The draft order includes minimum carryover storage requirements for Shasta and Folsom; it will be considered at the December 15th State Water Board meeting
From the State Water Resources Control Board:
At its December 15, 2015 meeting, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) will consider adopting a draft Order denying in part and approving in part Petitions for Reconsideration of and addressing objections to the Executive Director’s February 3, 2015 Order and Subsequent Modifications to that Order (TUCP Orders) that approved temporary, urgency changes in the water right requirements for the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project.
The draft Order and State Water Board agenda item are posted here.
The notice for the December 15 Board meeting is posted here.
This notice, the draft Order, and written comments received regarding the draft Order will be posted at the State Water Board’s program page for TUCPs.
The TUCP Orders conditionally approved a Temporary Urgency Change Petition (TUCP) that sought changes to Delta flow and other water quality requirements filed by the state Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. In response to the TUCP, the Executive Director of the State Water Board approved changes to Delta flow and water quality requirements to address water supply limitations due to the drought, and included requirements to protect fish and wildlife, particularly endangered winter-run Chinook salmon. Despite the measures included in the TUCP Orders and associated plans, winter-run Chinook salmon appear to have experienced even greater mortality this year than last as a result of inadequate temperature control actions on the Sacramento River and other operational issues.
The draft order would determine that the TUCP Orders were appropriate, based on the information available at the time, and therefore the petitions for reconsideration should be denied, except to the extent that they seek to improve future planning. The draft order would extend the TUCP Order to address actions needed for next year if conditions remain dry in order to protect the public interest, ensure that adequate water supplies are maintained in storage to meet municipal and other critical needs, and prevent catastrophic impacts to fish and wildlife.
Specifically, the draft order includes a minimum carryover storage requirement for Shasta Reservoir of at least 1.6 million acre-feet or more at the end of October, 2016, or equivalent protective measures, to ensure stored cold water supplies are not depleted to dangerous levels and winter-run-Chinook salmon are protected if another drought year occurs.
The draft Order also includes a minimum carryover storage requirement for Folsom Reservoir of 200,000 acre-feet at the end of October, 2016 to ensure that minimum health and safety supplies for hundreds of thousands of residents in the Sacramento metropolitan area are available and some minimal protection for fish species is provided on the American River.
The State Water Board is particularly interested in receiving feedback on whether the required amounts of carryover storage for Shasta and Folsom Reservoirs are appropriate.
The December 15, 2015 meeting will be held in the Cal/EPA Headquarters Building at 1001 I Street in Sacramento. Public notice was circulated separately for this meeting. Oral comments at the State Water Board meeting generally will be limited to a summary of the written comments submitted during the written comment period. In order to be fully considered, written comments concerning the draft order must be received by 9 a.m. on Monday, December 14, 2015. Comment letters received after that deadline will not be accepted unless the State Water Board determines otherwise. Send comments to Jeanine Townsend, Clerk to the State Water Board, by email at commentletters@waterboards.ca.gov. Comments can also be delivered to the State Water Board at
1001 I Street, 24th Floor
, in Sacramento.
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