The California Water Law Journal is sponsored by the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. The Journal provides an opportunity for students, practitioners, academics and others to engage on California water law issues.
The Journal is proud to feature the winning article each year from the annual student writing competition, the California Water Law Writing Prize. The Writing Prize is sponsored by the California Water Law Symposium Board of Directors and McGeorge School of Law.
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Truly a Watershed Event: California's Water Board Proposes Base Flows for the San Joaquin River Tributaries
In 1878, John Wesley Powell, the first director of the United States Geological Survey, published his Report on the Lands in the Arid Regions of the United States. In his Arid Lands Report, Powell foresaw the essential role that water would play in the development of the American west and the challenges faced in managing watersheds that included not only mainstem rivers but networks of tributaries that contributed water to mainstem rivers.