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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