For Immediate Release:
March 12, 2026
Contact:
Ashley Castaneda, ashley@restorethedelta.org
Sacramento, Calif. — A coalition of Tribes and environmental advocates submitted a letter to the California Senate Rules Committee opposing the reappointment of Dorene D’Adamo to the State Water Resources Control Board.
In their letter, the coalition argues that the Board has abandoned key regulatory responsibilities during Vice-Chair D’Adamo’s tenure, allowing unchecked ecological decline in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and failing to protect communities that depend on the waterway.
The coalition includes the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, San Francisco Baykeeper, Little Manila Rising, and Restore the Delta. The groups say new leadership is urgently needed to restore the Board’s commitment to science-based water quality protections, environmental justice, and meaningful regulatory oversight of water users.
The letter highlights several key concerns about D’Adamo’s reappointment, including her support for controversial “Voluntary Agreements” that would allow major water users to avoid enforceable regulatory standards intended to restore flows and protect the Delta ecosystem. The groups also criticize delays in resolving a federal discrimination complaint filed under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act concerning water management decisions that affect Tribes and disadvantaged communities.
While the State Water Board is responsible for protecting water quality, ecosystems, and public health, coalition members say that under D’Adamo’s leadership the Board has prioritized large agricultural and urban water interests while native fish populations continue to decline and communities bear the consequences.
STATEMENTS FROM COALITION MEMBERS:
Malissa Tayaba, Vice-Chair, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians:
“We deserve a Water Board whose members support tribal water rights and beneficial river flows as part of their duty to protect healthy ecosystems and reasonable water uses. Vice-Chair D’Adamo has been on the Board since 2013 and during that time the Board has abandoned efforts to set flow standards and has not adopted meaningful protections for tribal water uses. It is time for new Water Board leadership.”
Gary Mulcahy, Government Liaison, Winnemem Wintu Tribe:
“This State should be embarrassed by the failure of its appointed State Water Resources Control Board Members to fulfill one of its most important duties, and that is to update the Bay-Delta Water Quality Plan. A duty that is supposed to take place every 3 years, but is yet to see a full and comprehensive completed plan since 1995. We have been relying on 31 year old water standards to formulate new water policy and plan water projects. This is ridiculous and should be unacceptable to all those in the legislature. We need drastic change at the State Water Resources Control Board. This needs to be done now.”
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director, Restore the Delta:
“The State Water Resources Control Board has failed, and continues to fail, at setting science based standards to save and restore the Bay-Delta Estuary as required by law. The Board has failed, and continues to fail, at following their own standards regarding race and inclusion by supporting backroom deals on who will receive water from the depleted watersheds. The Board has also failed to resolve the Title VI complaint we filed against them with the Federal Government. It is, therefore, time for accountability for Board members.”
Eric Buescher, Managing Attorney, San Francisco Baykeeper:
“For years, the State Water Resources Control Board has failed to perform its obligations under the law, opting instead for delay and deregulation. This neglect has infected a wide swath of the Board’s work, and is most apparent in the now 17 year long failure to adopt and implement an evidence-based and legally adequate update to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan. Rather than reward and support this behavior, the Senate should exercise its vital oversight role to force changes. The Senate should not expect the people who have been in charge during the Board’s descent into dysfunction to change course going forward.”
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