CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT (CVP) (CALIFORNIA)

A multipurpose water project developed mainly by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), extending from the Cascade Range on the north to the semiarid but fertile plains of California's Kern River on the south. The state and federal portions of the Central Valley Project (CVP) encompass a number of dams, reservoirs, pumping facilities, canals, and aqueducts providing protection from saltwater intrusion into the Bay-Delta region (also referred to as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta), irrigation water for San Joaquin Valley farms, and municipal and industrial water for some of California's most populated urban areas. The construction of the CVP was approved by California voters in a 1933 referendum of the California Central Valley Project Act. Due to the effects of the Great Depression, the state was unable to construct the project at that time. Subsequently, portions of the CVP were authorized and constructed by the federal government. Other portions were later constructed by California after the Depression as part of the State Water Project (SWP), as authorized under the 1960 Burns-Porter Act. Principal facilities of the SWP include Oroville Dam, Delta Facilities, the California Aqueduct, and North and South Bay Aqueducts. Principle facilities of the federal CVP include Shasta, Trinity, Folsom, Friant, Clair Engle, Whiskeytown, and New Melones dams, Delta facilities, and the Delta Mendota Canal. Joint CVP/SWP facilities include San Luis Reservoir and Canal and various Delta facilities. Also see Bay-Delta (California).