-
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
-
Collateral Damage – Retrofitting Infrastructure to Remediate Undesirable Impacts
Entrainment of fish into surface water diversions is a major anthropogenic cause of fish kill. Entrainment occurs when diversion works redirect flows from a natural channel into a pipe or canal, and aquatic organisms get directed or sucked into the artificial intake. While rates of entrainment per diversion may appear insignificant, the cumulative rate of
-
Notes From the Field: Eel River & the Potter Valley Project
The public comment period for Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s (PG&E) license surrender application (LSA) for the Potter Valley Project (PVP) was extended to December 19, 2025. A wide array of Tribal Nations, agencies, NGOs and individuals submitted comments, likely totaling well over a thousand. While many comments expressed support for the LSA, there were
-
SPAWN is restoring habitat for coho salmon in Marin County
In the Lagunitas Creek watershed of Marin County, the Olema-based nonprofit called Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN) is helping to increase the largest population of Central California Coast wild coho salmon. The program focused on this project is TIRN’s Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (SPAWN). SPAWN has a staff of one full-time employee, several residential
-
The Aftermath of the Park Fire
This winter, a host of stakeholders are examining how Chico-area waterways and the Chinook salmon and steelhead trout that live in them are faring, after the intense burning of the July-September 2024 Park Fire. Two of the most interesting sets of observations will come from Deer Creek and Mill Creek, which are tributaries of the
