California WaterFix Update
 

Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta - DWR Photo
Issue 8, January 19, 2017
25 Million Californians rely on
Sierra Nevada water that travels through the Delta

There are more than 39 million people living in California today, and 25 million of us rely on water that originates in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and upper watersheds, and then travels through the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta to be delivered to the Bay Area, Central Valley, Central Coast and Southern California.
  • In an average year, about 30% of Metropolitan Water District demands are met by water that flows through the Delta.
  • 40% of Santa Clara County's water supply comes from the Delta.
  • 80% of water delivered to Zone 7 Water Agency comes from the Delta (Zone 7 serves the Bay Area cities of Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin and San Ramon). 
    •
This graph shows how many cities and regions throughout California are reliant on Delta water. 

Sierra Mountains
photo courtesy DWR
    Upstream Diversions Impact 
the Delta 

The Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta is part of a 75,000 square mile watershed with many rivers which ultimately flow out into San Francisco Bay. The two largest rivers within the watershed, the Sacramento and San Joaquin, are fed by many tributary rivers including the Tuolumne and Mokelumne Rivers. Millions of Californians rely on drinking water from these Delta tributary rivers.
 
The Sierra's Tuolumne River provides 85% of the water supply delivered by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) to 2.6 Million Bay Area residents.
 
The Sierra's Mokelumne River provides 90% of source water for the East Bay Municipal Water District (EBMUD) to deliver water to 1.39 million Bay Area residents. (EBMUD UWMP pg. 6)
 
Water from the Sierra is a precious resource that supplies most of the people, businesses and farms in California.

 

 

Read the previous California WaterFix issue here .

For more information

 
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Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
mwdh2o.com