A number of large population centers in California have developed their own extensive water projects. The Hetch Hetchy Project transports Tuolumne River water 156 miles from the Central Sierra to San Francisco and peninsula cities.

The East Bay Municipal Utility District supplies cities on the east side of San Francisco Bay with Mokelumne River water.

Aqueducts built by the City of Los Angeles draw water from the Owens River, Mono Lake Basin and reservoirs on the east slopes of the southern Sierra. In Los Angeles, a 223-mile aqueduct completed in 1913 has served as a major water supply source, conveying water from the Owens River in the eastern Sierra. A second aqueduct, completed in 1970, added another 60 percent capacity, for total of 500 million gallons a day. The two aqueducts deliver approximately 247 million gallons a day under average hydrological conditions.