Environment of California
Encyclopedia
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
History of environmental action
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
makes vegetation susceptible to wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
s through the dry summers. Aboriginal Californians used fire to control brush, promote growth of seed-producing plants important to subsistence, and perhaps as an aid to hunting wildlife. These periodic fires kept woodland areas relatively open until 20th century laws curtailed burning in an effort to protect structures. Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an crops and livestock were introduced with missions
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
along the coast from San Diego to San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
through the late 18th and early 19th century. The California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
caused explosive population growth making San Francisco the only 19th century city west of St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. Water soon became the limiting factor for population growth, and early laws established water rights for irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
and hydraulic mining
Hydraulic mining
Hydraulic mining, or hydraulicking, is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment. In the placer mining of gold or tin, the resulting water-sediment slurry is directed through sluice boxes to remove the gold.-Precursor - ground...
. The Great Flood of 1862
Great Flood of 1862
The Great Flood of 1862 or Noachian Deluge was the largest flood in the recorded history of Oregon, Nevada and California, occurring from December 1861 to January 1862. It was preceded by weeks of continuous rains that began in Oregon in November 1861 and continued into January 1862...
washed gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
displaced by gold mining downstream to cover riparian cropland and fill formerly navigable stream channels serving as transportation corridors to San Francisco Bay. The damage encouraged passage of water pollution control legislation broadly regulating disposal of waste to include relatively innocuous materials like gravel. These California laws provided a template for the United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
Population and transportation
Smith River (California)
The Smith River is a river on the Pacific coast of northern California in the United States, approximately long. It drains a rugged area of the Pacific Coast Ranges west of the Siskiyou Mountains just south of the Oregon border and north of the watershed of the Klamath River. The catchment area is...
, along the Klamath River
Klamath River
The Klamath River is an American river that flows southwest through Oregon and northern California, cutting through the Cascade Range to empty into the Pacific Ocean. The river drains an extensive watershed of almost that stretches from the high desert country of the Great Basin to the temperate...
and its interior wetlands, on the coastal wetlands surrounding Humboldt Bay
Humboldt Bay
Humboldt Bay is a natural bay and a multi-basin, bar-built coastal lagoon located on the rugged North Coast of California, United States entirely within Humboldt County. The regional center and county seat of Eureka and the college town of Arcata adjoin the bay, which is the second largest enclosed...
, on the wetlands surrounding San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
and the rivers of the California Central Valley
California Central Valley
California's Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of California. It is home to California's most productive agricultural efforts. The valley stretches approximately from northwest to southeast inland and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast. Its northern half is...
, along the Salinas River
Salinas River (California)
The Salinas River is the largest river of the central coast of California, running and draining 4,160 square miles. It flows north-northwest and drains the Salinas Valley that slices through the Coast Range south from Monterey Bay...
, and along the coastal wetlands between Morro Bay
Morro Bay, California
Morro Bay is a waterfront city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,234, down from 10,350 at the 2000 census.- History :...
and San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port adjacent to San Diego, California. It is 12 mi/19 km long, 1 mi/1.6 km–3 mi/4.8 km wide...
. Early European trade was by ship, but El Camino Real
El Camino Real (California)
El Camino Real and sometimes associated with Calle Real usually refers to the 600-mile California Mission Trail, connecting the former Alta California's 21 missions , 4 presidios, and several pueblos, stretching from Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego...
extended northward along the southern California coast and through the California Coast Ranges from Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to San Francisco Bay to link individual missions with seaports. San Francisco Bay became the most important seaport for the gold rush and ferries of San Francisco Bay
Ferries of San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay in California has been served by ferries of all types for over 150 years. Although the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge led to the decline in the importance of most ferries, some are still in use today for both commuters and...
carried trade between the seaport and mining areas. The California Trail
California Trail
The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...
became the first important land link between San Francisco Bay and the eastern United States during the gold rush and became the route of the First Transcontinental Railroad
First Transcontinental Railroad
The First Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska The First...
in 1869. The gold rush brought approximately 200,000 new residents to California, and 36% of Californians lived around San Francisco Bay by 1870. Lumber from coastal redwood forests was transported to San Francisco by ships. Redwood proved poorly suited for railroad tie
Railroad tie
A railroad tie/railway tie , or railway sleeper is a rectangular item used to support the rails in railroad tracks...
s, so fast-growing Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n eucalypts were widely planted to provide future supplies.
