Restore The San Francisco Bay Area Delta

Restore the Delta’s Delta Science Program, led by Delta Science Program Manager Spencer Fern, received the Outstanding Environmental Projects Award on behalf of the Friends of the San Francisco Estuary Board. 

The award, presented at this year’s Bay-Delta Science Conference, recognized the program’s work under this year’s theme, “The Opportunity of Change: Building and Being the Future Together.”

In the summer of 2021, Restore the Delta learned of a strong, unpleasant odor coming from the downtown waterfront in Stockton, CA. The water was dark, green, and filled with Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), with no signs warning the public of their toxicity or an active public monitoring procedure in place.

With training from San Francisco Baykeeper and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, our team spent that summer testing local Delta waterways for HABs while sharing our findings on social media to raise public awareness.

That work five years ago, became the foundation for what is now known as our Climate Water Advocates internship, a program that continues to train the next generation to monitor HABs throughout the Delta’s hottest months.

We are incredibly proud to see this work recognized and will continue to prioritize science-based water quality management for Delta communities, Tribes, and the entire Delta estuary. 

For Immediate Release:

September 28, 2026

Contact:
Ashley Castaneda, ashley@restorethedelta.org

SACRAMENTO —  Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed SB 872, a key water protection bill that would have dedicated funding to address two major threats to California’s water supply: aging levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and sinking canals in the State Water Project (SWP). The bill passed the Legislature unanimously. 

SB 872 was supported by more than 60 organizations and brought together Northern and Southern California legislators, environmental groups including Restore the Delta, and water interests around the need to protect critical water infrastructure and the state’s primary water source. 

In his veto message, Governor Newsom cited budget constraints and called the legislation “unnecessary”. The veto comes as the state considers other major, and significantly more expensive, water investments including the Fair Ranch deal, a voluntary agreement supported by Newsom that is expected to cost approximately $1 billion. 

Delta advocates are criticizing the veto, arguing that the decision leaves critical infrastructure vulnerable and fails to adequately prepare California’s water system for future challenges. They are also questioning the Governor’s priorities in water planning. 

“Not only did Governor Newsom veto a much needed bill to bring Delta levees to the necessary standards to deal with climate change, he vetoed funding for fixing existing conveyance for the State Water Project. Why? His never-ending quest for the Delta Conveyance Project. It is his white whale. And he has set California water infrastructure on a course for complete failure as a result of his wrongful quest,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director at Restore the Delta.

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Dear friends,

The 2026 legislative session concluded on August 31, and the next important deadline is quickly approaching. Governor Newsom now has until Wednesday, September 30, to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature.

With AB 2218 and SB 872 now on the Governor’s desk, we need your help urging the Governor to sign both bills into law.

Read more about each bill below and learn how you can call or write the Governor’s office today to voice your support forAB 2218 and SB 872!

Help Support SB 872: The Delta Levees and Canal Subsidence Fund

SB 872, a bill designed to safeguard California’s water supply for decades to come, has been unanimously approved by the Legislature. 

The bill brings together Northern and Southern California legislators, environmental groups including Restore the Delta, and water interests to protect the state’s primary water source.

If signed into law by Governor Newsom, SB 872 would address two major threats to California’s water supply: aging levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and sinking canals in the State Water Project (SWP). Many Delta levees are at risk of failure, raising the threat of catastrophic flooding and ecosystem damage, while sinking land is jeopardizing SWP canals and reliable water deliveries.

Now that SB 872 has moved to the Governor’s desk for signature, we need your help to sign this bill into law!

Two Easy Ways You Can Take Action:

1. Call the Governor at (916) 445-2841, urging his signature on SB 872.

When calling the Governor’s Office, please tell them: 

• As a constituent, I urge you to sign SB 872 into law.
• You support advancing legislation that prioritizes safeguarding California’s water supplies, protecting critical infrastructure, and preparing the state’s water system for future challenges.

2. Alternatively, you can also write to the Governor’s Office, asking for their support on SB 872. 

• Click this link to send a comment urging the Governor’s Signature on SB 872.

