California Water Timeline

1769 - 1994 Denver California WATER TIMELINE Part 1 1769 First permanent Spanish settlements established. Water rights established by Spanish law. 1848 Gold discovered on the American River. Treaty of Guadalupe signed, California ceded from Mexico, California republic established. 1880 First flood control plan for the SacramentoValley developed by State Engineer William Hammond Hall. 1892 SIERRA CLUB FOUNDED 1892 Conservationist John Muir founds Sierra Club. 1901 First California deliveries from the Colorado River made to farmland in the Imperial Valley. 1902 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation established by the Reclamation HETCH HETCHY Act of 1902. WATER SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM 1908 City of San Francisco's filings for Hetch Hetchy project approved. 1913 Los Angeles Aqueduct begins service. 1920 Col. Robert B. Marshall of the U.S. Geological Survey proposes statewide plan for water conveyance and storage. 1928 St. Francis Dam collapses, flooding the Santa Clarita Valley, killing more than 450 people. Worst drought of the 20th century begins. 1934 Construction starts on All-American Canal in the Imperial Valley (first deliveries in 1941) and on Parker Dam on the Colorado River. 1940 MWD of Southern California's Colorado River. Aqueduct completed. First deliveries in 1941. 1944 Mexican-U.S. Treaty guarantees Mexico 1.5 million acre-feet per year from Colorado River. CALIPONNIA Water Boards 1945 State Water Resources Control Board created. RIMENT OF STATE OF 1951 State authorizes the Feather River Project Act (later to become the State Water Project). CALIFOR 1959 Delta Protection Act resolves some issues of 1963 legal boundaries, salinity control and water export. Arizona v. California lawsuit decided by U.S. Supreme Court, allocating 2.8 million acre-feet of Colorado River water per year to Arizona. 1966 Construction begins on New Melones Dam on the Stanislaus River after 20 years of controversy over the reservoir's size & environmental impacts. Completed in 1978. STATES A 3. UNITED 1974 ONMENTAL PROTECTION Congress passes Safe Drinking Water Act. 1978 State Board issues Water Rights Decision 1485 setting Delta water quality standards. 1980 State-designated wild and scenic rivers placed under federal Act's protection. 1982 Proposition 9, the Peripheral Canal package, overwhelmingly defeated in statewide vote. 1989 Reclamation Reform Act raises In a separate challenge to Los Angeles' Mono Basin water rights, appellate court holds that fish are a public trust resource in California Trout v. State Water from 160 acres to 960 acres the amount of land a farmer can own and still receive low-cost federal water. Resources Control Board. 1992 Congress approves landmark CVP Improvement Act. 1994 State Board amends Los Angeles' water rights licenses to Mono Lake. Created by: R ARSHALL PL UNMBING Source: http://www.watereducation.org/aquapedia/california-water-timeline RESOU PARTME