower discharges, as well as reductions in
salt and other pollutant loads. The use agreement has since been extended with
additional reductions in the selenium load limits and additional load limits for salinity.
Other management measures include irrigation system improvements, recirculation of
drainage water, use of selenium-laden waters for dust control and irrigation of salt-
tolerant crops, and low-pressure reverse osmosis and solidification treatments.
Contingency Planning
Besides providing higher quality drinking water, CCWD's Los Vaqueros Reservoir is also
the county's greatest asset in the case of a drinking water emergency. If the San Joaquin
or Sacramento Rivers became contaminated such that Delta water would not be safe for
county residents, the Los Vaqueros Reservoir could provide clean water for an
estimated three to six months. Because the CCWD maintains tight control over the
activities that occur within the reservoir watershed, it is highly unlikely that an event
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would make the stored reservoir water undrinkable. Before the reservoir was available,
the county could only store a three-day supply of water.
Measuring Program Effectiveness
The effect of the Grasslands agricultural management program on water quality and
environmental resources has been closely monitored. Water quality monitoring for
bacteriological, nutrient, inorganic, and organic parameters is carried out at five key
locations. CCWD also carries out extensive water quality monitoring in the Los Vaqueros
watershed and at its Delta drinking water intakes. CCWD contributes funding to State
monitoring programs for key drinking water constituents and disinfection byproduct
precursors. The CALFED Bay-Delta Program, of which U.S. EPA is a member agency,
has also established a goal of continuous improvement in source water quality. CCWD is
an active participant in CALFED stakeholder workgroups developing a methodology for
measuring the success of the CALFED and other watershed and source protection
programs.
For further information, contact:
Dr. Richard Denton, Water Resources Manager
(925)688-8187
rdenton@ccwater.com
Matt Novak, Acting Watershed and Lands Manager
(925) 688-8028
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