Support AB 2218: Water policy: California Native American tribes

On February 19, 2026, Assemblymember Kalra introduced AB 2218, the Indigenous Water Rights Bill sponsored by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Karuk Tribe. 

AB 2218 would establish a clear statewide policy directive acknowledging and seeking to remedy the inequities inflicted upon Tribes in California through historical state-sanctioned acts of termination, removal, and forced assimilation.

The bill directs relevant state agencies, including the Department of Water Resources and the State Water Board, to incorporate this policy into water rights decisions, regulatory actions, permitting, and grantmaking to address identified inequities. Recognizing historic harms and directing state agencies to center Tribal equity in water policy is not simply a symbolic act; it is a pathway toward stronger relationships, more inclusive decision-making, and better outcomes for the ecosystems we all depend on.

Now that AB 2218 has moved to the Governor’s desk for signature, we need your help to sign this bill into law!

Two Easy Ways You Can Take Action:

1. Call the Governor at (916) 445-2841 urging his signature on AB 2218.

When calling the Governor’s Office, please tell them: 

• As a constituent, I urge you to sign AB 2218 into law.
• AB 2218 supports the State’s progress towards equitable water management.
• AB 2218 is an important step toward addressing inequities affecting California Native American Tribes in state water policy and ensuring Tribal interests are meaningfully considered in decisions affecting water.

2. Alternatively, you can also write to the Governor’s Office, asking for their support on AB 2218. 

• Click this link to send a comment urging the Governor’s Signature on AB 2218.

Support SB 872: The Delta Levees and Canal Subsidence Fund

SB 872, a bill designed to safeguard California’s water supply for decades to come, has been unanimously approved by the Legislature. 

The bill brings together Northern and Southern California legislators, environmental groups including Restore the Delta, and water interests to protect the state’s primary water source.

If signed into law by Governor Newsom, SB 872 would address two major threats to California’s water supply: aging levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and sinking canals in the State Water Project (SWP). Many Delta levees are at risk of failure, raising the threat of catastrophic flooding and ecosystem damage, while sinking land is jeopardizing SWP canals and reliable water deliveries.

Now that SB 872 has moved to the Governor’s desk for signature, we need your help to sign this bill into law!

Two Easy Ways You Can Take Action:

1. Call the Governor at (916) 445-2841, urging his signature on SB 872.

When calling the Governor’s Office, please tell them: 

• As a constituent, I urge you to sign SB 872 into law.
• You support advancing legislation that prioritizes safeguarding California’s water supplies, protecting critical infrastructure, and preparing the state’s water system for future challenges.

2. Alternatively, you can also write to the Governor’s Office, asking for their support on SB 872. 

• Click this link to send a comment urging the Governor’s Signature on SB 872.

For Immediate Release:

September 21, 2026

Contact:
Ashley Castaneda, ashley@restorethedelta.org

SACRAMENTO — Today, the Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition (DTEC)—consisting of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Little Manila Rising, and Restore the Delta— submitted comments on the updated San Francisco Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan (“Bay-Delta Plan”), a critical policy guiding water quality, river flows, and ecosystem protections for the state’s largest and most fragile estuary. 

The updated plan drew immediate opposition from the coalition for failing to make meaningful changes to address longstanding Tribal, environmental justice, and ecological concerns. 

“Protection of Tribal sovereignty and beneficial water uses cannot be achieved through approval of voluntary agreements that excluded tribes. This is the Board’s final opportunity to reverse course and do the right thing,” said Vice Chair Malissa Tayaba, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians.

Among DTEC’s central concerns is the plan’s reliance on Voluntary Agreements (VAs), privately negotiated deals allowing powerful water districts to offer limited flow commitments and funding in exchange for exemptions from stronger, enforceable regulatory requirements. 

Tribal, environmental justice, and conservation groups have raised concerns that the VA approach is not scientifically sound and does not provide enforceable protections needed to safeguard Delta ecosystems and communities. The framework has also faced growing uncertainty, with the Bureau of Reclamation and Westlands Water District threatening to withdraw.

