Double Jeopardy for Bay-Delta and Rivers, Part 1: Bay-Delta Plan
State Moves To Weaken Bay-Delta Protections…But It’s Not Bad Enough for Trump Administration
As his administration enters its final months, Governor Newsom is getting ready to seal two bad deals that will weaken environmental protections and make it easier to divert even more water from California rivers and the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary. Specifically, his State Water Resources Control Board is proposing to:
Adopt grossly inadequate “Voluntary Agreements” (VAs) in place of regulations that would protect the estuary and the rivers that feed it. The VAs would instead let water users off the hook for contributing enough freshwater flow to meaningfully counteract the environmental crisis in the Bay-Dela estuary, and
Retreat from including even the minimal protections it was considering earlier this year as permit terms for the massive, expensive, and unnecessary Sites Reservoir (see “Double Jeopardy, Part 2: Sites Reservoir”).
In a last minute plot twist, the Trump Administration has opened a new front in its war on California, opposing even the bad water quality standards deal that the State is preparing to finalize.
Friends of the River is urging the state to push back on the Trump Administration’s attempt to override California law and maximize water deliveries.
Use your voice to stop this bad deal for rivers and Bay-Delta estuary. Scroll down to see how you can take action.
On August 19, the State Water Board released the final draft of the long-awaited update of the Sacramento River Basin and Delta portions of the Bay-Delta Water Quality Plan, which sets flow and water quality standards to protect the estuary and its Central Valley watershed. The best available science demonstrates that strong, new standards are needed to reverse the rapid decline of the Bay-Delta ecosystem (which includes collapsing fisheries, increasing toxic algal blooms, and the loss of cultural and economic uses for diverse communities). But instead, the Board is proposing to adopt “Voluntary Agreements” (VAs).
These sweetheart deals, negotiated behind closed doors by the Newsom Administration, let water users write their own rules—and delay new regulations by over a decade in the process. In essence, water users are proposing to build habitat projects and other non-flow actions, plus promising a minimal volume of water, as a substitute for providing the significant increase in freshwater flows that the scientific record shows is needed. And much of the funding for habitat projects or water purchases (likely at exorbitant prices that benefit some of the same water users) will come from taxpayer money.
The Board’s final proposal also includes a “regulatory backstop” for those who don’t sign up for VAs or who fail to live up to their VA commitments (meager though those might be). But the backstop, which originally required at least 55% of natural flows, has been changed so that in two-thirds of years much less – as little as 35% – is required. (Currently, over half of the water is diverted before it reaches the Bay, and the best available science indicates that two-thirds to three-quarters of runoff is needed to fully protect the ecosystem, preserve water quality, and prevent extinctions).
But the plot thickened in early September when the US Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the state’s largest water project (the Central Valley Project, or CVP) and its largest water contractor, Westlands Water District (the largest irrigation district in the nation), rejected the Board’s proposed Plan and threatened to withdraw from the VAs (taking with them about a third of the proposed funding). In essence, they told the Board to adopt the VAs as written in 2022, without any meaningful regulatory oversight or backstop. The demands also ignored Reclamation’s legal obligation to comply with State law and made clear that the Trump Administration will maximize water deliveries, whatever the cost to the environment and water quality.
A set of workshops to hear public comments and act to adopt the Plan is scheduled for late October. Friends of the River and other groups will be submitting written comments documenting the Plan’s many shortcomings, testifying at the workshops, and organizing public participation in the process.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Want to make a positive difference in California water management? Please follow all the steps below!
ACTION #1: Urge Governor Newsom and Attorney General Bonta to fight the Trump Administration’s latest attempt to ignore and override California law.
Use these talking points, which are more powerful if you make them your own.
Write 1-2 sentences about yourself and why you care
The Administration has a history of opposing Trump’s attacks on California – this is no time to change course
Giving in to the Trump demand to gut the standards means ceding control of our state’s water resources to the Trump Administration
The unreliability of the federal government as a VA partner underscores that the VA approach is fundamentally flawed; clear regulatory requirements for more freshwater flow are needed
Directions: Under ‘What is your request or comment about?, select “water”
Directions: Complete the form, at the bottom under “Additional Details” is where you will leave your message.
ACTION #2: Give Public Comment by attending one of the State Water Board workshops on October 28, 29 or 30 and let the Board know that you oppose inclusion of the Voluntary Agreements in the final Bay-Delta Plan update.
Use these talking points, which are more powerful if you make them your own.
Write 1-2 sentences about yourself and why you care
The VAs are bound to fail to protect the Bay-Delta estuary because
The science is clear that additional freshwater flow is needed to reverse fish population declines, water quality degradation and other problems
Waiting eight years or more to find out what we know now – that the VAs won’t work – is a betrayal of the Board’s charge to protect water quality and the environment.
The Trump Administration can’t be trusted to adhere even to voluntary agreements – the state needs to set clear legal requirements and enforce them.
The Board should adopt and implement regulations that are supported by the scientific record that much more flow (i.e., >55%) is needed to restore the ecological health of the estuary and protect water quality.
ACTION #3: Look for upcoming action alerts with more detail on how to participate in the workshops. Share and tell your friends to participate too.
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