The Department of Water and Resource Conservation with the assistance of Davids Engineering has updated the Butte County Water Inventory and Analysis Report also known as a “water budget”.  Determining current and future water demands is fundamental to managing water resources and to protecting area of origin water rights.  The updated Water Inventory and Analysis Report was finalized in June 2016.

The updated Water Inventory and Analysis Report:

1. Identifies how water demands have changed over the past decade; in which areas and the likely drivers.
2. Develops water budgets for each sub-region to inform the local conversation regarding resource use and sustainability.
3. Evaluates what the future may hold and how best to prepare by developing forecasts for future urban and agricultural water demands.  Develops climate change hydrology scenarios for future groundwater model runs and associated analysis.
4. Increases familiarity with the Butte Basin Groundwater Model to maintain it as a useful and productive tool.

Factsheet: Project Description
Factsheet: Project Wrap Up
Highlights Part I: How has Land Use Changed since 2000?
Highlights Part II: A View of the County through Differing Water Supplies
Highlights Part III: Water Budgets Help Tell a Story
Presentation Video: Water Budgets and the Story They Tell

Entire Report

• 2016 Water Inventory & Analysis Report (Final)

Report by Section

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Executive Summary
• 1.  Introduction
• 2.  Methodology
• 3.  Land Use and Cropping Patterns
• 4.  Climate and Hydrology
• 5.  Historical Water Demands and Supplies
• 6.  Future Water Demands and Supplies
• 7.  Conclusions and Recommendations
• 8.  References
• Appendices
  • A.  Butte County Water Suppliers and Managers
  • B.  Butte County Stream Gages and Monitoring Wells
  • C.  Subinventory Unit Land Use and Water Budgets
  • D.  Assessment of Butte County Drought Impacts, 2012-2015

Project Documentation:

Public Workshop, June 14, 2016: Water Inventory and Analysis Project
Presentation to Water Commission November 2013: Proposed Methodologies
Staff Report to Water Commission: Methodology Recommendations
Davids Engineering Technical Memo: Recommended Methodologies for Update
Davids Engineering Technical Memo: Assessment of Butte County Drought Impacts, 2012-2015

Previous Water Supply and Demand Analysis:

Water Inventory and Analysis (2001)
Agricultural Water Demand Forecast (2004)
Urban Water Demand Forecast (2004)
Butte County Groundwater Inventory (DWR 2005)
Butte Basin Groundwater Model (2008)