Earlier this year thousands of Restore The Delta supporters signed a petition urging the State Water Resources Control Board to update outdated water quality standards for the Bay-Delta region. Now we need your action in person. Presently this outdated, 20 year old Water Quality Control Plan allows more than half the water needed for the Delta’s ecological health to be diverted away for unsustainable Big Agriculture in the west and south San Joaquin Valley.

The State Resources Control Board is currently in phase 1 of updating the plan and the need to make sure that the State Water Board gets it right and is not influenced by special interests. New water quality standards that truly protect communities and species is a proactive step that helps ensure reliable water supplies for all water users of the Bay-Delta.

We need you to make your comments! The public comment process ends January 17, 2017, and all hearings conclude January 3, 2017. Please limit your oral comments to 3 minutes in length. The State Water Resources Board will accept both written and oral comments the proposed plan amendment and the SED. They must be received no later than 12:00 noon on January 17, 2017 and addressed and submitted to:
Jeanine Townsend, Clerk to the Board
State Water Resources Control Board
1001 I Street, 24th Floor
Sacramento, Ca 95814-0100
Information: Jeanine Townsend at (916)341-5600
Proposed changes to the Bay-Delta Plan include:
New narrative February through June Lower San Joaquin River flow objective applicable to the San Joaquin River and it’s salmon bearing tributaries- the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers and associated program of implementation to support and maintain the natural production of viable native watershed fish populations migrateng through the Delta and Revised numeric southern Delta salinity objectives and associated program of implementation to protect agricultural beneficial uses in the southern Delta.

Changes to the Bay-Delta Plan final draft must be approved by the State Water board and the Office of Administrative law before becoming effective.