For both small and large concentrations, parts-per notation is a
very convenient way to communicate numbers that would ordinarily
have many zeros (either before or after a decimal point). For
example, 3 ppt (parts per trillion) is much cleaner than
reporting 0.000000000003. Additionally, it is important to
distinguish what units are being described. Is it 3 particles per
trillion particles? 3 grams per trillion grams? In other words,
parts-per notation offers a unit-less ratio, and in scientific
literature the true units are either directly stated or implied
Fred. T. Perris (1837-1916) became the chief engineer and
superintendent of construction of the California Southern
Railway. A civil engineer, he also played a role in surveying and
taking water measurements in San Bernardino and Los Angeles
counties. The Lake Perris State Recreation Area and the city of
Perris are named after him.
The Pit River is the longest tributary of the Sacramento River
and largest river in northeast California. It connects to
the Sacramento River at
Shasta Lake and has headwaters at the
confluence of its two tributaries – the
North and South Forks.
Point sources release pollutants from discrete conveyances, such
as a discharge pipe, and are regulated by federal and state
agencies. The main point source dischargers are factories
and sewage treatment plants, which release treated wastewater.
Carley V. Porter (1906-1972) was the
longtime chairman of the California Legislature’s Assembly
Committee on Water who has two historical and important water
laws named after him. He was a Democrat from Compton in Los
Angeles County and a teacher before being elected to the
John Wesley Powell (1834-1902) was historic and heroic for being
first to lead an expedition down the Colorado River in 1869. A major
who lost an arm in the Civil War Battle of Shiloh, he was an
explorer, geologist, geographer and ethnologist.
The construction of Glen Canyon Dam in 1964 created Lake Powell.
Both are located in north-central Arizona near the Utah border.
Lake Powell acts as a holding tank for outflow from the Colorado
River Upper Basin States: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
The water stored in Lake Powell is used for recreation, power
generation and delivering water to the Lower Basin states of
California, Arizona, and Nevada.
Prado Dam – built in 1941 in response to the Santa Ana River’s flood-prone
past – separates the river into its upper and lower
watersheds. After the devastation of the deadly Los
Angeles Flood of 1938 that impacted much of Southern
California, it became evident that flood protection was woefully
inadequate, prompting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to
construct Prado Dam.
Prescriptive Rights are water use rights gained illicitly that
evolve into a title. Typically this occurs with rights to
chronically overdraftedgroundwater basins gained
through trespass or unauthorized use.
In California, the California Supreme Court developed the
doctrine of prescriptive rights in 1949.
Rooted in Roman law, the public trust doctrine recognizes the
public right to many natural resources including “the air,
running water, the sea and its shore.”
The public trust doctrine requires the sovereign, or state, to
hold in trust designated resources for the benefit of the people.
Traditionally, the public trust applied to commerce and fishing
in navigable waters, but its uses were expanded in California in
1971 to include fish, wildlife, habitat and recreation.