State Water Board Adopts Bay-Delta Plan Update by ACWA Staff Nov 3, 2026 Water News SACRAMENTO — The State Water Resources Control Board on Oct. 29 approved a Bay-Delta Plan Update that includes the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes (HRL) Program, concluding a decades-long process to determine how water is managed within the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Bay-Delta) watershed. Gov. Gavin Newsom led development of the HRL Program, and the adopted Bay-Delta Plan Update preserves many elements of the program supported by ACWA. ACWA State Relations Advocate Stephen Pang and several member agencies testified in support of the HRL Program during the State Water Board’s two-day hearing. “The Bay-Delta Plan and its implementation have major, direct implications for public water agencies. Given the extensive timeline of this process, timely action is essential to support communities, protect public health, sustain economic productivity, and maintain affordability, while at the same time, delivering the ecological assets required to restore habitats and species that can’t afford delay,” Pang testified. Pending Office of Administrative Law approval, State Water Board staff will release a draft implementation methodology within one year and develop implementing regulations within two years. The HRL Program will begin implementation no later than Oct. 1, 2027. More background, including a link to ACWA’s written comments on the draft adopted plan, are available in an Oct. 30 ACWA Advisory. Member login required.
