State Water Resources Control Board Wakes Up

The Suisun Marsh is a prominent wetland in the Bay-Delta ecosystem. Keiko Mertz, 2023.

Last month’s River Advocate carried a piece by Friends of the River Executive Director Jann Dorman criticizing the State Water Resources Control Board’s decision to let the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water Resources gobble up inflows into their reservoirs in February and March as if the state was in a drought year — instead of sharing more of nature’s bounty with downstream rivers. In what’s shaping up to be the wettest year in California history, this decision would have suspended water quality requirements in the Delta. Such requirements are a lifeline as Delta ecosystems and fisheries continue to collapse.

Recognizing that this water year was shaping up into a very wet one, Jann quoted President John F. Kennedy when he challenged the U.S., “If not us, who? If not now, when?” Well, someone was listening to Jann and other similar voices. Now, against the backdrop of some major state reservoirs beginning to make flood releases, on March 9 the executive director of the Board made the following announcement:

“The February 21 Order determined that an urgent need for the proposed changes existed at the time the TUCP (Temporary Urgency Change Petition) was filed and that the changes were in the public interest and would not have unreasonable impacts on fish and wildlife. However, as identified in the March 8, 2023 Bulletin 120 hydrologic forecast, hydrologic conditions have improved since the Order was issued and additional significant precipitation is currently occurring and projected to occur. The State Water Board has also received public comments on the TUCP and a petition for reconsideration. Based on the improved hydrology and in consideration of the public comments and the petition for reconsideration, this Order finds that an urgent need for the changes no longer exists, the changes are no longer in the public interest, and the impacts of the changes on fish and wildlife are no longer reasonable.”

Of course, a coalition of environmental groups had notified the Board of their intent to sue— perhaps adding to the motivations to drop the drought-emergency-based TUCP.

For more:

See article: Coalition issues intent to sue over Governor’s decision to suspend water quality protections