Central Valley 

Project 

Improvement 

Act 

2011 Accomplishments 

P.L. 102-575 

Background 

On October 30, 1992, Public Law 102-575, 

the Reclamation Projects Authorization and 

Adjustment Act of 1992, was signed into 

law by the President. This legislation 

included Title 34, the Central Valley Project 

Improvement Act (CVPIA or Act). The 

CVPIA amends previous authorizations of 

the CVP to include fish and wildlife 

protection, restoration, and mitigation as 

project purposes having equal priority with 

irrigation and domestic uses, and fish and 

wildlife enhancement as a project purpose 

equal to power generation. The Department 

of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation 

(Reclamation) and Fish and Wildlife Service 

(Service), in collaboration with State and 

local governments, Tribes, nongovernmental organizations, and 

stakeholders, implement activities to meet 

the Act’s purposes. 

Implementation 

To date (FY 1993-2011) the Program has 

completed several large projects including 

the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District fish 

screen; Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation 

District fish screen; the Shasta temperature 

control device; the Contra Costa Canal 

pumping plant; and the Coleman National 

Fish Hatchery. Currently, the CVPIA 

Program is comprised of 23 active programs 

that fall in to three broad resource areas: 

fisheries, refuge, and other. 

The overarching Central Valley Fisheries 

goal is to double the natural production of 

anadromous fish on a sustainable basis. 

Specific 2011 accomplishments include: 

• In the Sacramento basin, construction 

began on an Antelope Creek project to 

improve passage to 13 miles of 

spawning and holding habitat; the fish 

screen and ladder construction at the 

Eagle Canyon and North Battle Creek 

Feeder sites were completed; and the 

Mill Creek fish passage assessment and 

restoration project aimed at improving 

fish passage for juvenile and adult 

salmonids was awarded. 

• In the San Joaquin basin, funds were 

provided to purchase 6,557 tons of 

spawning gravel to improve natural 

production of Chinook salmon and 

steelhead at several spawning sites along 

the Mokelumne River; construction 

began on the Calaveras River Passage 

Improvement Project to restore access to 

about 10 miles of habitat for salmon; a 

floodplain and side-channel 

enhancement project to increase juvenile 

salmonid rearing habitat and decrease 

predation at Lancaster Road was 

completed on the Stanislaus River; and 

construction continued on the Merced 

River Ranch Floodplain Enhancement 

Project to restore up to 6 acres of 

riparian floodplain and 1.23 miles of 

spawning habitat. 

• Contra Costa Canal Pump Program was 

completed in 2011 as the last 
component, the new fish screen structure 

at the entrance to the Canal in Rock 

Slough, became operational in 

November 2011. 

• On Clear Creek, more than 21,000 

square feet of spawning habitat was 

created by gravel injections at five sites 

during 2011: below Whiskeytown Dam; 

below Dog Gulch Creek; above Peltier 

Bridge; Paige Bar (below Peltier 

Bridge); and below NEED Camp 

(Guardian Rock site). 

• Created or improved spawning habitat 

by placing 5,000 tons of gravel in the 

Sacramento River; 5,000 tons in the 

Stanislaus River; and 20,770 tons in the 

American River. 

• Construction on 4 fish screens was 

completed at the Sutter Mutual 

Portuguese Bend, Oji Brothers Farms, 

Windswept Land & Livestock #3 sites 

on the Sacramento River; and the 

Patterson Fish Screen on the San Joaquin 

River. Construction continued on the 

American Basin (Natomas Mutual) Fish 

Screen Project with completion expected 

in FY 2013. Design, environmental 

compliance and permitting activities for 

the Yuba City and the Reclamation 

District 2035 Fish Screen projects 

continued with construction 

commencement anticipated in FY 2012 

and FY 2013, respectively. 

• The San Joaquin River Restoration 

Program’s projects in 2011 included the 

Invasive Vegetation Management and 

Control activities; and the Annual 

Technical Report and Annual 

Monitoring and Analysis Plan. Interim 

flow releases from Friant Dam 

contributed 106,318 acre-feet to the San 

Joaquin River while working toward the 

goals of fish reintroduction and to 

maintain the fish populations in good 

condition. 

The Trinity River Fisheries goal is to restore 

and sustain the natural production of 

anadromous fish populations downstream of 

Lewiston Dam to pre-dam levels. In 2011, 

the Trinity River Restoration Program 

included significant achievement of program 

goals. Record of Decision flows were fully 

provided based on the wet water year 

volume requirement with peak flows of 

11,000 cfs. The program also added 5,300 

cubic yards of coarse gravel to the river, and 

the first Phase 2 river restoration project 

(Wheel Gulch) was completed. Watershed 

projects implemented in FY 2011 will keep 

approximately 9,600 cubic yards of fine 

sediment out of the river. 

The Refuges goal is to supply 422,251 acrefeet of Level 2 water and 133,264 acre-feet 

of Incremental Level 4 water to all 19 

CVPIA federal, state and private wildlife 

refuges. In FY 2011, the Refuge Water 

Supply Program delivered 367,592 acre-feet 

of Level 2 water, and 101,854 acre-feet of 

Incremental Level 4 water. For the first 

time, full allocation of Level 4 water was 

supplied to those wildlife refuges with 

sufficient conveyance capabilities. 
U.S. Department of the Interior 

Bureau of Reclamation 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

 

The Other Resources goal is to protect and 

restore terrestrial habitat and the species that 

depend on them. The Habitat Restoration 

Program contributed to the protection of 

5,404 acres of land through conservation 

easement acquisitions of 2,407 acres of 

vernal pool, grassland, and riparian habitats 

at the Peek Ranch in Tehama County; and 

2,997 acres of vernal pool, grassland, and 

other habitats at the Kelsey Ranch in 

Merced. Additionally, the restoration of 

about 28 acres of alkali scrub and 101 acres 

of riparian woodland vegetation at the 

Panorama Vista Preserve in Kern County; 

and 492 acres of serpentine grassland and 

associated habitats at Santa Teresa County 

Park in Santa Clara County occurred in 

2011. The Land Retirement Program retired 

approximately 220 acres of land from 

irrigated agricultural production and 

converted it to native upland habitat (leaving 

753 acres left to reach the targeted goal of 

15,000 acres). 

For additional specific information on 

Program performance please see the Annual 

Reports to Congress (Accomplishments 

Reports), online at: 

http://www.usbr.gov/mp/cvpia/docs_reports/ 

index.html 

Funding 

The CVPIA Program has historically 

accessed multiple funding sources: 

Restoration Fund, Water and Related 

Resources, and the State of California, as 

shown below. 

2011 CVPIA Funding Obligations 

The Program has obligated approximately 

$92.2 million for Program 

implementation: 

• $48.9M - Restoration Fund 

• $41.1M - Water and Related 

Resources 

• $1.6M - State of California costshare 

• ($1.6M)* - American Recovery 

Reinvestment Act 

• $2.3M - California Bay -Delta 

Restoration 

* amounts in ( ) indicate negative 

obligations due to de-obligations/prior 

year recoveries 

For more information on the CVPIA Program, contact: 

Shana Kaplan, CVPIA Program Manager, Reclamation 

(916) 978-5190, skaplan@usbr.gov 

Cesar Blanco, CVPIA Program Manager, USFWS 

(916) 978-6190, Cesar_Blanco@fws.gov 

Revised 3-15-12