Diversion Tactics: How Voluntary Agreements Fail the Bay-Delta
Looking east across the Bay-Delta.
Late last month, the State Water Board released a new document for Phase 2 of the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan. The sprawling Bay-Delta watershed includes all tributaries of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers, including the Tuolumne. Phase 2 focuses on the Sacramento tributaries and the Delta and will set precedent for how flow rates are determined in this system.
Phase 2 planning continues a years-long process that examines new approaches, including Voluntary Agreements that prioritize feel-good restoration projects over much-needed flow increases. It’s not an either/or: both restoration and sufficient flows are needed to support salmon. Adequate flows are the missing link to reducing water temperatures, inundating floodplain habitat, helping baby salmon out-migrate and flushing toxic algae blooms out of the Delta. Voluntary Agreements are a half measure that won’t get our rivers flowing.
TRT continues to make a stand for increased flows—for the benefit of fish, river health, and frontline communities throughout the watershed. Phase 2 of the Bay-Delta Quality Control Plan is currently open for public comment; this moment is a critical juncture for community input and participation.
The science of the Bay-Delta and how it relates to the Tuolumne watershed
The Bay-Delta is the convergence of two sprawling river systems, the Sacramento River to the north and the San Joaquin River to the south as they commingle with San Francisco Bay. Each of these river systems is fed by montane snowmelt through major tributaries like the Tuolumne River. The whole riparian system is a critical water source for people, fish, and other animals.
The rivers are pulled in many directions, serving municipal, industrial, and agricultural purposes alongside their function as critical habitat. The Bay -Delta Plan seeks to identify flow-based norms that make all these uses possible, but inevitably cuts are made somewhere.
Six years ago, in December 2018, Bay-Delta Plan amendments brought focus to the Tuolumne River and two other tributaries of the San Joaquin: the Stanislaus and Merced Rivers. These amendments require increased flows for the protection of fish and wildlife, but have yet to be implemented.
Today, with that promise still unfulfilled, the State Water Board is exploring a diversion tactic, by replacing committed flow rates with vague Voluntary Agreement plans along the whole Bay-Delta ecosystem, including the Tuolumne River. This has us watchful and poised to respond.
What are Voluntary Agreements?
Voluntary Agreements sound good in theory. From the California Natural Resources Agency: “The approach is a comprehensive, multi-year solution that brings together local, state, and federal partners to pool resources and take concrete actions to increase river flows and expand habitat in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, their tributaries, and the Bay-Delta.”
These flexible arrangements allow water managers to adapt flows in real-time across watersheds, but therein lies the rub. The Voluntary Agreements skirt around specific flow rate commitments, giving water managers the keys without adequate accountability.
In an op-ed published earlier this year, TRT Policy Director Peter Drekmeier shared that it was water diverters themselves who proposed the Tuolumne River Voluntary Agreement as an alternative to higher flows proposed by the State Water Board.
“The main focus of the Tuolumne River Voluntary Agreement is to add spawning gravel to the river. However, research indicates that this isn’t what the river needs most. A study by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that while poor spawning habitat limits baby fish (fry) production, the river is already producing more fry than its rearing habitat can support. So just adding gravel would likely not lead to more adult fish.
To improve rearing habitat for baby fish we need to restore the river’s floodplains. We also need to activate them with water, as dry floodplains do not serve an ecological function,” wrote Peter in this same op-ed.
We know this balancing act all too well. Our own restoration work along the Tuolumne in La Grange prepares this critical spawning and rearing habitat, but now we must add water.
If this all feels like a repeating storyline, that is by design. This phase of the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan is simply a continuation of a years-long process examining alternative solutions such as Voluntary Agreements. During this protracted process diligent community input and pushback is critical. As Peter noted during last year’s phase 1 review: “If the Voluntary Agreement is implemented and the measures fail, the Tuolumne River ecosystem will continue to degrade.”
Community support and public comment are important and ongoing steps in advocating for higher flows for all of the rivers that flow into the Bay-Delta ecosystem, the Tuolumne River among them. Your informed public comments are key to supporting fish, people, and the health of the Bay-Delta watershed.
Get Involved with us!
Train with us on how to present effective public comments on Dec. 2
Testify Online at a State Water Board
Workshop on Dec. 12 or Jan. 23Submit Written Public Comment by Dec. 19 or Jan. 10
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Our work is supported and bolstered by our generous community of donors. If you have a heart for salmon, connected rivers, and healthy ecosystems throughout the Tuolumne Watershed and the Greater Yosemite Region, become a member today!
Many thanks to our coalition partners on this project which include: Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center, Natural Heritage Institute, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Friends of the River, and Fly Fishers International
