Wednesday January 15, 2025
Northern California Water Association —
The Sacramento River Settlement Contractors (SRSC) this week joined the Bureau of Reclamation to sign an agreement for a Drought Protection Program (DPP) for the Sacramento River. The DPP contains a series of investments that will lead to improved water supply reliability in future years to benefit our farms, communities, economy, and the environment.
The DPP is independent but related to the new plan for the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and Delta facilities of the State Water Project adopted in December, presenting a path forward with more predictable actions for endangered fish species and a more reliable Central Valley Project response to multi-year droughts. The revised operating plan will improve regulatory certainty for water users and provide a more stable water supply for communities, farms, and fish.
The goal is to ensure stability and resilience in our water system and avoid repeating the devastating impact we saw in 2022 to the west-side of the Sacramento Valley, where there was only an 18% water supply to farms, wildlife refuges and cities, and disadvantaged communities. As a result, 370,000 acres were fallowed, there was a $1.3B hit to the regional economy, bird and snake habitat was impacted and we saw the lowest salmon survival rates in decades.