Stockton East Water District and Calaveras County Water District Partner to Develop First-Ever Watershed Resiliency Plan for the Calaveras River Watershed

The Calaveras River watershed was selected by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) as one of five watersheds to participate in the Watershed Resilience Program designed to pilot the planning of climate resilience at a watershed scale. The Watershed Resilience Program will advance the vision and framework described in the California Water Plan 2023 by providing financial and technical support to improve regional resilience. This important work will lay the foundation for future efforts within the Calaveras watershed and throughout the state of California.

The Calaveras River watershed includes portions of the counties of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Calaveras counties. The Calaveras River Watershed Resiliency Plan will help build regional resilience through multi-benefit projects, integrated resource management, and nature-based solutions with a focus on equity. This will be accomplished through a robust outreach and engagement process to foster collaboration, analyze and assess climate vulnerabilities and risks, develop adaptation and implementation strategies, and track performance against set metrics. The Watershed Resiliency Plan will incorporate feedback from a wide-ranging group of stakeholders known as the Watershed Network, ensuring a Plan that is inclusive of interests and perspectives from across our diverse watershed.

Determining the Watershed Boundary

Traditionally, watershed boundaries are determined by topography and elevation such that a watershed represents an area of land that drains to a particular outlet point. They are based on landscape characteristics (like topography and elevation), not jurisdictional boundaries (like cities, counties, or water districts). When determining the Calaveras River watershed boundary to be used as part of the Resiliency Study, the Project Team considered two main criteria: that the boundary capture the headwaters of the Calaveras River above New Hogan Reservoir and those areas downstream that may be impacted by changes to Calaveras River hydrology.

Using these two criteria, the watershed delineation for the purposes of the Calaveras River Watershed Resiliency Study was established in two steps:

• Determine the hydrologic boundary of the primary tributary to Calaveras River;
• Adjust the hydrologic boundary to accommodate for the boundaries of any irrigation districts that overlap the hydrologic watershed and whose surface water source is primarily associated with the Calaveras River watershed.

Effectively, this delineation represents a hydrologic boundary in the Upper Watershed (above New Hogan Dam) and both hydrologic and operational boundaries in the Lower Watershed. This modification for the Lower Watershed accounts for water districts that would be impacted by changes to the Calaveras River hydrology as a result of climate change, including Stockton East Water District and Central San Joaquin Water Conservation District.

Using this delineation for the Calaveras River Watershed Resiliency Plan also provides consistency with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR’s) Watershed Studies effort, which will be particularly beneficial for data sharing, tool development, and comparison of results. In an engineered environment like the Calaveras River, the study area for this Resiliency Plan is more comprehensive if the full climate change impact area is assessed, taking into account how water is delivered both through natural and engineered channels.

Calaveras River Watershed Plan Goals

The Project Team (SEWD and CCWD) will work with participants in the Watershed Network to develop a collective vision for the watershed and goals for the Plan. The Watershed Network will play a critical role in providing feedback and helping guide the process.

Watershed Resiliency Plan Timeline

Engagement and Public Participation

We would like those interested in participating to join our Calaveras River Watershed Network (Watershed Network). The Watershed Network is a group of stakeholders and interested parties that would like to be involved in the development process of the Watershed Resilience Plan. We will look to the Watershed Network to support development of the plan by participating in workshops, meetings, and online engagement opportunities. A series of six engagement discussions are planned through the duration of the project. Please visit our virtual engagement platform to participate in online discussion. For the first engagement opportunity, please provide your feedback by February 23, 2025.

Interested parties can be added to the mailing list by submitting the information below to kevans@woodardcurran.com or by singing up on our virtual engagement platform.

• Name
• Organization
• Email

For more information on the program, follow DWR's Watershed Resiliency Program

More on DWR's Watershed Resilience Program