Press release
Environmental advocates and Tribal leaders today spoke out against the inequitable and misleading Voluntary Agreements within the latest Bay-Delta Plan update – a critical policy governing water quality, river flows, and ecosystem protection for California’s largest and most fragile estuary – during a virtual press conference.
A key component of the updated Bay-Delta Plan is the State’s proposed Voluntary Agreements (VAs), privately negotiated deals in which powerful water districts offer limited flow commitments and funding in exchange for exemptions from stronger, enforceable regulatory requirements.
Speakers criticized the VA approach as scientifically unsound and lacking adequate accountability and protections. Instead, these VAs or “deals” between the State Water Board and water agencies were developed without input from communities that rely on a healthy Bay-Delta ecosystem , such as tribes, environmental justice groups or fishing communities. With current water diversions, California is already facing a third straight year of commercial salmon season closure, the collapse of native fish populations with eight species on the endangered list and frequent toxic algae blooms.
The advocates outlined how a more just and equitable regulatory framework could better protect the Bay-Delta ecosystem and the communities that depend on it. Rather than relying on Voluntary Agreements, advocates urged the State to invest in affordable, local solutions such as water conservation, reuse and recycling, and stormwater capture that reduce reliance on costly imported water and make it possible to safeguard water quality and river health.
As the State Water Resources Control Board prepares to consider the updated Bay-Delta plan on January 28-30, advocates reiterated their commitment to opposing what they view as an alarming effort to prioritize powerful water and agricultural interests over environmental protection, public rights, and Tribal sovereignty.
STATEMENTS FROM BAY-DELTA ADVOCATES:
Gary Bobker, Program Director, Friends of the River:
“In recognition of the looming collapse of the Bay-Delta ecosystem and the decline of water quality and public trust resources, nearly two decades ago the State Water Resources Control Board initiated a major update of the flow and water quality standards in the Bay-Delta Plan. Since then, the Board has built an extensive record showing that the massive reduction and alteration of freshwater flows in the watershed is driving the ecological and water quality crisis. But instead of acting on the evidence, the Board is proposing to hand water diverters and water exporters a free pass on providing more flow for the estuary, in the form of voluntary agreements that won’t change the status quo. To make matters worse, the Board is proposing a regulatory backstop that’s almost as bad as the voluntary agreements – essentially undoing years of the Board’s work to adopt evidence-based regulations that can actually protect water quality, save the Bay-Delta ecosystem, and meet the needs of all Californians. Future generations will judge this Board harshly if it goes down this path.”
Morgen Snyder, Director of Policy and Programs, Restore the Delta:
“The proposed update to the Bay-Delta plan, which is nearly 30 years overdue, exacerbates inequities in the system through the inclusion of the Voluntary Agreements, and further ostracizes Delta Tribes, environmental justice communities, Delta farms, and fishing groups. While expeditiously moving forward with a bad update, the Water Board has failed to address the Title VI complaint filed in 2022 by the Delta Tribal Environment Coalition (“DTEC”), which calls upon the Board to rectify generations of harm caused by these inequities. The proposed update prioritizes water districts and wealthy agricultural interests over the Board’s obligations to uphold the Public Trust Doctrine and protect water quality for the Tribes and communities that depend upon Delta waterways. We need an update to the existing plan, but we need an update that prioritizes strong regulatory oversight and protective measures for Bay-Delta communities, tribes, and ecosystems.
Eric Buescher, Managing Attorney, San Francisco Baykeeper:
“The Water Board is the only agency with the responsibility and authority to protect water quality and fisheries for the entire Bay-Delta watershed and the communities and people that depend on these public resources. For 31 years, the Water Board has relied on a Water Quality Control Plan that fails to provide adequate protections. The result has been cratering fish populations, closed commercial and recreational fisheries, constraints on tribal uses of water, and waterways made unsafe by toxic algae. In the face of these crises and after 16 years of work to craft a new Plan, the Board’s current proposal leaves us no better off than we were 30 years ago. Adopting this draft will perpetuate the problems and accelerate the path to fish extinction. This is not progress – it is a continuation of the Board’s decades-long failure to do its job.”
Barry Nelson, Senior Policy Advisor, Golden State Salmon Association:
“Water diversions are killing California’s largest salmon runs. That’s why commercial fishing has been shut down for 3 years – leading to real hardship for fishing families, businesses and communities. The State Board is the only agency with the authority to restore all of California’s salmon runs. It’s time for the Board to reject Governor Newsom’s backroom water scam, which could cost taxpayers billions and make conditions for salmon even worse. We call on the Board to listen to the facts, do their job and require the river flows salmon need to survive.
Ashley Overhouse, Water Policy Advisor, Defenders of Wildlife:
“The new documents the Water Board released right before the holidays are unresponsive to serious concerns raised over several years of engaged stakeholders from all over the state on the most important water planning process for California. As of today, the proposed draft Bay-Delta Plan is not only inadequate to protect all uses of California’s precious freshwater resources, but also flawed and deeply inequitable for a host of reasons – from promoting the Voluntary Agreements to incomplete analysis to weakened regulatory requirements.”
