California Aqueduct
Photograph by Sarah Leen
The
California Aqueduct waters the fertile farmlands of California’s
Central Valley and is part of one of the world’s largest water
infrastructure systems.The California State Water Project and Central Valley Project deliver crucial water supplies to 22 million Californians and 3.6 million acres (14,570 square kilometers) of
irrigated cropland. The project also controls floods and produces hydroelectric power—though it has had an outsize, sometimes deadly, impact on aquatic ecosystems in the Golden State.
