San Joaquin River

Delta Conveyance Project Fall 2023

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | September 13th, 2023

Delta Conveyance Project Final Environmental Impact Report

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | December 8th, 2023

Delta Conveyance Project Operations Plan

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | August 23rd, 2024

This document presents a summary of the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) operations commitments that the Department of Water Resources (DWR) has made for when the DCP becom

This document presents a summary of the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) operations commitments that the Department of Water Resources (DWR) has made for when the DCP becomes operational.

Delta Conveyance Project Scoping Summary Report

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | July 16th, 2020

This document is the Scoping Summary Report for the Delta Conveyance Project (project). The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is undertaking an environmental

This document is the Scoping Summary Report for the Delta Conveyance Project (project). The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is undertaking an environmental review process to evaluate impacts of the project as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The proposed project would construct and operate new conveyance facilities in the Delta that would add to the existing State Water Project (SWP) infrastructure. New intake facilities as points of diversion would be located in the north Delta along the Sacramento River between Freeport and the confluence with Sutter Slough. The new conveyance facilities would include a tunnel to convey water from the new intakes to the existing Banks Pumping Plant and potentially the federal Jones Pumping Plant in the south Delta. The project underwent a public scoping period of 93 days from January 15, 2020 to April 17, 2020, where DWR accepted public comments on the scope of issues to be considered in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that will be prepared for the project. Eight scoping meetings were held throughout the state to provide information on the project and gather comments. The scoping period was originally scheduled for a period of 65 days ending on March 20, 2020 but was extended for an additional 28 days in response to stakeholder requests and to accommodate unprecedented circumstances related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. During this period, the public was invited to participate in the earliest phase of the environmental review process and DWR accepted public comments on the proposed project. This Scoping Summary Report provides background on the project, summarizes the environmental review process, describes the purpose of scoping, and discusses specific activities and public outreach efforts undertaken during the public scoping period. It also summarizes comments received during the scoping period and discusses how the scoping comments will be considered during the development of the EIR. Copies of notifications and materials developed during the scoping period are included as appendices to this report, as are copies of all comments received during the scoping process. Supplemental material attached to comment letters is not provided in the appendices but is available upon request. For an index of comments, meeting transcripts and letters, go to the California Department of Water Resources Delta Conveyance page

Delta Conveyance Project: Modernizing California’s Water Infrastructure, Fast Facts 2024

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | September 13th, 2023

Delta Conveyance Project: Scoping and CEQA

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | February 10th, 2020

Delta Fish Agreement

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) | December 30th, 1986

On December 30, 1986, the Directors of CDFW and the Department of Water Resources (DWR) signed an agreement to provide for offsetting fishery impacts caused by the divers

On December 30, 1986, the Directors of CDFW and the Department of Water Resources (DWR) signed an agreement to provide for offsetting fishery impacts caused by the diversion of water at the Harvey O. Banks Delta Pumping Plant (Banks), located at the head of the California Aqueduct near Tracy, California. The agreement, currently referred to as the Delta Fish Agreement (DFA or Agreement) (PDF), was previously known as the Delta Pumping Plant Fish Protection Agreement or Four Pumps Agreement because it was adopted as part of the mitigation package to add four additional pumps to Banks during the late 1980’s. Direct losses of Chinook salmon, steelhead, and striped bass are offset or mitigated through the funding and implementation of fish mitigation projects.

Delta Independent Science Board -- Comments on the Sacramento / Delta Draft Staff Report

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | January 19th, 2024

Delta Islands and Levees Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta, California Interim Integrated Feasibility Report/ Environmental Impact Statement

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) | November 15th, 2018

USACE initiated the Delta Study in 2006 at the request of the DWR, the non-Federal sponsor for the study. USACE is the lead agency for the Feasibility Study and is also t

USACE initiated the Delta Study in 2006 at the request of the DWR, the non-Federal sponsor for the study. USACE is the lead agency for the Feasibility Study and is also the lead under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This report: (1) identifies flood risk management and ecosystem restoration problems and opportunities in the Delta; (2) develops and evaluates measures to solve identified problems; (3) formulates and compares alternatives for ecosystem restoration; and (4) identifies a Recommended Plan (RP) for implementation. A draft of this FR/EIS was concurrently released for public review, internal policy review, Agency Technical Review (ATR), and Independent External Peer Review (IEPR). The present report has been updated based on comments received during these reviews and finalized to present the RP for eventual authorization. The RP is the most reasonably efficient contribution to the Delta, restoring 340 acres of intertidal marsh habitat in the Delta at a cost of $25M. The RP provides a unique opportunity to restore intertidal marsh, habitat which is now greatly reduced in this ecosystem of national significance. The RP links the proposed ecosystem restoration actions to historic and ongoing USACE navigation projects, providing a cost effective mechanism to implement otherwise costly subsidence reversal goals. This action would restore habitat for multiple Federally listed species, notably salmonids and Delta smelt. The restored habitat would also benefit millions of migratory fowl on the Pacific Flyway as they travel through the Delta.

Delta Landscapes Executive Summary

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | December 1st, 2017

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta supplies freshwater to a large portion of California’s cities and agriculture, supports an agricultural economy and culture, and is hom

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta supplies freshwater to a large portion of California’s cities and agriculture, supports an agricultural economy and culture, and is home to native wildlife found nowhere else in the world. This complex region is hampered by many environmental challenges, including an over-allocated water supply, invasive species, water quality problems, novel ecosystems that no longer support desired functions, aging infrastructure, and a complex management structure. Beyond these challenges, sea level rise, other impacts from climate change, and earthquakes pose significant risks to Delta ecosystems, agriculture and water supply. There is general consensus that ecosystem restoration and planning for future resilience needs to take place, within the context of the Delta’s unique culture and economy. Imagining a healthy Delta ecosystem in the future and taking bold, concrete steps toward that future requires an understanding and vision of what that healthy ecosystem could look like. For a place as extensive, unique, and modified as the Delta, critical knowledge can be acquired through the study of the past, investigating the Delta as it existed just prior to the substantial human modifications of the past two centuries. Though the Delta is irrevocably altered, its history is still relevant. Underlying geologic and hydrologic processes still influence the landscape. Native species adapted to live in the historical ecosystems, so restoring functional landscapes that reflect historical patterns can increase the success of restoration efforts.  The Delta Landscapes project investigates the historical ecosystems of the Delta and how they have been modified in the current landscape in order to produce a holistic, aspirational approach to restoration of desired ecological functions. The project goes beyond immediate planning horizons and mandated protection of particular species to explore how restoration of large-scale processes of sediment and water could drive a broad suite of ecological benefits. Restoration or emulation of such processes requires large areas and long time scales. The Delta Landscapes project produced three reports, summarized here, that speak to the past, present, and potential future Delta. The final report, A Delta Renewed, provides a framework for how individual projects planned in the near-term can contribute to a coherent, long-term vision of improving ecosystem function across the Delta. The purpose of this planning framework is to foster more effective and economical restoration of desired functions in a smaller footprint, because each project is contributing to improving a larger system, than could be achieved by projects planned in isolation that each focus on more narrow, varied benefits. The project is purposefully conceived to address only ecological benefits, in the context of a working agricultural landscape with critical water-supply and cultural considerations. The reports can contribute to discussions where social and economic benefits are also evaluated in planning the future Delta landscape. A Delta Renewed User Guide was developed to help different audiences access the information in this report and apply it effectively.  This research was conducted at the request of the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) and the Ecosystem Restoration Program (ERP).