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Minimum Baseflows – Survival or Recovery: Which Levels will the Water Board Choose?
The California State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) is advancing a process to establish permanent streamflow requirements for the Shasta and Scott rivers. The Water Board’s current work will narrow the range of flows and focus deeper investigations in a forthcoming scientific basis report and economic analysis. This report will inform the Water Board’s selection of permanent minimum baseflows. Interim
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The Spring-Run Chinook Salmon of Deer and Mill Creeks
It’s the time of year when I start to think about spring-run Chinook salmon. As the warm temperatures of spring begin to melt the snowpack, cold and clear water flows from the southern Cascades and Lassen foothills. This seasonal change initiates the return of adult Central Valley spring-run Chinook to hold and then spawn in their natal streams. Located in Tehama County, California, Deer and Mill Creeks are significant tributaries
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Bad News for All: AHO’s Draft Water Rights Decision for Proposed Sites Reservoir
On March 20, 2026, the Administrative Hearings Office (AHO) for the State Water Resources Control Board (Board) issued a Draft Decision regarding water rights for the proposed Sites Reservoir. The Draft Decision followed over a year of evidentiary hearings that ended with reply briefs in June 2025. The Draft Decision is accompanied by a Draft Water Rights Permit. The Draft Decision proposes granting the
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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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A plan to replant native plants along the Eel River, after dam removal
This winter, Friends of the Eel River, a Eureka nonprofit, is launching the Eel River Native Plant Network. The goal of the Network is to increase regional capacity to produce native plant products. The initial focus will be to assist PG&E in its effort to replant native wildflowers, grasses, shrubs, and trees in the project
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