Friends of the River joined Tribal, environmental, fishing and Delta advocates at the State Capitol to stand up for the Bay-Delta and the rivers that sustain it. Advocates urged legislators to protect river flows, strengthen Tribal participation in water decisions, and oppose policies that could further strain California’s already overallocated rivers.

After nearly a decade of work, Friends of the River and our partners helped win important new protections for the San Joaquin River through the Clean Water Act. The victory shows what is possible when states have the authority to put meaningful conditions on projects that affect our rivers, and why that authority is worth defending.

Despite the steep decline of the white sturgeon population in the Bay-Delta estuary, the California Department of Fish & Wildlife is dragging its heels in moving forward to protect this imperiled native species. So, Friends of the River and three other groups sued in August to force the state to take steps toward listing as required under the state Endangered Species Act. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing to study a proposed 12-foot expansion of Pine Flat Reservoir, a project that could add 124,000 acre-feet of storage on the Kings River. But raising the dam could come at a steep cost to the river’s beaches, camps and takeout, while putting another stretch of the Kings River landscape under water.

The Southern San Joaquin Valley’s groundwater overdraft has reached a point where major reductions in water use may be unavoidable. But balancing the region’s groundwater budget shouldn’t mean draining already overallocated rivers, and sustainable solutions will require using less water, changing crops and finding less water-intensive uses for farmland.

The Del Puerto Water District has released its final environmental impact report for the proposed Del Puerto Canyon Dam and scheduled a hearing to consider certifying it. But certification is not the end of the road: major environmental reviews, federal approvals and a potential water rights proceeding still stand between the proposed $750 million dam and construction.