San Francisco Bay remained the focus of a railway network extending north and south until Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...
completed a transcontinental rail link to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and San Diego in 1885. Eastbound rail shipment of citrus
Citrus
Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...
began in 1890. Petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
was discovered in 1892, and the first offshore drilling
Offshore drilling
Offshore drilling refers to a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled through the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently produce hydrocarbons which lie in rock formations beneath the seabed...
occurred at Summerland Oil Field
Summerland Oil Field
The Summerland Oil Field is an inactive oil field in Santa Barbara County, California, about four miles east of the city of Santa Barbara, within and next to the unincorporated community of Summerland...
in 1896. Hollywood's film industry
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
and shift of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Battle Fleet
Battle Fleet
The United States Battle Fleet or Battle Force was part of the organization of the United States Navy from 1922 to 1941.The General Order of 6 December 1922 organized the United States Fleet, with the Battle Fleet as the Pacific presence. This fleet comprised the main body of ships in the Navy,...
home port
Home port
A vessel's home port is the port at which it is based, which may not be the same as its port of registry shown on its registration documents and lettered on the stern of the ship's hull...
to San Pedro in 1919 accelerated growth of southern coastal cities to 36% of the state population by 1920.
As California petroleum production peaked, the United States Highway System of 1925 included routes paralleling older transportation corridors. U.S. Route 101
U.S. Route 101
U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101, is an important north–south U.S. highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States...
followed El Camino Real and extended through the redwoods to Humboldt Bay. U.S. Route 99
U.S. Route 99
U.S. Route 99 was the main north–south highway on the West Coast of the United States until 1964, running from Calexico, California, on the U.S.-Mexico border to Blaine, Washington, on the U.S.-Canada border. It was a route of the United States Numbered Highways, assigned in 1926 and existing...
extended northward from Los Angeles following railways through the Central Valley; and the Lincoln Highway
Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway was the first road across the United States of America.Conceived and promoted by entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, the Lincoln Highway spanned coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, originally through 13 states: New York, New Jersey,...
and U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66 was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 -- with road signs erected the following year...
followed the transcontinental rail routes from San Francisco Bay and Los Angeles, respectively. Popularity of automobile travel
Effects of the automobile on societies
Over the course of the 20th century, the automobile rapidly developed from an expensive toy for the rich into the de facto standard for passenger transport in most developed countries. In developing countries, the effects of the automobile have lagged, but are emulating the impacts of developed...
encouraged construction of California Route 1 connecting California State Beaches
California State Beaches
The beaches listed below are along the coastline of the state of California. Beaches are listed in order from south to north.- San Diego County :* Border Field State Park* Imperial Beach* Silver Strand State Beach* Coronado Municipal Beach...
, U.S. Route 395
U.S. Route 395 in California
In the U.S. state of California, U.S. Route 395 is a route which traverses from Interstate 15 near the southern city limits of Hesperia, north to the Oregon state line in Modoc County near Goose Lake...
through the Sierra Nevada, and the Arroyo Seco Parkway as the first freeway. Smog
Smog
Smog is a type of air pollution; the word "smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Modern smog is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular emission from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine...
was recognized as an air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
problem in 1954 as Los Angeles Railway
Los Angeles Railway
The Los Angeles Railway was a system of streetcars that operated in central Los Angeles, California and the immediate surrounding neighborhoods between from 1901 and 1963. Except for two short funicular railways it operated on tracks...
, Pacific Electric Railway
Pacific Electric Railway
The Pacific Electric Railway , also known as the Red Car system, was a mass transit system in Southern California using streetcars, light rail, and buses...
and Key System
Key System
The Key System was a privately owned company which provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area from 1903 until 1960, when the system was sold to a newly formed public...
public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
facilities were dismantled during the great American streetcar scandal. Southern California cities were home to 51% of Californians when the Interstate Highway System
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
arrived in 1959, while 26% lived around San Francisco Bay. Lincoln Highway became Interstate 80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
, Route 66 became Interstate 40
Interstate 40
Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...
