BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Resolution in Support of the Association of California Water Agencies' Policy Statement on Bay-Delta Flow Requirements.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Adopt the Resolution IN SUPPORT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA WATER AGENCIES' POLICY STATEMENT ON BAY-DELTA FLOW REQUIREMENTS.
Body
SUMMARY:
The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) is in the process of updating the 2006 Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Bay-Delta Plan). The update to the Bay-Delta Plan is part of a phased review that will likely impact the reliability of the State Water Project (SWP) and Central Valley Project (CVP), which are responsible for meeting many of the flow and water quality objectives in the Bay-Delta Plan. Any changes to the plan could have significant impacts on the District's imported water supplies. Revisions to the plan may also affect a broad suite of other water users, including senior water rights holders such as the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), which supplies water to regions of Santa Clara County.
The District is a member agency of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), an association that has been following the proposed changes to the Bay-Delta Plan. ACWA has expressed concern over the State Water Board's proposed approach of basing water quality objectives on a percentage of unimpaired flow, stating that such an approach "could lead to widespread fallowing of agricultural land, undercut the state's groundwater sustainability goals, cripple implementation of the Brown Administration's California Water Action Plan, negatively affect water reliability for much of the state's population and impact access to surface water for some disadvantaged communities that do not have safe drinking water." ACWA's Board of Directors adopted a strong policy statement urging the State Water Board to set aside this approach and inste...
Click here for full text