Bay-Delta Plan Implementation Regulation for Lower San Joaquin River Flows and Southern Delta Salinity

Bay-Delta Plan Implementation Regulation for Lower San Joaquin River Flows and Southern Delta Salinity

The proposed project is adoption of regulations pursuant to the rulemaking procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act (Gov. Code, § 11340 et seq.) to allocate responsibility to water rights holders and claimants for implementing the Bay-Delta Plan LSJR flow and southern Delta salinity components of the 2018 Bay-Delta Plan (the proposed Project). The Bay-Delta Plan establishes water quality objectives for the protection of beneficial uses in the Bay-Delta watershed, a program of implementation to achieve those objectives, and monitoring, reporting, and study provisions. In 2018, the State Water Board amended the Bay-Delta Plan and adopted new and revised flow objectives for the reasonable protection of fish and wildlife beneficial uses in the LSJR and revised salinity objectives for the reasonable protection of agricultural beneficial uses in the southern Delta and associated updates to the program of implementation and monitoring, reporting, and study provisions. The LSJR flow objectives and program of implementation require, from February through June, that at least 40 percent of the unimpaired flow be maintained in the Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Merced Rivers, within an adaptive range of 30 to 50 percent of the unimpaired flow, inclusive. In addition, during February through June, the LSJR flow objectives and program of implementation require the maintenance of a minimum base flow of 1,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), with an adaptive range between 800 and 1,200 cfs, inclusive, as measured at Vernalis on the San Joaquin River. This means that if the percent of unimpaired flow is being met but flows are insufficient to achieve the base flow at Vernalis, then additional flows will be necessary (Table 3, Bay-Delta Plan, p. 15). During the month of October, the LSJR flow objectives and program of implementation require the maintenance of a minimum baseflow, as measured at Vernalis on the San Joaquin River, of 1,000 cfs, plus an additional 28 thousand acre-feet pulse flow or a minimum monthly average flow of 2,000 cfs, whichever is less (Table 3, Bay-Delta Plan, Footnote 13). The 2018 adoption of amendments to the Bay-Delta Plan also revised the salinity water quality objectives and program of implementation for the reasonable protection of agricultural beneficial uses in the southern Delta. The southern Delta salinity objective, expressed as a 30-day running average of electrical conductivity, is 1.0 (dS/m) and applies year-round in three river segments rather than specific point locations. On December 12, 2018, the State Water Board adopted a substitute environmental document (SED) analyzing the potentially significant impacts of adopting the new and revised LSJR flow objectives, the southern delta salinity objective, and the programs of implementation for both. The State Water Board will evaluate and identify any potentially significant direct or indirect physical effects on the environment from implementing the LSJR flows and southern Delta salinity components of the Bay-Delta Plan including: assigning responsibility for achieving the LSJR flow and southern Delta salinity objectives; requiring the development and implementation of reservoir carryover storage targets, reservoir refill, or other requirements to help ensure that providing flows to meet the flow objectives will not have significant adverse temperature or other impacts on fish and wildlife or, if feasible, on other beneficial uses; implementation through a voluntary agreement, if proposed; and, other related components of the Bay-Delta Plan. As described in more detail below, the State Water Board anticipates that the EIR will tier from the SED supporting the 2018 update to the Bay-Delta Plan and provide the analysis to support a State Water Board decision regarding adoption of regulations that allocate responsibility for implementing the LSJR flow and southern Delta salinity components of the Bay-Delta Plan.

Alameda, Alamo, Albany, Amador City, Angels Camp, Antioch, Atwater, Benicia, Berkeley, Brentwood, Byron, Ceres, Chowchilla, Citrus Heights, Clayton, Concord, Danville, Dixon, Dos Palos, Dublin, El Cerrito, Elk Grove, Emeryville, Escalon, Fairfield, Folsom, Fremont, Galt, Gustine, Hayward, Hercules, Hughson, Ione, Isleton, Jackson, Lafayette, Lathrop, Livermore, Livingston, Lodi, Los Banos, Madera, Manteca, Martinez, Merced, Modesto, Moraga, Murphys, Newark, Newman, Oakdale, Oakland, Oakley, Orinda, Patterson, Piedmont, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton, Plymouth, Rancho Cordova, Rancho Murieta, Richmond, Rio Vista, Ripon, Riverbank, Sacramento, San Leandro, San Pablo, San Ramon, Sonora, Stockton, Suisun City, Sutter Creek, Tracy, Turlock, Union City, Vacaville, Vallejo, Walnut Creek, Waterford

Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, Contra Costa, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, Stanislaus, Tuolumne

Countywide, Northern California, San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California, Statewide

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Department of Conservation (DOC), California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bay Delta Region 3 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Central Region 4 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Habitat Conservation Planning (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Marin Region 7 (CDFW), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), California Department of State Parks, Division of Boating and Waterways, California Department of Transportation, District 10 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 3 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 4 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 6 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Aeronautics (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Transportation Planning (DOT), California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Energy Commission, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), California Natural Resources Agency, California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Fresno Region 5 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region 2 (RWQCB), California San Joaquin River Conservancy (SJRC), California State Lands Commission (SLC), Central Valley Flood Protection Board, Delta Protection Commission, Delta Stewardship Council, Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), Department of Toxic Substances Control, Office of Historic Preservation, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Quality, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights, State Water Resources Control Board, Divison of Financial Assistance, California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Sacramento Region 5 (RWQCB), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, North Central Region 2 (CDFW)

California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Sacramento Region 5 (RWQCB), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, North Central Region 2 (CDFW)

Other (Not Applicable. The project is not a development type.)

PROPOSED REGULATION TO IMPLEMENT LOWER SAN JOAQUIN RIVER FLOWS AND SOUTHERN DELTA SALINITY OBJECTIVES IN THE BAY-DELTA WATER QUALITY CONTROL PLAN

Aesthetics, Agriculture and Forestry Resources, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Flood Plain/Flooding, Geology/Soils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Land Use/Planning, Mandatory Findings of Significance, Mineral Resources, Noise, Population/Housing, Public Services, Recreation, Transportation, Tribal Cultural Resources, Utilities/Service Systems, Vegetation, Wetland/Riparian