, and Interstate 5
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 is the main Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific Ocean coastline from Canada to Mexico . It serves some of the largest cities on the U.S...
extended from San Diego through Los Angeles and north up the rain shadow
Rain shadow
A rain shadow is a dry area on the lee side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems, casting a "shadow" of dryness behind them. As shown by the diagram to the right, the warm moist air is "pulled" by the prevailing winds over a mountain...
ed western side of the Central Valley and the eastern end of San Francisco Bay.
Modern commuter rail service includes Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The heavy-rail public transit and subway system connects San Francisco with cities in the East Bay and suburbs in northern San Mateo County. BART operates five lines on of track with 44 stations in four counties...
, Caltrain
Caltrain
Caltrain is a California commuter rail line on the San Francisco Peninsula and in the Santa Clara Valley in the United States. The northern terminus of the rail line is in San Francisco, at 4th and King streets; its southern terminus is in Gilroy...
, Muni Metro
Muni Metro
Muni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway , a division of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency...
, Metro Rail (Los Angeles County), San Diego Trolley
San Diego Trolley
The San Diego Trolley is a light rail system operating in the metropolitan area of San Diego. The operator, San Diego Trolley, Inc. , is a subsidiary of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System ...
, Sacramento Regional Transit District
Sacramento Regional Transit District
The Sacramento Regional Transit District, commonly referred to as RT, is the agency responsible for public transportation in the Sacramento, California area. It was established on April 1, 1973, as a result of the acquisition of the Sacramento Transit Authority...
, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail, and Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
's Pacific Surfliner
Pacific Surfliner
The Pacific Surfliner is a Amtrak regional passenger train route serving communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo....
and Capitol Corridor
Capitol Corridor
The Capitol Corridor is a 168-mile passenger train route operated by Amtrak in California. Because it is fully supported by the state, the Capitol Corridor operates under Amtrak California. It runs from the San Francisco Bay Area to Sacramento, roughly parallel to Interstate 80...
. In 2010, 9 million Californians (24% of the population) lived around San Francisco Bay and 21 million (57% of the population) lived in the southern coastal cities.
Water transfers
Mono Lake
Mono Lake is a large, shallow saline lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in a basin that has no outlet to the ocean...
and Tulare Lake
Tulare Lake
Tulare Lake, named Laguna de Tache by the Spanish, is a fresh-water dry lake with residual wetlands and marshes in southern San Joaquin Valley, California...
shrank as flows were diverted to irrigation. Little Lake was drained to form the town of Willits, California
Willits, California
Willits is a city in Mendocino County, California, United States. Willits is located north-northwest of Ukiah, at an elevation of 1391 feet . The population was 4,888 at the 2010 census, down from 5,073 at the 2000 census. Willits is at the center of Mendocino County and its redwood forests...
in 1874, and Laguna de Santa Rosa
Laguna de Santa Rosa
The Laguna de Santa Rosa is a long wetland complex that drains a 254-square mile watershed encompassing most of the Santa Rosa Plain in Sonoma County, California, USA.-Description:...
was drained to bring rail service to Sonoma County. The Klamath Project
Klamath Project
The Klamath Project was developed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation to supply farmers with irrigation water and farmland in the Klamath Basin.The two main sources supply water for the project are Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River...
drained large shallow lakes for conversion to cropland in 1905. Water was diverted from the Eel River
Eel River (California)
The Eel River is a major river system of the northern Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. Approximately 200 miles long, it drains a rugged area in the California Coast Ranges between the Sacramento Valley and the ocean. For most of its course, the river flows northwest, parallel to the...
to the Russian River
Russian River (California)
The Russian River, a southward-flowing river, drains of Sonoma and Mendocino counties in Northern California. With an annual average discharge of approximately , it is the second largest river flowing through the nine county Greater San Francisco Bay Area with a mainstem 110 miles ...
in 1906 to provide hydroelectric power to Ukiah, California
Ukiah, California
The average high temperature is 73.5 °F . Average low temperature is 46.1 °F . Temperatures reach 90 °F on an average of 65.6 days annually and 100 °F on an average of 14.4 days annually. Due to frequent low humidity, summer temperatures normally drop into the fifties at night. Freezing...
