Several critical water bills that we are tracking at Restore the Delta were heard in the Legislature this week – here are some key updates.
SB 872 Passes Through Committee
SB 872, a bill that would create a dedicated fund 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), passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee with unanimous approval.
We’re excited by the bill’s passage of this hurdle, as it nears final approval by the legislature. Thank you to Senator McNerney for advancing legislation that prioritizes safeguarding California’s water supplies, protecting critical infrastructure, and preparing the state’s water system for future challenges. SB 872 continues to an Assembly floor vote before it returns to its house of origin for reconciliation.
We encourage you to call your Assemblymember, urging their “aye” vote on SB 872.
Please find and call your representative to tell them:
You support advancing legislation that prioritizes safeguarding California’s water supplies, protecting critical infrastructure, and preparing the state’s water system for future challenges.
AB 2218 Passes Through Committee
AB 2218, a bill that seeks to address inequities in California water policy inflicted on California Native tribes, passed the Senate Appropriations Committee AB 2218 continues to a Senate floor vote before it returns to its house of origin for reconciliation.
As California faces growing climate-driven challenges, policymakers and communities increasingly recognize that equitable and sustainable water management must incorporate Tribal rights, traditional ecological knowledge, and Tribal governance. AB 2218 directs state agencies to strengthen consultation with Tribes during water rights investigations and develop policies that address water related harms resulting from state-sanctioned termination, removal, and assimilation of California Native American tribes.
We encourage you to call your Senator, urging their “aye” vote on AB 2218.
Please find and call your representative to tell them:
- Recognizing historical wrongs and considering solutions does not substitute concrete actionable plans to remedy historical inequities on California Tribes.
- Healthy rivers, resilient fisheries, and thriving landscapes are inseparable from the cultural and subsistence practices that have guided stewardship for generations.
AB 2026 is Held in Appropriations
In another positive development, AB 2026 was held in Senate Appropriations, effectively killing the bill for this legislative session. AB 2026 is not the narrow groundwater recharge measure its supporters describe. Instead, it creates broad new pathways to divert already-over allocated surface water, weakens public and environmental review, and shifts risk onto rivers, Delta communities, salmon, Tribes, and existing water users.
Restore the Delta supports responsible groundwater recharge, but AB 2026 is the wrong approach. We will continue to advocate for groundwater recharge policies that are guided by science and administered through the State Water Board’s established regulatory framework, not through broad statutory shortcuts that bypass water-rights, fish and wildlife protections, and the public interest.
