An exhibit of California water history was unveiled by Secretary of State Bill Jones on Nov. 15, 1995 at the new State Archives building. This is the first event of the California Water History Project, a joint venture by the California Historical Society, California State Library, California State Archives, University of California Water Center, and the Water Education Foundation.

The exhibit focuses on early California water history, from the Forty-niners to the development of the State Water Project. Among other items, it features paintings from the California Historical Society, diaries, books and documents from the State Library and the UC Water Resources Center, historical documentation on the State Water Project and Central Valley Project, and artifacts unearthed during excavation for Metropolitan Water District of Southern California's Eastside Valley Reservoir. Some of the exhibits include:

Early California Water - Gold Rush mining and use of water; development of early water and irrigation companies; and reports and maps from the first state engineer's office.

Irrigation and Water Rights - Court transcripts from Lux v. Haggin, the Supreme Court decision that reaffirmed the legal preeminence of riparian rights in 1886; the Irrigation District Law, referred to as the Wright Act, permitting formation of irrigation districts and recognizing the use of water for irrigation as a public benefit due public funding; documents establishing and publicizing early irrigation districts.

The Imperial Valley and the Colorado River Development of the Imperial Valley from a desert into an agricultural region; the all-American Canal; flooding and the formation of the Salton Sea.

Bringing the Colorado River to California Construction of Boulder Dam, later renamed Hoover Dam; the Colorado River Compact.

Bringing Water to Southern California - The Owens Valley and the Los Angeles Aqueduct; the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Colorado Aqueduct.

Other Uses of Water - Municipal, hydropower, navigation.

San Francisco Water Supply -The Spring Valley Water Company; John Muir's efforts to preserve the Hetch Hetchy; the construction of the O'Shaughnessy Dam and Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct.

The Federal Central Project - Documents, artifacts and photos related to passage of the California Central Valley Project Act; construction of the project.

The State Water Project - State Water Plan pamphlets and reports; Oroville Dam; San Luis Reservoir; Peripheral Canal initiative.

Metropolitan Water District's Paleontology/Archeology Exhibit - Artifacts discovered in the excavation of the Eastside Reservoir Project (formerly known as the Domenigoni Valley Reservoir Project).

Other Water Issues - Hydraulic mining; flooding and the failure of the St. Francis Dam; the Reber Plan for San Francisco Bay; water conservation.

The Delta - Modern views of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Fiction and Scholarship dealing with Water Samples of the many books published dealing with California water.

Development of the Water Education Foundation - Founding of the Water Education Foundation; Western Water magazine. 

The goal of the California Water History Project, organized by the Water Education Foundation, is to bring attention to the importance of water in the development of California – economically, politically, culturally and socially. Funds solicited for the opening event were used for the purchase of display cases for the exhibits, and for future activities, such as the collection of oral histories and to solicit materials for the Water Resources Center archives. The exhibit is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 1021 O St., Sacramento.

This special exhibit is on display until midsummer 1996. After, the importance of water in the development of the state will be interwoven throughout the exhibits being developed for the new history museum in the State Archives building. The museum is slated to open in mid-1997.