; and Lake Pillsbury
Lake Pillsbury
Lake Pillsbury is an artificial lake in the Mendocino National Forest of Lake County, California, created from the waters impounded from the Eel River by Scott Dam. Elevation is with of shoreline and covering . Activities in the Lake Pillsbury Recreation Area include powerboating, fishing,...
was formed behind Scott Dam in 1922 to increase summer flows.
California Water Wars
California Water Wars
The California Water Wars were a series of conflicts between the city of Los Angeles, farmers and ranchers in the Owens Valley of Eastern California, and environmentalists. As Los Angeles grew in the late 1800s, it started to outgrow its water supply. Fred Eaton, mayor of Los Angeles, realized that...
opened with the Los Angeles Aqueduct
Los Angeles Aqueduct
The Los Angeles Aqueduct system comprising the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct, is a water conveyance system operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power...
in 1913 as the first large-scale transfer of water from northern mountains to meet population needs of southern California's coastal cities. Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct
Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct
The Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct is a conveyance of Tuolumne River water runoff from federal lands in Yosemite National Park to San Francisco and its client municipalities in the greater San Francisco Bay Area...
transferred water to San Francisco in 1932 after John Muir
John Muir
John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
's unsuccessful efforts to preserve Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
's Hetch Hetchy Valley
Hetch Hetchy Valley
Hetch Hetchy Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in California. It is currently completely flooded by O'Shaughnessy Dam, forming the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The Tuolumne River fills the reservoir. Upstream from the valley lies the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. The reservoir...
. The 1922 Colorado River Compact
Colorado River Compact
The Colorado River Compact is a 1922 agreement among seven U.S. states in the basin of the Colorado River in the American Southwest governing the allocation of the water rights to the river's water among the parties of the interstate compact...
allowed completion of the Colorado River Aqueduct
Colorado River Aqueduct
The Colorado River Aqueduct, or CRA, is a water conveyance in Southern California in the United States, operated by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California . The aqueduct impounds water from the Colorado River at Lake Havasu on the California-Arizona border west across the Mojave...
to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 1941.
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation public works projects included Friant Dam
Friant Dam
Friant Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the upper San Joaquin River in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Fresno County and Madera County near the town of Friant. The dam, completed in 1942, forms Millerton Lake and was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which owns and operates the dam. The lake...
on the San Joaquin River
San Joaquin River
The San Joaquin River is the largest river of Central California in the United States. At over long, the river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through a rich agricultural region known as the San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean...
in 1942 and Shasta Dam
Shasta Dam
Shasta Dam is an arch dam across the Sacramento River in the northern part of the U.S. state of California, at the north end of the Sacramento Valley. The dam mainly serves long-term water storage and flood control in its reservoir, Shasta Lake, and also generates hydroelectric power...
on the Sacramento River
Sacramento River
The Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...
in 1945. These dams reduced winter flooding and summer salinity of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta encouraging crop production on drained wetlands. The Central Valley Project
Central Valley Project
The Central Valley Project is a Bureau of Reclamation federal water project in the U.S. state of California. It was devised in 1933 in order to provide irrigation and municipal water to much of California's Central Valley—by regulating and storing water in reservoirs in the water-rich northern...
continued with Folsom Dam
Folsom Dam
Folsom Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the American River in Northern California, about northeast of Sacramento. Folsom Dam is high concrete and long, flanked by earthen wing dams...
on the American River
American River
The American River is a California watercourse noted as the site of Sutter's Mill, northwest of Placerville, California, where gold was found in 1848, leading to the California Gold Rush...
, Trinity Dam
Trinity Dam
Trinity Dam is an earth dam on the Trinity River that forms Trinity Lake near Weaverville, California. Trinity Lake was previously called Clair Engle Lake. The earthfill dam was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Construction was completed in 1962. Trinity Lake has a capacity of , making it...
on the Trinity River
Trinity River
Trinity River may refer to:*Trinity River *Trinity River...
