Collaborative Agreements to Improve Conditions of Bay-Delta Revived by ACWA Staff Mar 30, 2022 Water News Members of the Newsom Administration joined federal and local water leaders March 29 in announcing the signing of a memorandum of understanding that advances integrated efforts to improve ecosystem and fisheries health within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta. Also today, state and federal agencies announced an agreement specifically with the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors on an approach for 2022 water operations on the Sacramento River. Both announcements represent a potential revival of progress toward what has been known as “Voluntary Agreements,” an approach ACWA has strongly supported for years. “The advancement of integrated, collaborative work on a watershed-wide scale will help provide water supplies at levels essential for environmental health and accelerate habitat restoration to help struggling salmon and steelhead populations, while also helping ensure a reliable supply of water for Californians and the state’s economy,” Eggerton said. “This is an exciting first step that should be broadened to cover the entire Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta watershed. “ACWA applauds the continued leadership demonstrated by Governor Newsom, the leadership within his Administration and ACWA members involved in this historic process.” The broader MOU outlines terms for an eight-year program that would provide substantial new flows for the environment to help recover salmon and other native fish. The terms also support the creation of new and restored habitat for fish and wildlife, and provide significant funding for environmental improvements and water purchases, according to a joint news release from the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA). Local water agency managers signing the MOU have committed to bringing the terms of the MOU to their boards of directors for their endorsement and to work to settle litigation over engaged species protections in the Delta. CalEPA today issued the second announcement on the agreement with the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors (SRSCs). In that agreement, state and federal agencies, and the SRSCs, have developed an approach to a proposed temperature management plan to be submitted by the Bureau of Reclamation to the State Water Resources Control Board for approval. This approach seeks to maintain winter-run Chinook salmon habitat for the longest period possible and creates a target for an average water release schedule of 4,500 cubic feet per second from Keswick Dam below Lake Shasta and a target for Wilkins Slough on the Sacramento River of more than 3,000 cubic feet per second. Given this, Shasta would have a projected end of September storage greater than a million acre-feet. For more information about Voluntary Agreements visit www.voluntaryagreements.org.
