Press release from AquAlliance:
Fourteen days after being sued by AquAlliance and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) for unlawfully prolonging the 2021 Drought Emergency, Governor Newsom suddenly signed a proclamation on March 24, 2026,1 officially ending the drought emergency he declared on May 10, 2021. The AquAlliance/CSPA lawsuit was filed in Alameda County on March 10, 2026, seeking an immediate end to the declared drought emergency. 2 The lawsuit also charged that the rules under the declared emergency weakened environmental protection.
In support of their petition, plaintiffs AquAlliance and CSPA submitted the February 24, 2026 U.S. Drought Monitor map showing that no counties in California were in a condition of drought. The plaintiffs also submitted a March 2, 2026 map of major California reservoirs published by the California Department of Water Resources showing all depicted reservoirs at or above average storage for the date.
AquAlliance’s Executive Director, Barbara Vlamis, explained, “Maintaining drought emergency proclamations and orders enabled exemptions to other laws that are essential to protect communities, public health, the environment, and local economies. Our legal action was necessary since there was no meaningful process that allowed the plaintiffs to intercede on proposed recharge projects in Tehama County. Recharge projects have the potential to seriously damage other groundwater dependent farms and homes, streams, rivers, and communities.
Read the full press release below:
