State Water Board Approves Update to Bay-Delta Water Plan

Last week, the California State Water Resources Control Board adopted an update to the water plan that will govern water usage and reservoir operations in the state for the next seven years.

Adoption of the updated water quality control plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Watershed (Bay-Delta Plan) on Oct. 29 marked the end of a multi-year process, involving hours of public hearings with testimony from environmental groups, tribes, water agencies, local community representatives, and statewide business groups.

The updated plan provides what’s called a “regulatory pathway” that focuses on controlling water flows through the Delta and a second pathway the State Water Board said is based on the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes (HRL) program (formerly referred to as the voluntary agreements).

The Healthy Rivers program reflects a suite of commitments among state, federal and public water agencies that were documented in a Memorandum of Understanding signed in March 2022.

The original Healthy Rivers agreement balanced the protection of all beneficial uses, using scientifically based flow and non-flow measures that would help support native species and the environment, and created a governance structure to oversee implementation and help in decision making.

Concerns

Since its release, the plan adopted by the State Water Board has been criticized by state water agencies and the federal Bureau of Reclamation for straying from the 2022 Healthy Rivers agreement.

On Oct. 30, the general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California expressed disappointment in the plan adopted by the State Water Board, saying it “did not adequately incorporate the pathway as envisioned by the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes Program.”

Metropolitan remains committed to the principles of the Healthy Rivers program, General Manager Shivaji Deshmukh said, pointing out that “Southern California’s water future is closely connected to the health of the Bay-Delta, and our shared goals remain as important as ever.”

In a Sept. 4 press release, the Westlands Water District said the final draft of the Bay-Delta plan “retains the HRL name while abandoning the commitments the parties negotiated in 2022.” The changes, Westlands said, mean the program’s purpose is “no longer achievable.”

Westlands said it committed to the 2022 approach because “it paired new flows with habitat restoration at scale, provided dedicated funding, and established a rigorous science program, all under a governance structure built to adjust management actions as the science developed.”

The Bureau of Reclamation, in a Sept. 4 letter to the State Water Board, said the latest draft of the Bay-Delta plan “threatens reliability of water supplies that support not only the Central Valley Project (CVP), but the entire fabric of California’s agricultural economy, rural communities, urban centers, and natural vitality.”

The letter said the draft plan “disregards federal law, negotiated certainty, and sound judgment.”

Water agencies have until July 2027 to decide whether they will opt into the Healthy Rivers pathway.