Tag: State Water Resources Control Board

MWD proposes to strip cold water and outflow protections from the Bay-Delta Plan

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ Leave a comment

On the first day of the State Water Resources Control Board’s two-day meeting to adopt the Sacramento/Delta update to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan, an MWD executive presented a slide deck of last-minute edits that would strip protections that apply to Central Valley Project and State Water Project operations. Jon Rubin, Metropolitan’s Board Executive … Continue reading MWD proposes to strip cold water and outflow protections from the Bay-Delta Plan

State Tries to Sideline Sacramento & Stockton’s Lawyers — Court Hears Stay Request

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ Leave a comment

On January 23, 2026, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) filed a motion in Sacramento County Superior Court seeking to disqualify the law firm of Somach Simmons & Dunn, longtime counsel for the County of Sacramento, the City of Stockton, in three of the ten consolidated cases challenging DWR’s approvals of the Delta Conveyance … Continue reading State Tries to Sideline Sacramento & Stockton’s Lawyers — Court Hears Stay Request

History: Water Board ruled against delaying twin tunnels CPOD hearing for Bay-Delta Plan update

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ Leave a comment

In 2015, the Department of Water Resources filed a petition for Change in Point of Diversion with the State Water Resources Control Board for the WaterFix / twin tunnels project. Environmental, fishing, and Delta groups strongly protested the Water Board proceeding with the hearing before the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan Update. But the Hearing … Continue reading History: Water Board ruled against delaying twin tunnels CPOD hearing for Bay-Delta Plan update

Comments on the Water Board’s draft urban conservation regulations

Tree in wet and dry landscape
~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ Leave a comment

On Wednesday, October 4, 2023, the State Water Resources Control Board held a hearing on proposed regulations to implement 2018 legislation to make conservation a way of life in California. According to the Board's fact sheet: Making Conservation a California Way of Life is a new regulatory framework proposed by State Water Board staff that establishes … Continue reading Comments on the Water Board’s draft urban conservation regulations

Will ruling on pre-1914 curtailments force the Water Board to track stored water?

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 1 Comment

On September 12th, 2022, the Sixth District Court of Appeal issued a ruling that the State Water Resources Control Board did not have the authority to curtail pre-1914 water rights under Water Code section 1052(a).  This code section provides that “The diversion or use of water subject to this division other than as authorized in … Continue reading Will ruling on pre-1914 curtailments force the Water Board to track stored water?

The eye of the storm and the State Water Resources Control Board

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 2 Comments

The State Water Resources Control Board’s Climate Change Mitigation Strategist, Max Gomberg, just retired, and sent an incendiary parting letter to his colleagues, stating, Witnessing the agency’s ability to tackle big challenges nearly eviscerated by this Administration has been gut wrenching. The way some of you have simply rolled over and accepted this has also … Continue reading The eye of the storm and the State Water Resources Control Board

Expert panel recommended that Water Board require documentation of model weaknesses

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ Leave a comment

On June 27, 2022, the legislature authorized the Acting State Auditor to perform an audit of the reasons for major errors Department of Water Resource's snow runoff forecasts in 2021. The Department of Water Resources' Director, Karla Nemeth, told the legislature that "the forecasting work is undertaken exclusively by the Department of Water Resources. The … Continue reading Expert panel recommended that Water Board require documentation of model weaknesses

Legislature approves audit of water management by DWR and SWRCB during 2021

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 1 Comment

On Monday, June 27, the California Joint Legislative Audit Committee approved Assemblymember Adam Gray's request for an audit of the management of surface water by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the State Water Resources Control Board in 2021. The Acting State Auditor is also proposing to audit DWR's plan to uphold its contractual … Continue reading Legislature approves audit of water management by DWR and SWRCB during 2021

Senate Climate Budget Plan proposals on water management science

Tree in wet and dry landscape
~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 1 Comment

This Water and Drought package of the California Senate's Climate Budget Plan proposes major investment in water management science. One of the goals is to: Strengthen water rights quantification and enforcement at SWRCB. Currently the state does not have a reliable quantification of water rights or the ability to effectively enforce. The budget plan includes … Continue reading Senate Climate Budget Plan proposals on water management science

Fatal errors in DWR’s runoff forecasting: comments to the State Water Resources Control Board

~ Deirdre Des Jardins ~ 4 Comments

The State Water Resources Control Board held a workshop today (March 16, 2022) on Sacramento River Temperature Management. Among the topics considered were "hydrologic conditions, including operations, forecasting, and accounting." These were my comments. This is Deirdre Des Jardins with California Water Research. I’m the physicist who sent comments to DWR in 2012 predicting the … Continue reading Fatal errors in DWR’s runoff forecasting: comments to the State Water Resources Control Board