The California State Water Resources Control Board distributed a draft of a plan to update regulations relating to flows and water quality in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the watersheds that feed into it. That is, the plan proposes regulations for the entire Sacramento and San Joaquin River watersheds.
State Board staff believe there are insufficient in-stream flows to sustain native fish populations in the rivers, their tributaries, and in the Delta itself. Efforts to increase populations of native fish, particularly salmon, in the Central Valley have not been successful. State Board staff initially proposed that 40% of the unimpaired flow stay in the rivers to bolster flow from February through June. That would divert water from water rights holders to environmental uses.
However, the State Constitution includes the following language: “the water resources of the State be put to beneficial use to the fullest extent of which they are capable,” and “(t)he right to water or to the use or flow of water in or from any natural stream or water course in this State is and shall be limited to such water as shall be reasonably required for the beneficial use to be served.” That is, it is unconstitutional to use more water to benefit fish than is necessary…