California regulators have released a plan to change how the state governs the pumping of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. … The plan, which is similar to a previous draft released in December, is controversial. Environmental advocates say it would starve the Delta of needed water and threaten fish that are already in severe decline. If the plan is adopted in October by the State Water Resources Control Board, it would give water agencies two ways of complying with Delta water quality rules. They could either limit pumping to maintain required minimum levels of water in rivers and the estuary, as has traditionally been done, or take part in “voluntary agreements,” in which water agencies commit to ensuring certain river flows for the environment while contributing funds for projects that restore habitat for fish and other wildlife in the Delta.

Other Bay-Delta news:

• Action News Now (Chico, Calif.): California’s San Francisco Bay-Delta water protections set for modernization
• State Water Resources Control Board: News release: Sacramento/Delta update to Bay-Delta Plan
• E+E Leader: Podcast: California water contracts gain certainty after ruling
• Comstock’s magazine: Opinion: What a Delta sewer annexation does to a home sale