The State Water Resources Control Board received the Bureau of Reclamation’s final Sacramento River Temperature Management Plan (TMP) on June 1, 2026. Although the State Water Board recognizes the difficult hydrologic conditions and uncertainty surrounding temperature management, it has rejected the plan as currently written.
State Water Board Order 90-5 requires Reclamation to manage Sacramento River temperatures to protect fish species, including winter-run and fall-run Chinook salmon. In its May 15, 2026 comment letter, State Water Board staff asked Reclamation to strengthen the final TMP to better protect winter-run and fall-run Chinook salmon. Staff said this could include retaining more water in storage at the end of September to improve river temperatures this year and reduce risk next year. However, the final TMP remains largely unchanged from the draft and does not reflect Board staff’s understanding of how Reclamation would operate under the 2024 Shasta Operations Framework for long-term CVP and SWP operations. That framework was intended to support more predictable operations and avoid very low reservoir storage, temperature problems, and water supply impacts. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife raised similar concerns in its May 27, 2026 comment letter on the draft TMP.
“Given these circumstances, I cannot approve the final TMP as currently written,” writes Eric Oppenheimer, Executive Director, State Water Resources Control Board.
Reclamation submitted a draft TMP on April 29, 2026, for review by the State Water Board and other agencies and organizations. In comments submitted on May 15, 2026, State Water Board staff raised several concerns and asked Reclamation to address them in the final TMP. These concerns included projected EOS carryover storage, low cold water storage, the timing of side gate operations, high peak summer flows and the related risk of redd dewatering, and the potential for high temperature-dependent mortality based on TDM modeling.
The letter states that the final TMP is very similar to the draft. Its EOS carryover storage is substantially unchanged, raising concerns about temperature management for winter-run and fall-run Chinook salmon this year and next year.
Board staff understood from Reclamation’s description of the Proposed Action evaluated in the 2024 Biological Opinion that the 2026 EOS carryover storage target would be at least 2.4 MAF, assuming end-of-April storage of 4.2 MAF. Reaching that level would improve conditions for winter-run and fall-run Chinook salmon this year and provide better protection next year, especially under dry conditions. The combination of limited cold water storage, proposed high summer releases, and similarities to prior drought years with high temperature mortality remains a concern.
For these reasons, the State Water Board objects to the final TMP under Water Rights Order 90-5 and may reconsider approval if Reclamation revises the TMP to address these concerns.
The full letter is below:
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