Existing comment:
1769: Mission San Diego is founded
1770-1790: Mission manuscripts record crop failures due to drought. Spanish settlers raise cattle, settle beside perennial streams, and divert water in ditches for irrigation.
1773: Spanish missionaries build a dam and a six-mile aqueduct to bring water to the San Diego mission.
1781: The Pueblo of Los Angeles is founded near the Porciuncula River, now the Los Angeles River.
1800: Yankees begin arriving. Mountain men arrive to trap furs. After Mexican Revolution in 1822, the new government issued land grants that created large cattle ranchers.
1842: Gold is found near Pyramid Lake.
1846: The short-lived California Republic is declared, then superseded by Mexican-American War and occupation by US troops.
1847: Rainfall is collected in a California rain gauge for the first time.
1848: Gold is discovered at Sutter's Mill. Tens of thousands migrate to California.
1849: The California Constitutional Convention direct the Surveyor General to make irrigation, drainage and navigation studies.
1850: California becomes the 31st state. Great waves of immigrants follow the Gold Rush.
1853: Hydraulic mining starts in the Sierra Nevada. Within 9 years, 700 miles of ditches are constructed. Pressurized water is used to break down banks of gold-gravel. Some flumes are still used today for water delivery in the Gold Country.
1860: Agriculture flourishes. Farmers drill "artesian wells" from which water flows naturally due to underground water pressure. Depletion of water supply from indiscriminate drilling soon becomes evident.
1861: The Confederate States of America comprises 11 states. Fort Sumter's fall begins the Civil War.
1862: Sacramento has a major flood. River channels are choked by silt and sand from hydraulic mining.
1865: Major drought wipes out cattle industry, opening up more land for agriculture with no significant economic activity in Southern California.
-- End of Civil War.
1869: New transcontinental railroad creates incentives to grow grain for sale "back east."
1874: Congress authorizes Army Corps of Engineers to study irrigation system for the San Joaquin, Tulare and Sacramento Valleys.
1879: William Hammond Hall, first State Engineer, proposes levees in Sacramento Valley to confine rivers, speed the current and carry mining debris to San Francisco Bay.
1884: Federal Court outlaws pollution of California rivers by debris from hydraulic mining.
1886: California Supreme Court in Lux vs Haggin reaffirms the legal pre-eminence of riparian rights.
1888: Los Angeles booms to 50,000, becoming the second largest urban area in the state after San Francisco.
1900: A development company starts settlement of the Imperial Valley, its farmlands receiving the first water from the Colorado River.
1902: The Redemption Act of 1902 passed. A milestone federal commitment to irrigation works for the western frontier.
1905: The Colorado River breaks through levee, floods the Salton Sink, creating Salton Sea -- which becomes resort area and irrigation drainage basin for the Imperial Valley.
1907: Los Angeles voters approve a $23,000,000 bond issue to finance the Owens River Aqueduct to bring water from the eastern Sierra.
-- Imperial Valley farmers and Southern Pacific Railroad push the Colorado River back into its channel to stop flow into the Salton Sea.
1908: US approves San Francisco's request to acquire right of way for Hetch Hetchy water project bring water from Yosemite National Park.
1910: San Francisco voters approve $45 million Hetch Hetchy bond issue.
1913: Los Angeles Aqueduct delivers first water from Owens Valley; the water fight with residents of the valley continues for decades with dynamite and lawsuits. Congress authorized Hetch Hetchy project for San Francisco.
1914-18: World War I ravages Europe, draws America into the world arena.
1919: Colonel Robert B Marshall, a US Geological Survey, proposed exporting Sacramento Valley water to Southern California through canals to irrigate farmlands. Plan serves as framework for California's state water engineering.
1922: Colorado River Compact signed, dividing river flow between upper and lower basin states. Division between California and Arizona unclear. Arizona does not sign.
1923: Hetch Hetchy Valley flooded for San Francisco water supply. despite years of protest by conservationists led by John Muir.
1928: Boulder Canyon Act passed, allowing construction of Boulder Dam (now known as Hoover Dam), Colorado River Aqueduct, and All-American Canal.
-- St. Francis Dam collapses in Southern California, killing more than 400 and causing millions of dollars in damage.
-- The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is created to bring water from Colorado River to coast cities.
1929: Stock Market crashes, the Great Depression begins.
1929-1934: Six-year California drought spurs development of major water projects.
1930: East Bay Municipal Utility District's Mokelumne project is placed in service.
1931: State Water Plan catalogues California's water resources, flood controls needs and irrigation potential.
1932: Construction begins on Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam) and Colorado River Aqueduct.1933: Federal Government agrees to build the Central Valley Project, a system of dams, reservoirs, canals, pumping and power plants.
1934: Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct water reaches San Francisco.
1935: Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam) is completed, harnessing Colorado River.
1938: Work starts on Shasta Dam, key facility of Central Valley Project. Major flood in Southern California.
1939: Colorado River Aqueduct is completed.
