Friday May 22, 2026
Maven’s Notebook —
The State Water Resources Control Board is warning that the Bureau of Reclamation’s draft Sacramento River Temperature Management Plan may not do enough to protect winter-run and fall-run Chinook salmon, citing concerns that low end-of-September storage in Shasta Reservoir could leave too little cold water for spawning.
On May 15, the Board submitted comments on the April 29 draft plan, which Reclamation is preparing under State Water Board Order 90-5. The order requires Reclamation to manage Sacramento River temperatures to protect fish species, including winter-run and fall-run Chinook salmon.
The Board’s letter points to Reclamation’s projection that Shasta Reservoir could end September with 2.2 million acre-feet of storage, despite relatively high storage earlier in the spring. The draft plan also indicates that the volume of the coldest water in Shasta could be similar to 2015, which was a difficult year for temperature management.
“There is significant uncertainty this year in the level of protection that will be provided to winter-run and fall-run Chinook salmon and the actions that should be implemented to improve conditions this year, as well as going into next year,” the letter states.