Responsible Exports Plan

Environmental Water Caucus | May 29th, 2013

The consensus diagnosis for the Delta estuary is dire. The California Environmental Water Caucus prescribes more river flows and reduced fresh water exports to help the D

The consensus diagnosis for the Delta estuary is dire. The California Environmental Water Caucus prescribes more river flows and reduced fresh water exports to help the Delta recover. The EWC’s plan demonstrates how water supply reliability can be improved while reducing exports from the Bay Delta Estuary. Many of our recommendations have been presented to the Delta Stewardship Council as part of Alternative 2 for the Delta Plan. We have now packaged this series of related actions into a single alternative for evaluation in any future NEPA or CEQA evaluations, or by the State Water Resources Control Board. The actions are largely based on the EWC report California Water Solutions Now, (www.ewccalifornia.org), which can be referenced for supporting details. This package of actions (“The RX Plan”) represents the EWC alternative to the BDCP. The RX Plan includes a unique combination of actions that will open the discussion for alternatives to the currently failed policies which continuously attempt to use water as though it were a limitless resource. The RX Plan is about far more than just reduced exports. The uniqueness of this Plan is that while it will reduce the quantity of water exported from the Bay Delta Estuary, in order to protect the health of the Estuary’s habitat and fisheries with increased inflows and outflows, it also contains actions that will reduce the demand for water and increase supplies for exporters south of the Delta in order to compensate for the reduced south-of-Delta exports. It is the only extant plan that will modernize existing facilities in the Bay-Delta with improved fish screens at the South Delta, levees reinforced above the PL84-99 standard, and significantly increased flows in order to recover habitat and fish stocks, while avoiding the huge infrastructure costs of tunnels under the Delta. It will also provide increased self-reliance for south-of-Delta water users through inter-regional water transfers and south of Delta groundwater storage. The reinforced levees will provide increased reliability of the water supplies through the Delta. And it will accomplish the legislated goals of Estuary restoration and water reliability for billions of dollars less than currently contemplated plans.

Review of the Long-Term Operations of the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project

National Academy of Sciences (NAS) | November 10th, 2025

The CVP and SWP (referred to collectively as “the Projects”) rarely deliver their full contracted  amount of water. Some of this is inherent in the operation of larg

The CVP and SWP (referred to collectively as “the Projects”) rarely deliver their full contracted  amount of water. Some of this is inherent in the operation of large water projects with diverse demands in a dry and highly variable climate. A growing, complex regulatory environment of state and federal laws, some of which were created to protect fish species endemic to the Delta, has further restricted CVP and SWP operations.  These fish include the southern distinct population segment of North American green sturgeon, California Central Valley steelhead, Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon, Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon, longfin smelt, and Delta smelt. Operating the Projects while trying to prevent species extinction can be a source of conflict if the actions to prevent extinction reduce the amount of water that can be exported. Project operation into the future will likely become more challenging as changes in various climatic factors push the listed species closer to their thresholds of survivability. Hence, in late 2023 USBR contracted with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to form an expert committee that could serve as an independent review for the CVP and SWP as they operate into the future. The Committee’s statement of task appears in Box S-1. The three actions chosen for the study—the Shasta Coldwater Pool Management Action, the Old and Middle River Flow Management Action, and the Summer-Fall Habitat Action for Delta Smelt— are perceived as consequential for species survival and controversial for their effects on water deliveries to contractors.

Review of Water Supply Reliability Estimation Related to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | June 16th, 2022

RipZET: Documentation of Tool Demonstration in Marin County

San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) | March 31st, 2015

The San Francisco Estuary Institute and Aquatic Science Center (SFEI‐ASC) has developed the Riparian Zone Estimation Tool (RipZET) to help the California community of

The San Francisco Estuary Institute and Aquatic Science Center (SFEI‐ASC) has developed the Riparian Zone Estimation Tool (RipZET) to help the California community of riparian interests visualize and characterize riparian areas as habitat unto themselves as well as their capacity to function as buffers for protecting the ecosystem services of the state’s streams, lakes and wetlands. RipZET is a tool used with Geographic Information System (GIS) and spreadsheet software to estimate “functional riparian width,” or the width associated with different riparian functions (e.g., large woody debris input, shading, floodwater storage), which varies with channel type and watershed location. The concept of functional riparian width is central to the riparian definition recommended by the National Research Council (NRC 2002) and is integral in many recently developed riparian design and management guidelines around the country.

Rising Seas and Electricity Infrastructure: Potential Impacts and Adaptation Actions for San Diego Gas & Electric

California Energy Commission (CEC) | August 31st, 2018

Part A: Rising sea levels pose a threat to California’s energy infrastructure and the coastal communities that it serves. To better understand this threat, this