“The update to the Bay-Delta Plan comes at one of the most crucial moments for our fragile Bay-Delta estuary, and yet the Plan once again fails to meet the moment. This latest iteration again seeks to move forward the inequitable and environmentally damaging voluntary agreements, which will only further ecosystem decline, harming communities, tribes, Delta economies, and fishing communities,” said Morgen Snyder, Director of Policy and Programs at Restore the Delta. “Swapping voluntary agreements for a regulatory backstop with minimum flow requirements misses the point – flows are habitat, and without adequate flows, fish populations will continue to decline, harmful algal blooms will proliferate, and our communities will suffer.” 

DTEC maintains that the State Water Board has failed to remedy deficiencies previously identified in the draft Plan. Among DTEC’s chief concerns are:

• Procedural violations, including advancing the updated plan while a federal Title VI investigation into discriminatory water management practices remains open.
• Discriminatory effects, including the omission of enforceable harmful algal bloom standards and meaningful instream flow requirements that could result in unlawful discriminatory effects on Tribes and communities of color.
• Failure to analyze the project as a whole and to base the environmental analysis on a stable project description, including how voluntary agreements would operate and the potential influence of major infrastructure operations that have not been accounted for.
• Failure to conduct government to government Tribal consultation required under AB 52.
• Public trust violations and unreasonable timelines that undermine meaningful public participation and effective protection of Delta resources. 

“After taking thirty years to update the Bay Delta Plan, the State Water Resources Control Board’s latest update will only further devastate fish populations, increase environmental damage, and cater to elite special interests through the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes (VAs) proposals. This is not a plan that protects beneficial uses for all Californians, it is a plan that kowtows to political pressure and elite special interests,” said Gary Mulcahy, Government Liaison with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. 

“The final update to the Bay-Delta Plan is another opportunity for the water board to honor public trust and stand for the protection of our natural resources against the interest of private governing bodies,” said Gloria Alonso Cruz, Environmental Justice Advocacy Coordinator with Little Manila Rising. “The VAs perpetuate the systemic inequities manifested across our landscapes, inequities that those with the least access to clean and safe waterways are too familiar with. The public must urge the board to renounce the VAs and instead pursue science-based solutions that demonstrate a real commitment to environmental justice over private interests.”

The State Water Board is scheduled to consider adoption of the updated Bay-Delta Plan at a hearing on October 28-29. Learn how you can make a public comment.

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In a recent letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a broad coalition of Tribes and environmental groups expressed concern over the Bureau of Reclamation’s position on California’s authority over the Central Valley Project and the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan. 

The letter points to the Bureau’s recent assertion that the State Water Resources Control Board has no right to impose certain regulations on the operation of the Central Valley Project or to question decisions related to the impacts of Shasta Dam or Reservoir operations on endangered fish populations. Restore the Delta, Tribes, and other organizations warn that these actions could have significant consequences for communities, fish, and wildlife throughout the Bay-Delta watershed.

Citing California’s strong record of successfully challenging unlawful federal actions in court, the letter’s authors urge Attorney General Bonta to speak out against the Bureau’s federal overreach, saying these actions represent a troubling attempt to undermine California regulators while contributing to ongoing harm to the natural resources and communities that depend on them.

Read more about the coalition’s response to the Bureau of Reclamation’s letter here. 

STATEMENTS FROM COALITION MEMBERS:

Malissa Tayaba, Vice Chair, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians:

“Reclamation’s latest threats to undermine California’s authority over water management are about far more than jurisdiction—they are about who gets a voice in decisions that determine the future of our rivers, our fisheries, and our Tribal communities. Too often, Tribes have been excluded in these decisions and our communities have suffered.

When state and federal governments operate massive water projects on California’s rivers, those operations have profound consequences for Tribal Nations. The State Water Board’s authority to protect water quality and beneficial uses—including Tribal cultural uses—cannot be dismissed when inconvenient for a federal agency. Tribal cultural uses, fisheries, healthy waterways, and the survival of our communities are not secondary interests, and our Tribal Sovereignty cannot be treated as collateral damage in a jurisdictional fight.

