How to best protect the Delta? California water agencies advocate for flexibility
Regional water agencies on Monday urged the State Water Resources Control Board to advance a voluntary agreement option in the updated Bay-Delta plan that would give agencies more flexibility in how they meet state water rules. Under Healthy Rivers and Landscapes, the regional agencies would not be mandated to strict river flow targets.
In a letter reviewed by The Sacramento Bee, the Sacramento Regional Water Authority wrote to state water regulators on behalf of anticipated American River Healthy Rivers and Landscapes participants, asserting that relying only on the regulatory pathway would create severe “trade-offs” for regional water supplies and river ecosystems.
The regulatory pathway, meanwhile, is the board’s framework that would impose an “unimpaired-flow requirement,” which would require about half of river flows to keep moving downstrean instead of being stored in winter and spring. The flow rules would apply to water users outside the voluntary program, which local water agencies say could undermine the state’s water supply stability and the Delta ecosystem.
Under the current proposal, the regulatory pathway could also be imposed on Healthy Rivers and Landscapes participants if the State Water Board concludes the voluntary approach is falling short. For now, the draft does not clearly define the specific conditions or decision-making process that would trigger that shift.
“We would like to note at the outset that we believe the Bay-Delta Plan Updates are ready for adoption, with the ability to collaboratively refine specific points at a future date,” the letter read.
“The comments in this letter are intended to (...) create an awareness of these trade-offs as the State Board prepares for Plan adoption.”
Regional agencies press for a balanced path forward
Monday’s letter recognizes that the regulatory pathway exists as a fallback, but it mainly warns the state water board not to set up the plan in a way that would push the voluntary agreement pathway to fail and trigger the regulatory option’s flow rules.
In a 19-page letter, the agencies echoed concerns raised by Andy Fecko of the Placer County Water Agency and Jim Peifer of the Sacramento Regional Water Authority on Thursday, warning that the flow rule spelled out in the regulatory approach could destabilize groundwater storage in the American River basin and raise river temperatures for salmon.
Citing the proposed plan’s projection that groundwater storage in the American River basin could decline by more than 1 million acre-feet, the regional water officials said the “decline to groundwater storage within the American River region would be devastating and completely infeasible.”
“It would thoroughly deplete the American River region’s efforts to address climate change and force a return to unsustainable pumping, reversing the very progress the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) seeks to achieve,” the letter added, referring to the state law aimed at restoring “critically overdrafted” groundwater basins to sustainability by 2040.
By pushing more water downstream in winter and spring, the proposal would leave less water stored in reservoirs and less cold water available to cool rivers later in the year. Modeling of the regulatory plan suggests river temperatures below Folsom dam and near Hazel and Watt avenues could rise by as much as three degrees from April through November.
Lower American River temperatures are “already high when compared to other Sacramento River tributaries,” the regional water officials noted, arguing any temperature increases could negatively impact fall-run Chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead populations. The regulatory pathway’s monthly modeling could also be masking more severe daily temperature spikes, their letter noted.
“We encourage the State Board to adopt the Healthy River and Landscapes (HRL) program to alleviate the impacts of strictly and solely adopting the regulatory pathway,” the letter continued.
Tribal nations challenge voluntary framework
Meanwhile, tribal and conservation groups strongly opposed the voluntary agreement framework. Healthy Rivers and Landscapes’ flexibility represents potentially weakened enforceable safeguards for environmental and tribal groups, as the program relies on voluntary commitments instead of mandatory flow standards.
They have pointed to recent federal changes allowing increased water pumping from the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta under Action 5, urging the state board members to consider that added exports put more stress on water and ecosystems.
During last week’s three-day hearing, tribal leaders said they had been excluded from the voluntary agreement process.
Morning Star Gali, a Pit River tribal member, warned the voluntary agreement framework would result in “privatizing water, prioritizing corporate profit over people” and forcing tribal people “to carry the burden of protecting our waterways.”
“For Wilton Rancheria, Delta conditions directly affect cultural practices, subsistence activities, and stewardship responsibilities,” Vince LaPena from the Wilton Rancheria said on Thursday.
“Salmon and other aquatic species are not merely ecological indicators — they are integral to the Tribe’s cultural identity, traditional knowledge systems, food sovereignty, and responsibilities to future generations,” LaPena added.
This story was originally published February 3, 2026 at 12:33 PM with the headline "How to best protect the Delta? California water agencies advocate for flexibility."
