Farmers ​Team up to ​Fight Plan for ​Increased ​Unimpaired ​Flows to ​the ​San Joaquin ​River Basin

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Farmers ​Team up to ​Fight Plan for ​Increased ​Unimpaired ​Flows to ​the ​San Joaquin ​River Basin

This article illustrates the difficulty of legislatures to manage water and balance the needs of businesses with environmental sustainability. Regardless of the final decision, it is either unpopular with the farmers or those caring for the environment.  

By Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasle

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Representative Image Source: Pexels, labeled for reuse

On Thursday, San Francisco joined a cadre of irrigation districts that pull water from the tributaries that flow into the Lower San Joaquin River in filing a lawsuit against a plan by the State Water Resources Control Board to take billions of gallons of their water. This way, California regulators are going to take too much of their water and give it to endangered fish, the Sacramento Bee reports.

Last month, the water board voted 4-1 to go ahead with a proposal that would require that the “unimpaired flows” of the lower San Joaquin River and its tributaries increase substantially. The board shelved, for the time being, an alternative plan proposed by San Francisco and the irrigation districts that would surrender less water while making investments in spawning grounds and other habitats to help Chinook salmon and other fish populations improve. 

The board’s vote would reduce the amount of water available to farms and cities, including San Francisco, by 14 percent in a typical year and twice as much in a dry year. The board’s leaders did pledge to re-examine the alternative plan, championed by top officials in former Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration, in the coming months.

San Francisco and the agricultural districts, however, weren’t willing to wait and have already filed a lawsuit. 

Read more about the actions they are willing to take on The Sacramento Bee

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