By Peter Drekmeier
It’s been a long haul, but on December 12th the State Water Board finally voted to adopt a plan to allow more water to flow into the lower San Joaquin River and its three main tributaries, of which the Tuolumne is the largest. On a 4-1 vote, the Board approved the staff recommendation: allow rivers to keep 30-50% of unimpaired water flows between February and June, starting at 40%. This plan is our best chance to roll back an ongoing ecological crisis in the San Francisco Bay Delta and its tributaries.
The Water Board also expressed a strong interest in continued negotiations with water districts (such as San Francisco's SFPUC, which gets the majority of its water from the Tuolumne River) on voluntary "settlement agreements" — compromise plans for water sharing. All along the State Water Board's position has been that it has jurisdiction over flows, but can only incentivize non-flow measures, such as habitat restoration and controlling non-native predatory fish. This is where the range of flow requirements could play a major role. If non-flow measures are proven to be effective, flows could decrease to as low as 30%. If they are unsuccessful, flows could increase to as high as 50%. Voluntary settlement agreements could help identify the best combination of flow and non-flow measures to achieve the greatest results, while also addressing issues such as how to handle extended droughts.
While tremendous progress was made with the passage of this first phase of the Bay-Delta Plan, our campaign for strong river protections is far from over. We expect there to be lawsuits. Meanwhile, the Water Board will continue to focus on Phase 2 of the Plan, which addresses the Sacramento River Basin and Delta outflow (how much water must flow through the Delta to the Bay, versus getting diverted at the Delta pumps). And then there will be the issue of determining how the increase in instream flows will be apportioned among water agencies.
But for now we have a major victory to celebrate over the holiday season. Thank you for helping to make this possible!