VICTORY!
State Water Board Votes to Adopt Landmark Protections*
*provided they don't get "trumped" by the proposed WIIN Act rider, federal actions to gut the Clean Water Act, the incoming Newsom administration, etc.
This is the lower San Joaquin River, which has so much water diverted that it runs dry (Photo taken June 20, 2014 by John Sutter/CNN).
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At 7:00pm on December 12, after over nine hours of deliberations, public comment, and the last-minute submission of a sweeping "collaborative" alternative proposal by the Department of Water Resources and the Department of Fish and Wildlife on behalf of water agencies throughout the state (but not a single NGO), the State Water Resources Control Board voted 4-1 to adopt the proposed regulations for Phase 1 of the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan. This is truly an historic moment--the first significant change to regulations since the 1995 Bay-Delta Accords. These regulations don't do enough to improve freshwater flows for our fish and wildlife, but with the political pressure currently being mounted on all sides, it was an important step. Virtually every environmental group active on this topic showed up to urge the Board to vote yes. What's next? There is much more work to do. The State Board is committed to studying the DWR/DFW alternative proposal closely to see how it compares to their own plan, and of course, the political backroom dealing is expected to continue. Please call your state and federal legislators and express support for the State Board's decision! |
Phase 1 of the Water Quality Control Plan covers updated water quality protections for the lower San Joaquin River and its three major tributaries: the Merced, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne Rivers. The Water Quality Control Plan, which sets regulatory standards for the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary and its tributaries, has not been substantially updated in over two decades. |
The upper Tuolumne River as it flows through Yosemite National Park. Downstream, over 75% of the water is frequently diverted for use by the City of San Francisco, parts of the South Bay, and agriculture (photo credit: Water Education Foundation).
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