Tuesday September 2, 2025
Valley Ag Voice —
The California State Water Resources Control Board distributed a draft of a plan to update regulations relating to flows and water quality in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the watersheds that feed into it. That is, the plan proposes regulations for the entire Sacramento and San Joaquin River watersheds.
State Board staff believe there are insufficient in-stream flows to sustain native fish populations in the rivers, their tributaries, and in the Delta itself. Efforts to increase populations of native fish, particularly salmon, in the Central Valley have not been successful. State Board staff initially proposed that 40% of the unimpaired flow stay in the rivers to bolster flow from February through June. That would divert water from water rights holders to environmental uses.
However, the State Constitution includes the following language: “the water resources of the State be put to beneficial use to the fullest extent of which they are capable,” and “(t)he right to water or to the use or flow of water in or from any natural stream or water course in this State is and shall be limited to such water as shall be reasonably required for the beneficial use to be served.” That is, it is unconstitutional to use more water to benefit fish than is necessary.
The State Board’s draft plan also defies a recent executive order from Governor Newsom requiring beneficial use of surplus water to the maximum extent possible.
What is needed for the recovery of salmon populations in the Central Valley? Salmon populations have been declining for decades. Their recovery faces countless obstacles. Reservoirs on all of the major rivers prevent migratory salmon from reaching the cold headwaters where they once spawned, and lower spawning areas are not as productive. While some people would like to see the reservoirs removed, they are necessary for flood protection. Reservoir removal is not an option. Salmon hatchery and harvest management are also in conflict with restoration of native fish populations. Contaminants in water supplies, including harmful algal blooms can kill fish. Additionally, the small ocean-bound salmon must pass through the Delta that teams with record numbers of non-native predators. In decades past, survival through the Delta could be improved by providing pulse flows to push the salmon smolts out faster. In recent years, that strategy has no longer worked — predation pressure is simply too high.
Creative alternatives exist to the State Board staff proposal. Years of study have resulted in the development of the concept of “functional flows” – recognizing when and where fish need additional water and enhancing habitat to make the most use of the additional flow. That concept, which is consistent with the State Constitution, is vastly different from the concept of letting more water flow to the ocean and hoping for the best. Water users and other stakeholders collaborated to develop an alternative, more comprehensive water management program for the Central Valley. That program, previously referred to as Voluntary Agreements, but are now called Healthy Rivers and Landscapes, has several elements. It includes functional flows for fish and habitat restoration. Under the program, State Water Project and Central Valley Project deliveries from the Delta are reduced by an average of 73,250-acre feet per year. The Friant Division would forgo 26,500-acre feet per year of recirculation water. And water users would purchase an additional 150,000-acre feet per year, on average, to supplement in-stream flows. All of those quantities were negotiated by stakeholders involved in the Healthy Rivers and Landscape program.
Still unclear under the State Board draft plan is the ability to access the additional in-stream flows. Water users on the Merced, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne rivers initially decided to not participate in the Voluntary Agreements, instead seeking a judicial remedy that was ultimately unsuccessful. Those tributaries are now pursuing their own voluntary agreements, given the incentive that if they do not, they will lose a substantial portion of their water.
Regardless, embedded in the state’s draft plan is the provision that the new flows cannot be used to increase exports. That results in a potential waste of more than 100,000-acre feet per year. Why is it a waste? While functional flows represent a science-based approach to providing increased flows for fish when they need it, the benefits of those flows to fish in the Delta are not so clear. Many environmental organizations claim the Delta ecosystem is in crisis and more outflow is needed to fix it.
The reality is that the Delta is highly modified from what it was 150 years ago. Some introduced species are thriving such as large mouth bass and striped bass, inland silversides, numerous species of clams, invasive water weed, and some species of tiny crustaceans. The delta ecosystem is not in crisis – it has been intentionally and unintentionally modified over decades to the detriment of native species. With so many introduced species preying on native species and competing with them for food, more flows is not the answer. Flows through the Delta are not a factor limiting recovery of native fish.
And hydraulically, San Joaquin River flows are lost in the tidal portion of the Delta. The average flow on the San Joaquin River entering the Delta from February through June is around 6,500 cfs. The lower San Joaquin River has tidal influences are 10,000 cfs north of Stockton increasing to 150,000 cfs at Jersey Point. The State Board plan already has regulations providing minimum Delta outflows to protect fish. The scientific basis for additional San Joaquin River flows past the pumps and through the Delta, beyond the already established minimum outflows requirements, has not been established, leaving in question whether the State Board would really be putting the additional San Joaquin River flow to its fullest beneficial use, as the State Constitution requires.