At the urging of Gov. Gavin Newsom, California water officials have been working with a group of agencies for years on a far-reaching plan to protect the rivers that nourish the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The Newsom administration is seeking an arrangement in which urban and agricultural suppliers across the state agree to take less water from California rivers, and help restore river habitat, in exchange for more flexibility using water and meeting regulations. … But even as the governor has made finalizing what’s called the Bay Delta Plan a priority before he leaves office in January, the state’s negotiations with the water agencies appear to have come up short. The State Water Resources Control Board is scheduled to adopt the plan this week, yet water providers up and down the state are taking issue with it, many saying it isn’t the collaborative deal they were promised. 

Other Bay-Delta news:

• SJV Water (Bakersfield, Calif.): Kern districts discuss Bay-Delta Plan, El Niño “emergency”​
• California WaterBlog (UC Davis): Just transitions in the Delta: Drought, salinity and sea level rise – an invitation to the project’s final exhibition and public workshop