Part A: Rising sea levels pose a threat to California’s energy infrastructure and the coastal communities that it serves. To better understand this threat, this study analyzed the exposure of San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) electricity assets in San Diego County to climate change- driven coastal wave flooding, tidal inundation, and coastal erosion. The study found that the greatest potential direct impacts are damage to four substations in the Mission Bay and San Diego Bay areas. By modeling the potential costs to customers from unserved energy due to service disruptions driven by exposed substations, this study found economic impacts could— under an extreme sea level rise scenario in the late 21st century compounded by a 100 year storm-- range from $1.2 billion to $25 billion, assuming no adaptation actions are taken. Nearby communities could also experience indirect impacts if critical customers served by the substations—such as sewage pumping stations, hospitals, airports, and ports—are affected by outages. For other asset types, potential direct impacts are expected in the form of increased maintenance and repair costs. The research team identified a range of potential adaptation measures to build resilience to potential impacts. The application of flexible adaptation pathways emerged through the study as the best approach to improve implementation of these measures in the face of future uncertainty. Rather than selecting adaptation measures based only on what is known today, flexible adaptation pathways help establish information that that should be tracked, termed signposts, to help navigate uncertainty, set thresholds that trigger adaptation actions, and determine if an adaptation plan is meeting its objectives. Using these pathways, four initial climate adaptation actions were identified for SDG&E: 1) enhance coastal storm prediction and response, 2) identify signposts and thresholds that indicate when the need for an adaptation decision is approaching, 3) conduct consultations with regional stakeholders to identify opportunities to improve community-wide resilience, and 4) improve and fine-tune cost-benefit analysis methods to increase accuracy and confidence in cost-benefit estimates that incorporate climate change. Click here for Part B of the report, Potential Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Actions for Gas Assets in the San Diego Gas and Electric Company Service Area, CEC, 2018

Risk-Informed Future Climate Scenario Development for the State Water Project Delivery Capability Report

California Department of Water Resources (DWR) | August 24th, 2023

This report introduces and documents an extensive effort undertaken by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to develop risk-informed future climate scenario

This report introduces and documents an extensive effort undertaken by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to develop risk-informed future climate scenarios for the State Water Project (SWP) Delivery Capability Report (DCR), a report issued by the SWP every two years. These reports present DWR’s analysis of the SWP system and planning information for users of SWP water. The analysis provides information about how climate change, regulatory, and operational considerations affect SWP delivery capability. Specifically, the report must provide “…under a range of hydrologic conditions, the then existing overall delivery capability of the project facilities and the allocation of that capacity to each contractor. The range of hydrologic conditions shall include the historic extended dry cycle and long-term average.” (Settlement Agreement 2003).

Role of Science and Engineering in Decision-Making Within the State and Regional Water Boards

California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) | December 16th, 2005

The primary purpose of State Water Resources Control Board and the nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards is to preserve and protect the beneficial uses of all waters

The primary purpose of State Water Resources Control Board and the nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards is to preserve and protect the beneficial uses of all waters of the State. This includes all ground water, more than 1.6 million acres of lakes, 211,000 miles of rivers and streams, more than 1.3 million acres of bays and estuaries, 1,609 miles of coastline, and the first three miles of ocean off of our coastline. The California legislature found that “activities and factors which may affect the quality of the waters of the State shall be regulated to attain the highest water quality that is reasonable . . . (and) that the state must protect the quality of waters in the state from degradation inside or outside the boundaries of the state.” How we use water, or expect to use water in the future determines its beneficial uses. A designated beneficial use determines the quality of water that must be maintained for that use. Protecting water quality and preventing degradation in order to preserve beneficial uses of water relies heavily on science and engineering. Protecting water quality also depends on an equitable system for allocating water resources, which is carried out by the State Water Resources Control Board’s water rights program. This report discusses the role of science and engineering (technology) in decision-making at the water boards in implementing federal and state laws along with their implementing regulations, and water board plans and policies.

Root Creek Water District Groundwater Sustainability Agency Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Root Creek Water District | November 11th, 2019

Root Creek Water District Groundwater Sustainability Plan

Root Creek Water District | March 20th, 2023

Sacramento and San Joaquin Basins Climate Impact Assessment

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | September 8th, 2014

Through West-Wide Climate Risk Assessments (WWCRAs) conducted under that program, Reclamation is conducting reconnaissance-level assessments of risks to water supplies an

Through West-Wide Climate Risk Assessments (WWCRAs) conducted under that program, Reclamation is conducting reconnaissance-level assessments of risks to water supplies and related resources in eight major Reclamation river basins in the Western United States. This report presents the results of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Climate Impact Assessment (SSJIA), which addresses impacts in two of these major basins in California. The SSJIA also includes the Tulare Lake Basin in the southern part of the Central Valley of California; part of the Trinity River watershed from which some water is diverted into the Central Valley; and a portion of California’s central coast region where Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) water supplies are delivered. The water supplies and demands analyzed in the SSJIA include CVP water users, SWP water users, and the other non-project water users in the study area. Included in the report is an overview of the current climate and hydrology of California’s Central Valley (Sacramento, San Joaquin and Tulare Lake Basins), an analysis of observed trends in temperature and precipitation over historical record, and a comparison of these trends to future water operation projections not considering climate change. The report then presents hydrologic projections developed from global climate models to evaluate the ways that projected climatic and hydrologic changes could impact water availability and management and water demands within the Sacramento, San Joaquin and Tulare Lake basins. The SSJIA analyzes potential impacts of climate change under a current trends projection of future urban growth considering the conversion of agricultural to urban land use and assuming the continuation of current crop types in the Central Valley. Finally, the SSJIA assesses risks to the eight major resource categories identified in the SWA by looking at a range of climate futures and attempting to book-end future uncertainties.