, and Oroville Dam
Oroville Dam
Oroville Dam spans the Feather River about northeast of the city of Oroville, California. It forms Lake Oroville, which stores water for irrigation, flood control, municipal water supply and hydroelectricity generation in California's Sacramento Valley. The dam lies in the foothills of the Sierra...
on the Feather River
Feather River
The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is about . Its drainage basin is about...
. Construction of the California Aqueduct
California Aqueduct
The Governor Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct is a system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys of Northern- and Central California to Southern California. The Department of Water Resources operates and maintains the...
has been completed to Southern California except for a Peripheral Canal
Peripheral Canal
A Peripheral Canal has been proposed to divert water from the Sacramento River, through the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta...
which might restore pre-dam delta salinity concentrations.
A major fraction of water transferred to southern California is used for production of food. Irrigation return flow
Return flow
Return flow is surface and subsurface water that leaves the field following application of irrigation water. While irrigation return flows are a point source, they are expressly exempted from permit requirements under the Clean Water Act ....
s like the New River
New River (Mexico – United States)
The New River flows north from near Cerro Prieto, through the city of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, into the United States through the city of Calexico, California towards the Salton Sea...
may contain pesticide
Pesticide
Pesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
s and elevated concentrations of dissolved minerals, and may accumulate in endorheic basins like Kesterson Reservoir
Kesterson Reservoir
The Kesterson Reservoir is the name of a former unit of the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge which is part of the current San Luis National Wildlife Refuge...
. The Salton Sea
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in California's Imperial Valley. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside counties in Southern California. Like Death...
was enlarged by diversion of water from the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
.
New environments
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
. The relatively low urban population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
encouraged by automobile mobility features edge effect
Edge effect
The edge effect in ecology is the effect of the juxtaposition or placing side by side of contrasting environments on an ecosystem.This term is commonly used in conjunction with the boundary between natural habitats, especially forests, and disturbed or developed land. Edge effects are especially...
habitats including a broad range of landscaping
Landscaping
Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including:# living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly referred to as gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beautiful environment within the landscape.#...
plants. Omnivore
Omnivore
Omnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source...
s able to cross street
Street
A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable...
s, road
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
s, and freeways thrive in this spatially fragmented habitat with dry season water available from landscape irrigation. Columbidae, Corvidae
Corvidae
Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs and nutcrackers. The common English names used are corvids or the crow family , and there are over 120 species...
, House sparrow
House Sparrow
The House Sparrow is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. One of about 25 species in the genus Passer, the House Sparrow occurs naturally in most of Europe, the Mediterranean region, and much of Asia...
, European Starling
European Starling
The Common Starling , also known as the European Starling or just Starling, is a passerine bird in the family Sturnidae.This species of starling is native to most of temperate Europe and western Asia...
and gull
Gull
Gulls are birds in the family Laridae. They are most closely related to the terns and only distantly related to auks, skimmers, and more distantly to the waders...
s fly between isolated habitat segments, while raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
, opossum, skunk
Skunk
Skunks are mammals best known for their ability to secrete a liquid with a strong, foul odor. General appearance varies from species to species, from black-and-white to brown or cream colored. Skunks belong to the family Mephitidae and to the order Carnivora...
and rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s travel under bridges and through culverts and storm drain
Storm drain
A storm drain, storm sewer , stormwater drain or drainage well system or simply a drain or drain system is designed to drain excess rain and ground water from paved streets, parking lots, sidewalks, and roofs. Storm drains vary in design from small residential dry wells to large municipal systems...
s. Animals killed during unsuccessful crossing attempts are a food source for scavengers also seeking garbage or food intended for pets or wild birds and squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
s. Domestic cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
s and dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
s kill small animals for recreation and have established feral
Feral
A feral organism is one that has changed from being domesticated to being wild or untamed. In the case of plants it is a movement from cultivated to uncultivated or controlled to volunteer. The introduction of feral animals or plants to their non-native regions, like any introduced species, may...
predator populations. Coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
prey on these smaller predators.
Legislation
- California Environmental Quality ActCalifornia Environmental Quality ActThe California Environmental Quality Act is a California statute passed in 1970, shortly after the United States federal government passed the National Environmental Policy Act , to institute a statewide policy of environmental protection...
