Reclamation announces increases in water deliveries, imperiling Sacramento River salmon

SACRAMENTO – The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has announced increases of northern California water to be delivered to San Joaquin Valley agribusiness interests, but both the state of California and fishery conservation groups say the increase will reduce the amount of cold water needed to sustain migrating Sacramento River Chinook Salmon.

The Bureau of Reclamation said it is increasing Central Valley Project 2026 water supply allocations for south-of-Delta contractors “following continued modest improvements in reservoir storage and spring runoff conditions across California’s water system.”

“This allocation update reflects improved operational flexibility and hydrologic conditions resulting from April storm activity, strong carryover storage, and coordinated reservoir management efforts that allowed water managers to capture additional runoff while continuing to meet environmental and flood control requirements,” according to an announcement from Reclamation: whttps://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/news-release/5338

Based on current hydrology and updated forecasts, Reclamation announced the following changes to CVP water supply allocations for South of the Delta federal water contractors:
Irrigation water service and repayment contractors south-of-Delta are increased from 20% to 25% of their contract total.

Municipal and Industrial water service and repayment contractors are increased from 70% to 75% of their historic use, or public health and safety needs, whichever is greater.
Eastside Division contractors are increased from 0 to 49,000 acre-feet.

“All other allocation amounts announced March 24 remain unchanged,” the agency added.

“Careful coordination and improved spring runoff conditions have strengthened overall system storage and allowed us to make additional water supplies available to south-of-Delta contractors,” claimed Acting Regional Director Adam Nickels. “While the Sierra snowpack has for the most part dissipated earlier than usual due to a warm spring, current reservoir storage and operational conditions support this incremental increase while maintaining prudent management of the CVP system.”

At the same time, the State Water Resources Control Board has sent a letter to the Bureau pointing out that Reclamation plans to take more water out of Lake Shasta, leaving too little cold water to protect winter-run and fall-run Chinoook Salmon on the Sacramento River this year. You can read the letter here: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drought/sacramento_river/docs/2026/2026-draft-tmp-swrcb-comment-ltr.pdf

On May 15, the Board submitted comments on the April 29 draft plan that Reclamation is preparing under State Water Board Order 90-5. The order requires Reclamation to manage Sacramento River temperatures to protect fish species, including winter-run and fall-run Chinook salmon.

The Board’s letter points to Reclamation’s projection that Shasta Reservoir could end September with 2.2 million acre-feet of storage, despite relatively high storage earlier in the spring. The draft plan also indicates that the volume of the coldest water in Shasta could be similar to 2015, which was a difficult year for temperature management.

“There is significant uncertainty this year in the level of protection that will be provided to winter-run and fall-run Chinook salmon and the actions that should be implemented to improve conditions this year, as well as going into next year,” the letter states.

“Specifically, Board staff’s previous understanding – based on Reclamation’s description of the Proposed Action for LTO that was evaluated by the 2024 Biological Opinion (BiOp) – was that the EOS carryover storage objective for a year such as 2026 would be at least 2.4 MAF based on the high EOA storage of 4.2 MAF (million acre feet)," the letter reveals. “However, Reclamation has recently indicated that as a result of LTO changes in 2025 Reclamation would not provide for an EOS carryover this year of 2.4 MAF.”

The letter says increasing Shasta’s end-of-September carryover storage to at least 2.4 MAF could both preserve cold water longer in 2026 and leave more water in reserve if 2027 is dry.

The letter also calls on Reclamation to strengthen the final temperature management plan to better protect winter-run and fall-run Chinook salmon, potentially through higher end-of-September storage. The Board is also asking for more detail on the storage target, modeling approach, weather assumptions, and the difference between Reclamation’s mortality estimates and Southwest Fisheries Science Center’s.

The Golden State Salmon Association (GSSA) said the group concurs with the position of the Water Board in its letter.

“We agree with the warning that the State Water Board is telling the federal government that its plan to increase water deliveries from Lake Shasta to Central Valley agriculture is likely to kill salmon,” said Vance Staplin, Executive Director of the Golden State Salmon Association (GSSA). “This comes on our first year back on the water after a three-year shutdown of commercial salmon fishing and sportfishing limited to only six days in that same timeframe.”

“This was a direct result of excessive water diversions, and a series of salmon kills below Shasta Dam. We hope the feds take to heart the state’s call for a little compromise and balance to avoid another massive salmon kill,” Staplin concluded.