The federal government must stop treating California’s water protections as an obstacle to be circumvented and start treating Tribes as sovereign governments whose rights, interests, and knowledge must be part of the decision-making process.”

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director, Restore the Delta:

“In the face of our changing climate, it is critical that we manage our water systems in a manner that is equitable and protective of ecosystems and communities. The recent actions by the Bureau threaten the State’s autonomy and ability to manage our water resources, threatening downstream tribes, communities, economies, and an increasingly fragile Delta ecosystem. We urge the Attorney General to take these threats seriously, and stand firm against authoritative actions that threaten California’s most precious resource, water.”

Eric Buescher, Managing Attorney, San Francisco Baykeeper:

“The Bureau’s most recent threats continue a pattern of action by the Trump Administration to ignore the State of California’s authority and obligation to protect the State’s natural resources and people,” said Eric Buescher, Managing Attorney at San Francisco Baykeeper. “Governor Newsom has stood up to unlawful and harmful federal overreach on so many fronts, but not on San Francisco Bay-Delta water. It is time for his administration to stop accommodating Trump in this area. Failing to do so harms Tribes, fish, communities, and ecosystems. There is no Newsom-Trump deal on this front that will benefit California.”

Dear friends,

In an email shared earlier today, we highlighted a few legislative wins shared by California’s Legislative Delta Caucus and Senator Jerry McNerney.

Those wins include:

• $90.2 million to protect the Delta and fortify its aging levees
• Along with up to $68 million to safeguard the State Water Project’s (SWP) California Aqueduct and canals, which are being undermined by the over-drafting of groundwater
• SB 872 receiving unanimous approval from the Legislature

This news highlights what we can accomplish for the Delta together. 

Join us in continuing to advocate for California’s water future by urging Governor Newsom to sign SB 872 into law!

Help Support SB 872: The Delta Levees and Canal Subsidence Fund

SB 872, a bill designed to safeguard California’s water supply for decades to come, has been unanimously approved by the Legislature.

The bill brings together Northern and Southern California legislators, environmental groups including Restore the Delta, and water interests to protect the state’s primary water source.

If signed into law by Governor Newsom, SB 872 would address two major threats to California’s water supply: aging levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and sinking canals in the State Water Project (SWP). Many Delta levees are at risk of failure, raising the threat of catastrophic flooding and ecosystem damage, while sinking land is jeopardizing SWP canals and reliable water deliveries.

Now that SB 872 has moved to the Governor’s desk for signature, we need your help to sign this bill into law!

Two Easy Ways You Can Take Action:

1. Call the Governor at (916) 445-2841 urging his signature on SB 872.

When calling the Governor’s Office please tell them: 

• As a constituent, I urge you to sign SB 872 into law
• You support advancing legislation that prioritizes safeguarding California’s water supplies, protecting critical infrastructure, and preparing the state’s water system for future challenges.

2. Alternatively, you can also write to the Governor’s Office, asking for their support on SB 872. 

• Click this link to send a comment urging the Governor’s Signature on SB 872.

Several critical water priorities have been approved by the state Legislature. Here are some key updates.

SB 872, a bill designed to safeguard California’s water supply for decades to come, has been unanimously approved by the Legislature. 

The bill brings together Northern and Southern California legislators, environmental groups including Restore the Delta, and water interests to protect the state’s primary water source.

If signed into law by Governor Newsom, SB 872 would address two major threats to California’s water supply: aging levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and sinking canals in the State Water Project (SWP). Many Delta levees are at risk of failure, raising the threat of catastrophic flooding and ecosystem damage, while sinking land is jeopardizing SWP canals and reliable water deliveries. 

Read more about SB 872 here.

Additionally, the Delta Caucus secured $90.2 million to protect the Delta and fortify its aging levees, along with up to $68 million to safeguard the State Water Project’s California Aqueduct and canals. 

