Sierra Water Trust

The Sierra Water Trust Project is aimed at bringing trust water to the Sierra and includes multiple partners – American Rivers, Natural Heritage Institute, Nevada Irrigation District, Sierra Nevada Alliance, and University of California at Davis. The overall goal of the Sierra Water Trust is to improve water quality and increase the aquatic function and biodiversity of Sierra river ecosystems.

Trust water, acquiring a water right or a portion of a water right from the private domain and converting it to perpetual beneficial uses, has been successfully applied throughout the Pacific Northwest.  Beneficial uses of dedicated water include increased water quality, improved aquatic and riparian habitat, as well as improved ecological function.

Trust water has voluntarily been reclassified to boost stream flows from a willing seller. Trust water can be acquired through buying, trading, or leasing agreements. This means that water which is normally taken out of the river and used by the person or entity who owns the right to it is now allowed to stay in the river. Obtaining water rights through one or more of these methods is one of the most effective ways to get water when and where it is needed.

Through funding provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Targeted Watershed Program, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, and the Compton Foundation, the goal of the Sierra Water Trust will be accomplished through voluntary partnerships and management based on scientific knowledge and local socioeconomic conditions. Specific objectives in support of this goal are to:

• Build capacity of Sierra organizations to use water rights acquisition as a tool for stream restoration;
• Improve capacity of Sierra organizations to examine watershed problems in a broader hydrologic context;
• Facilitate the use of river science in managing and monitoring water rights acquisition; and
• Promote sustainable solutions to watershed problems through strong public-private partnerships

The rivers of the Sierra Nevada form an immense natural and engineered water supply network that provides 60 percent of California's water supply. They also support diverse and complex habitats, which has resulted in the Sierra Nevada ranking as the world's most ecologically rich region in terms of native aquatic invertebrates.  However, most of the Sierra rivers have impaired water quality and almost two-thirds of the region’s 67 aquatic habitat types are declining in quality and abundance. Although powerful tools exist for land conservation including land use regulation, zoning, conservation easements, public ownership, and out-right purchase of key parcels, conservation tools for aquatic systems are lagging.

Additional Resources

Water Trusts

• Freshwater Trust (Oregon) 
• Washington Water Trust 
• Colorado Water Trust

Stream Flow Data & Resources

• USGS Water Data for the Nation
• Surface-Water Techniques: On Demand Training Opportunities
• Video: A Guide for Field Identification of Bankfull Stage in the Western United States

Water Transfers and Acquisitions in California

• California Department of Water Resources: Water Transfer FAQ’s
• Trust for Public Land: California Water Acquisition Handbook

Methods for Determining Instream Flow Need

• Colorado Water Conservation Board R2Cross
• The Nature Conservancy: Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration 
• USGS PHABSIM
• USGS Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM)
• US Forest Service: Quantifying Channel Maintenance Instream Flows (PDF)

General Instream Flow Resources

• Instream Flow Council
• Global Environmental Flows Network
• The World Bank: Basin Management – Environmental Flows

Publictions

• A Guide Water Transfers (PDF)
• Adaptation to Natural Flow Regimes (PDF)
• Basic Principles and Ecological Consequences of Altered Flow Regimes for Aquatic Biodiversity (PDF)
• Ecologically Sustainable Water Management: Managing River Flows for Ecological Integrity
• Water Transfer Issues in California
• A Transactions Cost Approach to the Theoretical Foundations of Water Markets
• Water Markets and Freshwater Ecosystem Services: Policy Reform and Implementation in the Columbia and Murray Darling Basins
• The Natural Flow Regime
• Instream Flow Marketing in the Pacific Northwest
• How Much Water does a River Need