Items Tagged with 'voluntary agreements for Bay-Delta freshwater flows'

Fires along the fringes of the Central Valley are impacting water quality for downstream watersheds that supply critical habitat for native salmon species.

Tribes are pushing for more status in water laws to better protect cultural practices. Irrigation districts claim the real intention is to block a set of voluntary agreements for river flows.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth to advise his office on water priorities.

The state water board has denied a petition to establish a minimum flow standard on the Shasta River.

New recommendations from the California Water Commission are raising fears over adding more fuel for bills that seek to overhaul the state’s water rights system.

While the Newsom administration is backing a set of voluntary agreements over freshwater flows, the U.S. EPA is siding with environmentalists and wants to commit 40-60% of the water to fish.

One of California’s leading voices in rice farming is warning the state water board that rejecting a set of voluntary agreements would “generate turmoil.”

President Jamie Johansson opened the California Farm Bureau’s annual meeting recapping a year of wins in Sacramento water policy while outlining the many battles to come in 2024.

The unprecedented effort has faced steady blowback from environmental, sportfishing and tribal interests, while state agency staff have raised potential roadblocks to its success.

Eileen Sobeck will retire at the end of the year, after steering the agency through turbulent waters with the Trump administration and shepherding in several new regulatory programs.