-- Germany invaded Poland, World War II begins.
1941: Pearl Harbor attacked and America goes to war. California booms as arsenal staging area for war in Pacific.
-- First delivers made through All-American Canal in Imperial Valley.
1944: Shasta Dam is completed.
1945: World War II ends. Nuclear age begins.
1947: San Diego completed link to Colorado River Aqueduct.
1948: Contra Costa Canal is completed, part of Central Valley Project.
1950: Korean War begins.
1951: State legislature authorized Feather River Project to become the State Water Project. First water delivered from Shasta Dam. Central Valley Project's Delta-Mendota Canal and Tracy Pumping Plant begin operation.
1955: Feather River floods Yuba City, killing 38, giving impetus to Feather River Project plans.
1956: State Department of Water Resources created. State Water Rights Board formed to settle water rights disputes.
-- Feather River Project construction starts with relocation of Western Pacific Railroad and Highway 70 at Oroville.
1957: Soviets launch Sputnik, first artificial satellite.
1958: Legislature deadlocks on Feather River Project, each end of the state demanding solid guarantees.
1959: Legislative deadlock broken. "California Water Resources Development Bond Act" puts 1.75 billion dollars on 1960 ballot, largest state bond issue ever.
1960: California Water Resources Development Bond Issue of $1.75 billion is ratified by voters, launching the State Water Project.
1961: USSR sends first man into orbit. US sends Alan Shepard Jr. into space one month later.
1962: Oroville Dam and Sna Luis Dam construction start.
1963: Work begins on 444-mile California Aqueduct. President Kennedy is assassinated.
1964: Flood hits Northern California. Partly built Oroville Dam helps save Marysville and Yuba City, north coast has heavy damage.
1965: Work begins on Tehachapi Crossing of the California Aqueduct.
-- Interagency Delta Committee recommends Peripheral Canal as best way to move water to pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Canal would curve 42 miles around the Delta.
1968: First State Water Project deliveries made in upper Feather River area, Napa County, and San Joaquin Valley. Congress authorizes Central Arizona Project, to divert 1.7 million acre-feet per year from Colorado River.
-- Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated.
1969: US role in Vietnam peaks. Man walks on the moon.
-- Lake Oroville and San Luis Reservoir fill. South Bay Aqueduct is in full operation.
1970: First pumps installed at AD Edmonston Pumping Plant. Tehachapi Crossing completed. Construction begins on Perris Dam.
1971: Buena Vista, Wheeler Ridge, Wind Gap, AD Edmonston, and Pearblossom pumping plants begin operation, providing the first Project Construction starts. Completion of Buena Vista pumping plant.
1972: Legislature passes Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to preserve north coast's remaining free-flowing rivers from development, keeping 1/4 of California's undeveloped water in its natural state.
1973: First water flows into Lake Perris, the end of the line for the California Aqueduct.
-- US pulls out of Vietnam.
1977: Driest year in California's recorded history. Water Resources proposes Peripheral Canal and other facilities to increase capacity of State Water Project and Central Valley Project, and to protect Delta water quality.
1978: Water Resources Control Board issues Decision 1485 setting Delta water quality and flow standards. Parties affected take issue to court.
1980: Legislature authorizes construction of Peripheral Canal and other facilities to expand State Water Project. Opponents force referendum.
1982: Peripheral Canal overwhelmingly rejected by voters because of cost and environmental concerns.
1983: Waterfowl deaths and deformities discovered at Central Valley Project's Kesterson Reservoir.
-- California Supreme Court rules Public Trust Doctrine applies to Los Angeles diversions from Mono Lake basin. Limits diversions if they affect public trust values such as environment, open space, scenic, and wildlife preservation.
1984: Legislature authorizes the construction of Los Banos Grandes, a major offstream storage reservoir south of the Delta.
1985: Court of Appeals orders Water Resources Control Board to reconsider Decision 1485, saying that Bay-Delta water quality protection is afforded all beneficial water users, and that all water users, not just Central Valley Project and State Water Project, are responsible for meeting Bay-Delta water quality objectives.
1986: Severe flooding in Northern California. Coordinated Operation Agreement signed for Central Valley Project and State Water Project, providing additional safeguards for the Delta. Kern Water Bank proposed as State Water Project ground water storage project.
1987: Water Resources buys 20,000 acres for Kern Water Bank. Hearings begin to revise Bay-Delta water standards and determine how to manage and distribute Delta water. State Water Project begins construction of final 4 pumps at Harvey O Banks Delta Pumping Plant. State Water Project begins enlarging east branch of California Aqueduct.
1990: Environmental studies for water management programs in the northern and southern Delta continue in order to obtain approval by various State and federal agencies. Objectives are to improve and maintain water levels, circulation patterns, water quality, water supply, reliability, fishing conditions, navigation, flood protection, and recreational opportunities.
1997: Coastal Branch is completed, with service to San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties.
2000: The State Water Project continues to meet the future water needs of California. |