ACWA Staff, Members Show Support for Agreements to Support Healthy Rivers and Landscapes by ACWA Staff Apr 26, 2024 Water News SACRAMENTO — ACWA staff and members addressed the State Water Resources Control Board Thursday in support of the Agreements to Support Healthy Rivers and Landscapes (Agreements) during the second of a three-day public workshop. The workshop was organized to provide a more detailed overview of the Agreements and an opportunity for State Water Board members to ask questions. Formerly known as Voluntary Agreements, ACWA supports the Agreements as the best available approach within the Bay-Delta watershed for water supply reliability, the environment, communities, agriculture and more. This approach represents a comprehensive, multi-year solution that brings together dozens of water agencies with the state and federal governments to pool resources and take concrete actions to provide targeted river flows and expand habitat in the Bay-Delta watershed. Real-time scientific monitoring and collaborative decision making would guide implementation of the Agreements. The State Water Board is expected to decide by next year on whether to include the Agreements in the Sacramento/Delta update to the Bay-Delta Plan. The other option is a regulatory approach strictly focused on imposing a percentage of unimpaired flows on rivers within the Sacramento River and Delta watershed. ACWA State Relations Advocate Stephen Pang joined several representatives from ACWA member agencies and other organizations speaking in support of the Agreements, through individual comments or as participants in presentations. “ACWA supports the Agreements because they represent the most holistic and comprehensive solution for managing the Delta. They align with the state’s Water Resilience Portfolio, they align with the coequal goals, they would restore habitat and help native species recover, and at the same time they would provide water supply reliability for 27 million people and 3 million acres of farmland,” Pang testified. “If I could leave you with one takeaway from my comments, it would be that the Agreements provide the most benefits, with the fewest impacts to the beneficial uses of water.”