- California Proposition 23
- California Proposition 50 (2002)California Proposition 50 (2002)Proposition 50 was a proposition in the state of California on the November 5, 2002 ballot. The proposition successfully passed with 3,808,594 votes in favor and 3,076,333 against...
- California Proposition 65 (1986)California Proposition 65 (1986)Proposition 65 is a California law passed by direct voter initiative in 1986 by a 63%-37% margin...
- Electronic Waste Recycling ActElectronic Waste Recycling ActThe Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 is a California law to reduce the use of certain hazardous substances in certain electronic products sold in the state...
- Electronic Waste Recycling FeeElectronic Waste Recycling FeeThe Electronic Waste Recycling Fee is a fee imposed by the government of the state of California in the United States on new purchases of electronic products with viewable screens. It is one of the key elements of the Electronic Waste Recycling Act. Retailers submit the collected fees to the Board...
Organizations
- California Air Resources BoardCalifornia Air Resources BoardThe California Air Resources Board, also known as CARB or ARB, is the "clean air agency" in the government of California. Established in 1967 in the Mulford-Carrell Act, combining the Bureau of Air Sanitation and the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board, CARB is a department within the...
- California Coastal CommissionCalifornia Coastal CommissionThe California Coastal Commission is a state agency in the U.S. state of California with quasi-judicial regulatory oversight over land use and public access in the California coastal zone....
- California Coastal ConservancyCalifornia Coastal ConservancyThe California Coastal Conservancy is a state agency in California established in 1976 to enhance coastal resources and access.-Goals:The agency's official goals are to:*Protect and improve coastal wetlands, streams and watersheds...
- California Department of Pesticide RegulationCalifornia Department of Pesticide RegulationThe California Department of Pesticide Regulation is one of six branches of the California Environmental Protection Agency. This regulatory program has had the status of an official government department since 1991 but has been in operation since the early 1920s as part of the California Department...
- California Department of Toxic Substances ControlCalifornia Department of Toxic Substances ControlThe California Department of Toxic Substances Control is an agency of the government of the state of California. The Mission of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control is to provide the highest level of safety, and to protect public health and the environment from toxic harm...
- California Environmental Protection AgencyCalifornia Environmental Protection AgencyThe California Environmental Protection Agency is a state cabinet-level agency within the government of California. Cal/EPA is composed of six departments, boards and offices responsible for environmental research, regulating and administering the state's environmental protection programs, and...
- California State Lands CommissionCalifornia State Lands CommissionThe California State Lands Commission is a unit of state government that is responsible for management and protection of natural and cultural resources, as well as public access rights, on some of California's publicly owned lands....
- Water Education FoundationWater Education FoundationThe Water Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to provide unbiased, balanced information on water issues in California and the Southwestern United States....
See also
- CoolCalifornia.orgCoolCalifornia.orgCoolCalifornia.org is a website for Californians with resources to help them reduce their impact on the environment and combat climate change. The website is geared towards different audiences, including: individuals, small businesses, local government, youth, community organizations, and schools....
- Ecology of CaliforniaEcology of CaliforniaThe ecology of California is diverse: it is considered to span six biogeographic provinces or ecoregions: "Coastal Chaparral Forest and Shrub", "Dry Steppe", "Coastal Steppe, Mixed Forest, and Redwood Forest", "Sierran Steppe/Mixed Forest/Coniferous Forest", "Coastal Range Open Woodland/Shrub/...
- Environment of the United StatesEnvironment of the United StatesThe environment of the United States comprises diverse biotas, climates, and geologies. Environmental regulations and the environmental movement have emerged to respond to the various threats to the environment.-Animals:...
- Environmental issues in the United StatesEnvironmental issues in the United StatesAs with many other countries there are a number of environmental issues in the United States.-Climate change:The United States is the second largest emitter, after China, of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. The energy policy of the United States is widely debated; many call on the...
- List of Superfund sites in California
- San Francisco Mandatory Recycling and Composting OrdinanceSan Francisco Mandatory Recycling and Composting OrdinanceThe San Francisco Mandatory Recycling and Composting Ordinance is a local municipal ordinance requiring all persons located in San Francisco to separate their recyclables, compostables and landfilled trash and to participate in recycling and composting programs...