“Restore the Delta is grateful to Sen. McNerney and the Delta Caucus for advocating for funding for the Delta levees, which protect 4 million Delta area residents, a $7 billion Delta economy, drinking water supplies for the state, and critical ecosystems,” said Morgen Snyder, Director of Policy and Programs. “We hope this is the starting point of a long-term commitment to fully fund the much-needed upgrades to this crucial infrastructure.”

Read more about the funding here.

Delta Coalition decries Voluntary Agreements framework as unreliable and ecologically destructive to an already fragile Delta Estuary

For Immediate Release:

September 9, 2026

Contact:
Ashley Castaneda, ashley@restorethedelta.org

SACRAMENTO — The Bureau of Reclamation and the Westlands Water District have indicated they will not participate in the Voluntary Agreements (VAs) if the State Water Board approves the updated San Francisco Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan (“Bay-Delta Plan”), prompting renewed criticism from the Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition (DTEC)—consisting of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Little Manila Rising, and Restore the Delta.

DTEC has long raised concerns about the Bay-Delta Plan’s reliance on VAs, privately negotiated deals allowing powerful water districts to offer limited flow commitments and funding in exchange for exemptions from stronger, enforceable regulatory requirements. The coalition has criticized the VA framework as scientifically inadequate and lacking enforceable protections needed to safeguard threatened fish species and address harmful algal blooms (HABs). 

The coalition has also consistently warned that the federal government cannot be relied upon as a partner in complying with state laws and regulatory decisions designed to protect Delta ecosystems, Tribes, and Delta communities. The Bureau of Reclamation’s decision to pull out of the agreements in this late stage, DTEC says, is further evidence of that pattern.

DTEC is calling on the State Water Board to prioritize strong, science-based, and enforceable protections for Delta water quality and ecosystems—and to abandon the failing Voluntary Agreements framework. The coalition emphasizes that the current outcome is a direct consequence of a broken process that excluded key voices, including Tribes and environmental justice communities.

The State Water Board is accepting comments on the plan through September 18, before considering adoption at a hearing scheduled for October 28-29.

STATEMENTS FROM COALITION MEMBERS:

Malissa Tayaba, Vice Chair, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians:

“California tribes were deliberately excluded from the development of agreements that maintain unsustainable water deliveries and frustrate our ability to maintain our culture and traditions. Now, parties that negotiated those agreements are threatening legal action unless they are allowed to operate with zero accountability. There is seemingly no limit to their greed and unwillingness to respect tribal sovereignty and culture. This is why we need a regulatory approach that protects tribal beneficial water uses and ecosystem health.”

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director, Restore the Delta:

“Collectively we have wasted eight years since 2018 on a water scheme that will never satisfy powerful water contractors. They will never volunteer to help solve the water needs of the Delta. Tribes, communities along the watersheds, fishing interests, and many other parties, including ratepayers, who will be footing the bill for the water buybacks, have all been left out of the secret negotiations. There is nothing here to save. It is time to enact science-based Bay-Delta standards rather than promoting a fantasy to fill the Delta Conveyance Project.”

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Dear friends,

With the conclusion of the 2026 legislative session on August 31, 2026, we are excited to share the many wins you all made possible through your constant engagement over the past several months, including two bills passing to the Governor’s desk and two bad bills defeated. 

This year, AB 2026 and AB 2215 were successfully killed, and SB 872 and AB 2218 successfully passed out of the legislature to the Governor’s desk.

Read more about each bill and how you can help ensure the Governor signs SB 872 and AB 2218 into law!

Help Support SB 872: The Delta Levees and Canal Subsidence Fund

SB 872, a bill designed to safeguard California’s water supply for decades to come, has been unanimously approved by the Legislature. 

The bill brings together Northern and Southern California legislators, environmental groups including Restore the Delta, and water interests to protect the state’s primary water source.

If signed into law by Governor Newsom, SB 872 would address two major threats to California’s water supply: aging levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and sinking canals in the State Water Project (SWP). Many Delta levees are at risk of failure, raising the threat of catastrophic flooding and ecosystem damage, while sinking land is jeopardizing SWP canals and reliable water deliveries.

