San Joaquin River Restoration Program Monitoring and Management Plans

The San Joaquin River is a prominent and important feature of California's Central Valley. Historically, spring runoff from Sierra streams would spread over a valley floor covered by marshes and seasonal wetlands. In 1942, Reclamation completed construction of Friant Dam, ceasing flow to some portions of the river and ultimately led to the extirpation of salmon runs in the San Joaquin. In 1988, a coalition of environmental groups challenged renewal of long-term water service contracts to the CVP Friant Division contractors. On September 13, 2006, after more than 18 years of litigation, all litigants signed onto a Stipulation of Settlement. A significant challenge to the implementation of the Settlement will be creating an adaptive management plan for a river which has not provided a connected ecosystem in over fifty years. The monitoring plan discussed in this paper is being developed to assist in the adaptive management of the Settlement.