State board aims to reinstate emergency drought regulations

In an effort to preserve water storage in reservoirs, protect drinking water supplies, prevent salinity intrusion and minimize impacts to fisheries and the environment, the State Water Resources Control Board released a draft emergency regulation to continue curtailments adopted last year.

The existing regulation, which authorizes the Division of Water Rights to curtail diversions for specific right holders when water levels are low, will expire this summer unless readopted by the State Water Board and approved by the Office of Administrative Law.

“Readopting the emergency measure is critical to protecting water stored in the Delta for human health and the environment, especially as we enter a third consecutive year of extreme drought,” said Diane Riddle, an assistant deputy director with the board. “Toward that end, we are continuing to update our method for determining when water is unavailable to ensure an efficient and equitable process for right holders.”

The first quarter of 2022 was the driest on record in the Sierras, and the state has received less than half of its yearly average rain and snowfall. While only a small number of the more than 17,000 water rights in the Delta watershed are currently curtailed, diminished snowpack and hydrologic forecasts indicate that supplies will diminish in coming months and that all right holders – including those with older or
riparian rights – should prepare accordingly.

While notices of water unavailability were first issued in May of 2021, curtailments did not become effective until the emergency regulation was adopted in August. This year, water users should expect curtailments to be imposed much sooner and to affect more senior right holders and claimants since supplies may be the most limited during the peak irrigation period of June and July.

A staff workshop to discuss the proposed draft and solicit public feedback will be held May 12.