Now that SB 872 has moved to the Governor’s desk for signature, we need your help to sign this bill into law!

Two Easy Ways You Can Take Action:

1. Call the Governor at (916) 445-2841, urging his signature on SB 872.

When calling the Governor’s Office, please tell them: 

• As a constituent, I urge you to sign SB 872 into law.
• You support advancing legislation that prioritizes safeguarding California’s water supplies, protecting critical infrastructure, and preparing the state’s water system for future challenges.

2. Alternatively, you can also write to the Governor’s Office, asking for their support on SB 872. 

• Click this link to send a comment urging the Governor’s Signature on SB 872.

Support AB 2218

Help Support AB 2218: Water policy: California Native American tribes

On February 19, 2026, Assemblymember Kalra introduced AB 2218, the Indigenous Water Rights Bill sponsored by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Karuk Tribe. 

AB 2218 would establish a clear statewide policy directive acknowledging and seeking to remedy the inequities inflicted upon Tribes in California through historical state-sanctioned acts of termination, removal, and forced assimilation.

The bill directs relevant state agencies, including the Department of Water Resources and the State Water Board, to incorporate this policy into water rights decisions, regulatory actions, permitting, and grantmaking to address identified inequities. Recognizing historic harms and directing state agencies to center Tribal equity in water policy is not simply a symbolic act; it is a pathway toward stronger relationships, more inclusive decision-making, and better outcomes for the ecosystems we all depend on.

Now that AB 2218 has moved to the Governor’s desk for signature, we need your help to sign this bill into law!

Two Easy Ways You Can Take Action:

1. Call the Governor at (916) 445-2841 urging his signature on AB 2218.

When calling the Governor’s Office, please tell them: 

• As a constituent, I urge you to sign AB 2218 into law.
• AB 2218 supports the State’s progress towards equitable water management.
• AB 2218 is an important step toward addressing inequities affecting California Native American Tribes in state water policy and ensuring Tribal interests are meaningfully considered in decisions affecting water.

2. Alternatively, you can also write to the Governor’s Office, asking for their support on AB 2218. 

• Click this link to send a comment urging the Governor’s Signature on AB 2218.

Update on AB 2026: Water diversion: groundwater recharge: permit

AB 2026, a bill that would have created broad new pathways to divert already over-allocated surface water and weakened public and environmental review, was held in Senate Appropriations, effectively killing the bill. 

Restore the Delta supports responsible groundwater recharge, but AB 2026 is the wrong approach. We will continue to advocate for groundwater recharge policies guided by science and administered through the State Water Board’s established regulatory framework, not broad statutory shortcuts that bypass water-rights, fish and wildlife protections, and the public interest.

Update on AB 2215: Water rights: permits: State Water Project

AB 2215, a bill that would have circumvented existing State Water Board Processes for the benefit of the Delta Conveyance Project, was pulled before being heard in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee. 

AB 2215 was an attempt by the State Water Contractors as a legislative solution to DWR’s expired water rights for the State Water Project and the DCP, rather than through proper procedure at the State Water Board. The Delta is a severely over-allocated system. Any new water infrastructure proposing to increase diversions must go through the regulatory process to protect Delta communities, ecosystem, and local fishing and recreation economies.

In a new op-ed published by CalMatters, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director at Restore the Delta, and Gary Mulcahy, government liaison with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, condemn the Newsom Administration’s efforts to advance controversial land and water-use proposals, including California Forever, voluntary agreements and the Delta Tunnel. 

Drawing on their years of experiences throughout Newsom’s governorship, the authors describe a pattern of disingenuous engagement with Tribes and communities, as well as backroom deals that circumvent public input and legislative due process.

They argue that these closed-door deals are being used to advance environmentally and economically harmful boondoggles at the behest of billionaires, lobbyists, and administrative insiders. 

Barbara and Gary contend that Californians have the right to a meaningful say in decisions that will shape their future.

Read the full op-ed here.