[Narrator] Pete Lucero: This is a Mid - Pacific Region, Public Affairs production.
[water sounds]
Regional Director – David Murillo: During 2012, the Region demonstrated its commitment to managing, developing and protecting water
and natural resources.
The dedication was reflected in the water we delivered to farms,
cities, industry and the environment.
And in the power produced by our hydroelectric plants.
We also finished or advanced major projects and programs
to make our long-term water supply more reliable and protect and restore the environment across the Region.
[music]
Pete Lucero: The Region serves the Northern two-thirds of California and parts of Oregon and Nevada.
There are eleven separate water projects of various sizes.
The largest -- by far -- is the Central Valley Project.
It delivers melting snow from California’s northern mountains
to farms, wildlife refuges and other users in the Sacramento
and San Joaquin valleys and beyond,
through a complex network of dams, reservoirs,
canals and other facilities built over decades.
The valley’s agricultural production helps drive California’s
economy and produces much of the nation’s food.
[music]
The Central Valley Project’s 11 hydroelectric power plants
produce about 4.5 million megawatt
hours in an average water year.
About a third of the electricity is used to pump
water through the project and the rest is distributed across several western states.
Major accomplishments in 2012 included completion
of a 185-million dollar project on the Sacramento river near Red Bluff in Northern California.
The new Red Bluff pumping plant and fish screen
conveys water to 150-thousand acres of farmland
over four counties while protecting fish.
The gates of the previous diversion dam have been permanently opened
to allow free migration of fish in the Sacramento River.
The Region completed a 29-million dollar Intertie
between the Federal Delta-Mendota Canal and the California Aqueduct.
The Intertie is part of the Central Valley Project, and is located near Tracy, California.
The connection allows more flexibility in the delivery of water
to the San Joaquin Valley.
Operators can allow water to flow downhill from the state canal to the Federal canal.
Or they can pump water uphill from the Federal canal to the
to the State canal, as needed.
Environmental restoration programs are one of Reclamation’s high priorities.
In 2012, the Region advanced restoration of 48 miles
of Battle Creek in two Northern California counties,
all while maintaining a private utility’s hydroelectric power production.
The project involves removing diversion dams and constructing fish screens
and ladders - in an effort to increase salmon and steelhead
trout migrations in the creek. The project is scheduled for completion in 2015.
The Region advanced another important environmental restoration program in 2012.
The San Joaquin River Restoration Program is a comprehensive,
long-term effort to restore the San Joaquin River in Central California.
The program’s goals center on restoring and maintaining river flows
and reintroducing salmon, in an effort to create a self-sustaining
population while reducing or avoiding adverse water supply impacts from restoration flows.
The Region not only continued to operate and maintain essential
hydroelectric power plants, but also helped to develop additional
renewable energy resources. A relatively small plant
began operation on an irrigation canal in Southern Oregon.
Reclamation has identified hundreds of similar canals
that have the same potential for generating electricity.
Regional Director – David Murillo: In 2012, the Region completed or advanced
major short-term and long-term water supply improvements,
power generation projects and environmental restoration programs.
We are continuing that work while maximizing water supplies,
repairing water and power infrastructure, and improving water efficiency, reuse and recycling.
We are committed to working with our partners to achieve our overall mission -
one that is so essential to the health of the state and local economies, the public
and the environment.