From the San Francisco Baykeeper:
A coalition of eight organizations today alerted the California Water Resources Control Board that the federal Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation)—an agency under the Department of the Interior—has repeatedly exceeded water diversion limits set by recent federal and state endangered species act permits. Some of these provisions are intended to implement voluntary water use agreements that Governor Newsom has negotiated with water districts that serve cities, as well as massive industrial agricultural operations in the Central Valley (Voluntary Agreements). These Voluntary Agreements are roundly opposed by environmental, Tribal, fishing, and human rights advocates.
“There’s no scientific basis to suggest that Governor Newsom’s Voluntary Agreements would work in the first place,” said Baykeeper managing attorney Eric Buescher. “The Water Board is currently faced with a flawed water management plan that’s made worse by an unreliable partner federal agency that serially refuses to obey the legal requirements it previously agreed were necessary to avoid harming endangered species.”
Specifically, Reclamation is killing more endangered salmon and steelhead than its permits allow. The agency is also exceeding limits that protect the springtime river flows into San Francisco Bay that imperiled species and valuable fisheries depend on.
The groups call on the Water Board to avoid further degradation of Bay-Delta water quality, native fish populations and fisheries, and the public trust by abandoning Governor Newsom’s Voluntary Agreements altogether and adopting specific, science-based, and enforceable requirements for all water users in the Bay-Delta’s watershed—including Reclamation and other parties to the Voluntary Agreements.
“The voluntary agreements are doing what they were designed to do: relieving diverters from their obligation to comply with environmental regulations, while undermining the Water Board’s regulatory authority,” noted Cintia Cortez, Policy Program Manager with Restore the Delta.”We continue to urge the Board to reject the Voluntary Agreements and protect the health and economic vitality of Delta communities.”
Baykeeper’s Eric Buescher added: “The state Water Board is neglecting its duty to ensure that there’s adequate fresh water flowing into San Francisco Bay–Delta so the estuary and its wildlife can thrive. The US Bureau of Reclamation has demonstrated that it’s an unreliable partner, and its conduct will harm the ecosystem and burden other water users. By refusing to stand up to agencies that would send all of the Bay’s fresh water to massive agricultural operations in the Central Valley, the board is dooming iconic Chinook Salmon and other endangered species to extinction.”
The Bay-Delta estuary is an ecosystem in crisis. In addition to the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, this crisis risks destruction of the Delta itself as a cultural place and harms the communities and California Tribes who live in and depend upon the Bay-Delta estuary
The signatory groups are San Francisco Baykeeper, Golden State Salmon Association, Restore the Delta, the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the River, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, and Defenders of Wildlife.
2025.05.16-Letter-to-State-Board-re-BOR-operations-and-VAs-5
