California State Water Resources Control Board has issued a notice of proposed emergency rulemaking for emergency actions to establish minimum instream flow requirements in the Mill Creek and Deer Creek watersheds.
Mill Creek and Deer Creek are tributaries to the Sacramento River, located in Tehama County. The curtailments are in response to the drought state of emergency issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to direct the state water board and California Department of Fish and Wildlife to evaluate the minimum instream flows and other actions needed to protect threatened Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon and California Central Valley steelhead.
Additionally, the proposed regulation would provide for exceptions to curtailments for minimum human health and safety needs and would allow for voluntary local cooperative solutions in place of curtailment orders, the board said.
