1. The board considered Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan amendments with two proposed implementation pathways, along with a final staff report/substitute environmental document. For covered water rights, the regulatory pathway would set a default requirement of 55% of unimpaired flow, subject to water-supply adjustments. The alternative Healthy Rivers and Landscapes (HRL) pathway would pair additional flows with habitat restoration. The update concerns the Bay-Delta watershed and could also affect users of Delta-dependent supplies elsewhere in California; it does not directly regulate every agricultural user statewide. Staff described proposed accounting and enforcement measures, including annual reports, three-year periodic reports and a six-year ecological outcomes analysis. If HRL commitments are not met or the pathway proves ineffective, the board could modify or end participation and apply the regulatory pathway.
2. Treatment of existing water rights remained a point of debate. Water agencies warned that portions of a single right could end up under different pathways. Staff said splitting rights is possible but not ideal, and identified annual and periodic reviews as opportunities to address specific cases. The chair and staff raised concerns that proposed footnote changes might cover more rights than intended. The chair encouraged agencies to pursue time-extension petitions and necessary environmental review so additional rights could be considered for HRL; inclusion would not be automatic.
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