State Water Board Seeks Public Comment on Final Draft Bay-Delta Plan Update for the Lower San Joaquin River and Southern Delta
The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) released the draft final documents for the Bay Delta Plan update for the Lower San Joaquin River and southern Delta, as well as a framework document for Sacramento River and Delta. The SWRCB is now seeking public comment on the Final Draft Plan.
“The draft final Lower San Joaquin River/Southern Delta update includes improved instream
flows February through June, which are the critical months for protecting migrating fish on the
Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers. These flows are measured as a percentage of
“unimpaired flow,” the amount of water that would come down the river if there were no dams
or other diversions….”
“A 40 percent of unimpaired flow requirement, within a range of 30 to 50 percent, is proposed
as an appropriate balance for this plan update because it can improve conditions for fish and
wildlife considerably without more challenging impacts on other water users….”
The SWRCB is accepting written comments on those changes until 12 p.m. (noon) on Friday, July 27, 2018.
