The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (or BDCP) was the forerunner to the California Water Fix. The BDCP was a plan to divert water in the north Delta and convey it through an isolated canal or tunnel that began in 2006 under the Schwarzenegger Administration. At the time, the Department of Water Resources, the Bureau of Reclamation, and several state and federal water contractors proposed taking a habitat conservation planning approach that would provide for new water infrastructure facilities while at the same time, pursuing large-scale restoration and other activities to benefit the Delta’s ecosystem as a whole.
A 40,000+ page draft environmental report was released for public comment, which was widely criticized. In December of 2014 in response to the comments received, the lead agencies announced major design changes to the project; however, these changes would not prove enough to overcome the uncertainty that the project could be permitted under a habitat conservation planning approach, and so in April of 2015, Governor Brown announced that the project would return to the more traditional process and seek consultation and biological opinions for the new facilities.
The new project would be called the California Water Fix.
