Bay-Delta Pact Brings Certainty; Stakeholders Plan Long-Term 'Fix'

An extraordinary Bay-Delta agreement has brought peace in a seemingly relentless conflict over the West Coast's largest and most complex estuary and promises to provide Californians with long-sought certainty about their water supply.

No longer will urban, agricultural, and environmental stakeholders in California's infamous "water wars" be vulnerable to sudden, drastic regulatory changes that impact water supplies for irrigation, cities, and wildlife habitat.

The estuary, where salt water from the Pacific Ocean flows through San Francisco Bay and mixes with fresh water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, touches the lives of millions of Californians and people across the nation who have never seen it. and man-made waterways to help supply two-thirds of the state's population and irrigate 200 types of crops in the fertile Central Val ley, including 45 percent of the nation's fruits and vegetables.

Below: Governor Pete Wilson announces the historic Bay-Delta agreement at a signing ceremony. At his side are Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit, center, and Secretary for Resources Douglas P. Wheeler, left. Pictured behind him, from left, are the late John Krautkramer of the Environmental Defense Fund, Dan Nelson, executive director of the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority, and Stephen Hall, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. (Photo by Ed Anderson)
Historically, the Delta was a vast region of wetlands teeming with wildlife. In the 19th century, pioneer settlers diked the islands to create farmland. Today, the distinctive estuary ecosystem supports more than 400 species of fish, animals, and birds, including waterfowl migrating on the Pacific Flyway. It supplies and sustains fisheries, wildlife refuges, and 40,000 acres of critical wetlands.

The biological health and biodiversity of the ecosystem depends upon the quality and abundance of water that flows through the estuary. At times, California's need for water from the Delta to serve its people and economy has competed with environmental needs.

Bay-Delta Agreement

The Bay-Delta accord, forged by the State of California and the federal government with the active participation of urban, agricultural, and environmental representatives, proclaimed a 3-year truce in these conflicts. Its principles create an opportunity to design a long-term plan that will "fix" the Delta so that it can de pendably serve the needs of all users and the ecosystem.

"We don't pretend that this agreement is the final answer for California's water policy," Governor Pete Wilson said at the signing of the landmark agreement Dec. 15, 1994. "The fact is ... there undoubtedly will be some rough sledding ahead. But this is a major step forward."

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said the agreement "opens a brand new and very hopeful chapter in California history," but will be "a complex and arduous task" to transform into reality.

The pact included actions that provide greater water supply certainty for farmers and urban water purveyors while stabilizing the ecosystem for the next three years. During that interval, several events will unfold. The State of California is to adopt and implement water quality standards, and cond uct a water rights proceeding to determine responsibilities of all water rights holders in the Bay-Delta watershed for meeting the new water quality standards. In addition, the federal and state agencies and stakeholders will devise a plan to restore the estuary's biological health and assure a reliable high-quality water supply to sat isfy environmental and economic water needs far into the future. "(The) agreement marks the first time in the 92-year history of federally supported water development in the western United States that all water interests have embraced a comprehensive and scientifically sound approach to water management and species protection," said Rep. George Miller, former chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.

Under the major principles of the agreement:

  • in critically dry years, farms and cities will forego about 1 million acre-feet of water above amounts required under current regulations to enhance the Bay -Delta, particularly its fishery. In normal years, about 300,000 acre-feet more water will be

    required for environmental purposes.

  • new listings under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) will be unlikely for three ye ars, and compliance with the ESA will not require additional water from the users. If more water is needed for unforeseen reasons, the federal government will obtain it by purchasing from willing sellers.
  • California's two major water storage and delivery systems that draw water from the Delta the federal Central Valley Project (CVP) and the State Water Project (SWP) will more closely coordinate operations and exercise more flexibility to meet ESA requirements, regulate water salinity levels, and comply with other principles of the agreement. An "operations group" of government offi cials working with water users and environmental groups will carry out these activities.
  • the Bay-Delta will be managed in an ecosystem manner.

    Participants view the agreement as a hurdle that had to be cleared before long -term planning could succeed.

