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Changing the rules
A 2/12/26 letter from four San Joaquin Valley congressmen pleaded with Governor Newsom to waive a Delta outflow requirement in 2026. The requirement is the “Port Chicago standard” in Water Rights Decision 1641 (D-1641), in effect since 2000. Additional letters from the “Coalition for a Sustainable Delta” and from Westlands Water District made similar requests.…
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Stop the Voluntary Agreements: A Thin Layer of Frosting on the Rotting Cake of Business as Usual
The updated Bay-Delta Plan will set flows into San Francisco Bay, through the Delta estuary upstream, and in the Sacramento Valley rivers that flow into the Delta. On December 12, 2025, the State Water Resources Control Board (the Board) issued two major documents that describe its latest proposal for an update. These are the Revised…
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State Water Board Reaffirms Bay-Delta Voluntary Agreement Sell-Out; Biggest Average Annual Water Cost by Region Is a Whopping 2%!
On December 10, 2025, the State Water Resources Control Board (Board) issued a revised draft version of its update of the Bay-Delta Plan. The draft includes a “partially recirculated” Chapter 13 of its September 2023 Draft Staff Report on the Bay-Delta Plan update. Both the Bay-Delta plan update and the new Chapter 13 of the…
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Support California Sportfishing Protection Alliance – Winter 2025
At an unprecedented level, federal and state governments are advancing special interests at the expense of the public trust. Today more than ever, non-profit organizations must be leaders in enacting and enforcing policies that empower practical alternatives to the depletion and pollution of rivers, streams, estuaries, and aquifers. The Opportunity That’s where the California Sportfishing…
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Delta Tunnel and Sites Reservoir Water Rights Hearing Notes – November 2025
Administrative Hearings Office Requires More Modeling for Proposed Sites Project and Delta Tunnel The Hearing Officer in the respective water rights hearings for the proposed Sites Reservoir Project and the proposed Delta Tunnel, who happens to be the same individual, has ordered more modeling in each proceeding. The State Water Board’s Administrative Hearings Office (AHO)…
