• The First Law of Holes Is: Stop Digging.

    Water in California is overallocated and overappropriated.  Too much is promised, too much is delivered, and not enough is left in rivers and in the ground.  The result is ecosystem collapse, sinking land and dry wells, and dying communities in diverse parts of the state. The Governor directed in April 2019 that three of his…

  • Calaveras River Plan Takes 14 Years to Keep All the Water

    On November 14, 2019, CSPA filed comments critical of a new Habitat Conservation Plan for the Calaveras River and also filed comments critical of a supporting environmental review document.[1]   Stockton East Water District (Stockton East) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released the Plan and the supporting environmental review document on September 30, 2019. …

  • Fishing and River Groups Analyze Voluntary Agreements

    CSPA, the Golden Gate Salmon Association, and other fishing and river groups have released an analysis critical of the outline of Voluntary Agreements submitted to the State Water Board as a proposed alternative to the Board’s regulatory update of the Bay-Delta Plan.  The analysis describes foundational problems with the agreements as proposed by the California…

  • Glass Half Full: State Water Board Adopts San Joaquin Flow Objectives for Update of Bay-Delta Plan

    The State Water Resources Control Board adopted new objectives for flows in the Lower San Joaquin River and for southern Delta salinity on Wednesday, December 12, 2018.  The new plan for flow in the San Joaquin River will require as a start release from reservoirs on the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers of 40% of…

  • Delta Tunnels Hearing at State Water Board Drawing to a Close

    After more than three years, 104 days of testimony, and over twenty-four thousand pages of hearing transcripts, the hearing before the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) on the proposal to construct two tunnels to convey water under the Delta (aka California WaterFix) is almost completed.  Probably, that is: there could be more if…