Monday July 27, 2026
Active NorCal —
Despite a wet winter and healthy reservoir levels, the Bureau of Reclamation’s approach to Lake Shasta has state officials and conservation groups warning of a fall die-off on the Sacramento River.
At issue is Reclamation’s 2026 temperature management plan, finalized in late May, which aims to end the irrigation season with about 2.2 million acre-feet in Shasta while sending water south to farms and cities served by the Central Valley Project. Critics say draining the reservoir that aggressively will leave too little cold water behind the dam when endangered winter-run Chinook need it most. An analysis by the State Water Resources Control Board warned the plan could recreate the conditions of 2015, a drought year when nearly all winter-run salmon born in summer and fall perished in warm water below Shasta and Keswick dams.
Hoping to force slower releases, San Francisco Baykeeper, Friends of the River, and the Center for Biological Diversity filed for a temporary restraining order in late June, arguing the plan violates the biological opinion and the Endangered Species Act. The State Water Board had already rejected Reclamation’s approach in June, but the bureau signaled it would proceed.