Friday June 12, 2026
Maven’s Notebook —
The State Water Resources Control Board received the Bureau of Reclamation’s final Sacramento River Temperature Management Plan (TMP) on June 1, 2026. Although the State Water Board recognizes the difficult hydrologic conditions and uncertainty surrounding temperature management, it has rejected the plan as currently written.
State Water Board Order 90-5 requires Reclamation to manage Sacramento River temperatures to protect fish species, including winter-run and fall-run Chinook salmon. In its May 15, 2026 comment letter, State Water Board staff asked Reclamation to strengthen the final TMP to better protect winter-run and fall-run Chinook salmon. Staff said this could include retaining more water in storage at the end of September to improve river temperatures this year and reduce risk next year. However, the final TMP remains largely unchanged from the draft and does not reflect Board staff’s understanding of how Reclamation would operate under the 2024 Shasta Operations Framework for long-term CVP and SWP operations. That framework was intended to support more predictable operations and avoid very low reservoir storage, temperature problems, and water supply impacts. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife raised similar concerns in its May 27, 2026 comment letter on the draft TMP.
“Given these circumstances, I cannot approve the final TMP as currently written,” writes Eric Oppenheimer, Executive Director, State Water Resources Control Board.