California water officials unveiled an updated water quality control proposal for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Bay-Delta) watershed to balance the uses of water for all the controlling interests in the region, but it has already sparked debate.
The nearly 6,000-page document released by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) on Sept. 26 seeks to weigh the interests of agriculture, water agencies, Tribes and environmentalists to preserve fish and aquatic life in the Bay-Delta region.
The Bay-Delta is the largest estuary in North America and extends nearly 500 miles from the Cascade Range in the north to the Tehachapi Mountains in the south. The watershed consists of the Sacramento River in the north and the San Joaquin River in the south, where they meet near Sacramento to form the delta region. The delta drains through the Carquinez Strait into San Francisco Bay.
According to SWRCB, the region supplies drinking water to two-thirds of Californians, water to millions of acres of farmland and supports 80% of the commercial salmon fisheries. It also supports 750 animal and plant species, including the endangered or threatened Delta smelt, Chinook salmon and steelhead trout.
The process to update the direction of the Bay-Delta began in 2012 and continued with input from stakeholders to formulate the 2018 update to the Bay-Delta plan. The update was spurred by drought conditions contributing to reduced inflows and outflows, loss of aquatic habitat and the subsequent loss of fish population.
The 2018 update called for unrestricted inflow between 45-65%, with a starting point of 55%, resulting in a reduction of approximately 2 million acre-feet (an acre-foot is 325,851 gallons). The draft plan adopts the change for the Sacramento River, its tributaries and Delta eastside tributaries of the Cosumnes, Mokelumne and Calaveras rivers. The proposed inflow objective is to maintain conditions sufficient to support and maintain the natural production of native fish populations and to contribute to Delta outflows.
The draft plan contains a separate chapter regarding voluntary agreements (VAs) and the draft scientific basis report supporting the agreements after a memorandum of understanding was received in 2022 after the proposed plan was drafted.
The memorandum of understanding signed by state and federal agencies and water agencies provides measures to increase water flows while improving habitat for animal and plant species in the Bay-Delta region. Among some of the commitments in the memorandum were to increase inflow up to 824,000 acre-feet in January through June, and provide an additional 20,000 acres of floodplain habitat, 5,000 acres of tidal wetlands and nearly 3,300 acres of additional spawning, and instream and floodplain juvenile rearing habitat.
“The scope and scale of the report illustrate the complexity of the issues and the considerable analysis necessary to provide a foundation for informed comment and decision-making during
the next phase of the Bay-Delta Plan process,” said Eric Oppenheimer, chief deputy director of SWRCB.
Reaction to VAs
Restore the Delta called the proposed plan long overdue and cited “illegitimate” VAs as the reason for the delay in the update.
Restore the Delta asserts the VAs would reduce protections for the Bay-Delta ecosystem, “including trading away increased instream flow requirements for scientifically groundless habitat mitigations.” They continue the health of the estuary continues to decline, leading to harmful algae impeding Tribal practices and environmental justice communities.
The organization and Tribes have filed a petition for rulemaking with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeking a timely and meaningful update of the Bay-Delta Plan. They also said if SWRCB continues forward with the VAs it would formalize the exclusion of Tribes and stakeholders, further supporting the discrimination raised in the complaint.
“The voluntary agreements are an exclusionary process for Tribes and environmental justice communities,” said Cintia Cortez, policy analyst for Restore the Delta. “The communities we represent are being harmed by inadequate management of Bay-Delta flows. Voluntary agreements will reduce flows in a system whose water quality is presently suffering from outdated water quality standards. The board needs to direct its resources to complete the update to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan and away from VAs that continue to threaten public health.”
Support for VAs
The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California and the California Farm Bureau (CFB) expressed their support for the VAs.
MWD said they are pleased SWRCB is considering a range of alternatives, including the VAs.
“For too long, we have been singularly focused on flows as a means to protect the Bay Delta’s fragile environment,” said Adel Hagekhalil, MWD general manager. “These agreements would take a new approach. They recognize that building a sustainable Bay-Delta requires improving habitats for fish and wildlife, additional water flows for species, dedicated funding sources, clear metrics and monitoring to analyze progress toward our goals and change course if necessary.”
Jamie Johansson, president of CFB, said maintaining the health of the Bay-Delta and protecting farming in the region are a priority. CFB favors the VAs plan, as it targets water flow and includes habitat restoration.
“It’s long been clear that flow increases without other supportive actions won’t bring back fish,” Johansson said. “Utilizing voluntary agreements under the ‘healthy rivers’ alternative is California’s best opportunity to protect the future of the Delta watershed and those who depend on it.”
SWRCB has not made any decisions regarding the plan. The announcement opens the public comment period until Dec. 15. SWRCB said they will conduct a multi-day hearing in the fall and other opportunities for feedback but did not disclose when and where.
Comments may be submitted by emailing SacDeltaComments@waterboards.ca.gov with the subject line “Comment Letter – Sacramento/Delta Draft Staff Report.” Comments may also be mailed to State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights, Attn: BayÂDelta & Hearings Branch, P.O. Box 100, Sacramento, CA 95812Â-2000.
After evaluating public feedback on the draft report and peer review input on the science report findings on proposed voluntary agreements, the staff will incorporate appropriate changes and release draft plan amendments for public review and comment in early-to-mid 2024. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