    "The agreement is intended to stabilize the Bay-Delta system enough to protect species from going extinct," said David Fullerton, a resource scientist with the Natural Heritage Institute in San Francisco and member of the negotiating team. "As long as we were in a crisis mode, we didn't have the luxury of breathing space for long-term planning. Now, we can begin to restore the biological health of the Bay-Delta, which has been our goal all along."

    Dan Nelson, executive director of the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority, which represents 40 water agencies that buy water from the CVP, said the previous arrangement was unworkable.

    "We never knew what the rules were going to be," Nelson said. "We wanted to replace that haphazard system with certainty, something well-defined and more efficient in meeting our resource needs. That's what the Bay-Delta agreement did for us."

    In a distinct break from the past, the Bay-Delta agreement shifts from a strategy of managing the Delta based on the needs of single species to a more effective multi-species approach designed to protect and enhance biodiversity and avoid the need for further listings. The new approach allows more flexibility for dealing with unexpected circumstances that affect the Bay-Delta, such as fluctuating fish populations and natural water supply variations, including drought and flood.

    New Standards
    This spring, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) will adopt new standards to govern operation of the Bay-Delta that comply with the agreed-upon principles, the federal Clean Water Act, and the ESA. The plan will be subject to revision every three years.

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) expects to approve the wa ter quality control plan this spring, said Patrick Wright, the EPA's senior policy adviser in San Francisco.

    "The agreement provides a much-strengthened federal-state partnership with major interest groups and a more open, consensus-based process that is es sential to avoid gridlock and lawsuits. We hope it will be a model nationwide," Wright said.

    Water Rights

    Currently, the state and federal water projects are shouldering primary responsi bility for meeting the new water quality standards. This summer, the state water board will begin a 3-year water rights process designed to fit together the pieces of a giant puzzle to compose a balanced
    "This agreement is not an end, but a beginning."

    John Krautkraemer (1951-1995)

    picture. It will be the board's first reexamination since 1978 and will determine the impact of the Bay-Delta agreement on terms and conditions of 14,000 separate water rights in the watershed, which drains 40 percent of California's land area.

    Rights to water, a most precious commodity in semiarid California, differ greatly according to source, need, use, and seniority. Water rights are among California's oldest legal issues, dating back to the pre-Gold Rush era.

    Many agricultural and urban users hope to avoid a con tentious reallocation of rights and achieve an equitable distribution of obligations through more agreeable means, such as a negotiated consensus arrangement.

    "Most urban agencies feel it's necessary to explore a range of outcomes, and discussions should start with a simple statement: All users of water from the watershed should share equitably in the responsibility for environmental requirements," said Lyle Hoag, executive director of the California Urban Water Agencies, which represents the state's largest municipal water dis tricts and suppliers. The state water board will seek to achieve equity in recognition of California's

    water rights laws.

    Next Steps

    While the "operations group" will continue to monitor operational procedures under the new standards, another group will devise a long-term management plan to meet future demands for a more reliable water supply and ensure improved biological health in the Bay-Delta. Directing the long-term planning effort is Lester Snow, the former general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority, who was named Bay-Delta program manager in February. Snow will work closely with a stakeholders group of technical experts and a policy advisory group established by the state and federal governments called the Bay-Delta Advi sory Council. The latter group succeeds the Bay-Delta Oversight Council (BDOC) created by Governor Wilson in 1992.

    Long-term planning will be governed by the participating state and federal agencies, including the U.S. EPA, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, Departments of Fish and Game, and Water Resources, SWRCB, California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Resources Agency.

    The Bay-Delta also suffers environmental degradation from sources other than the operation of the federal or state water projects. The agreement establishes a process for addressing wastewater discharge, pollutants, poaching, fish losses, and introduced species. Restoring the environmental health of the Delta may de crease the need for restorative water, thereby increasing the

    amount available to serve California's growing population and to ensure continued economic vitality.

    There still is a long way to go. As stated by John Krautkraemer, a respected Environmental Defense Fund lawyer who participated in the December signing ceremony just weeks before his death in a skiing accident Jan. 21, "This agreement is not an end, but a beginning."