From the Office of the Delta Watermaster:
The Office of the Delta Watermaster, the three Delta Water Agencies, and many water users and advisors in the Delta have worked collaboratively to improve the consistency and credibility of water use reporting in the Legal Delta. One of the most important of their initiatives has been to voluntarily eliminate duplicative reporting of water use under both Reports of Licensees and Statements of Diversion and Use. This year, for the first time, both such reports are due at the same time (by April 1) for the use reporting period. To accommodate the transition from calendar year to water year use periods, the reports due by April 1, cover diversion and use during a nine-month stub period (January 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021).
As water users prepare their reports, our Office draws your attention to the Revised Consensus Strategy for Avoiding Duplicative Reporting of Water Diversion and Use in the Legal Delta (below). Although reporting in compliance with the Revised Consensus Strategy remains voluntary, we encourage all affected water users in the Delta to use it in preparing their reports and, thus, avoid overreporting actual water use during the drought conditions that prevailed in 2021.
By avoiding duplicative reporting, Delta water users help to overcome the misimpression that diverters in the Delta are water wasters.
As always, should you have questions about water use in the Legal Delta, please call or email Kristi Matal, Communications and Outreach Specialist, in our Office at (916) 319-8264 or Kristi.matal@waterboards.ca.gov.
Revised Consensus Strategy for Avoiding Duplicative Reporting of Water Diversion and Use in the Legal Delta
