SACRAMENTO, California — California water regulators took a step Wednesday toward requiring permanent protections for endangered salmon in two far Northern California rivers where farmers and environmentalists have long fought over water supplies.
The State Water Resources Control Board voted to complete a report setting out the scientific justification for permanent in-stream flow minimums on the Scott and Shasta rivers, a prerequisite before it can establish the requirements.
“The resolution is a step that can be used to move us forward, and what has been a lot of work, long time coming,” said the water board’s chair, Joaquin Esquivel.
Were the water board to establish permanent flow minimums in the two rivers, it would set an important precedent for how California will deal with its increasingly water-strapped future. Up to now, the board has usually limited how much water farmers and other users can take from rivers only during drought emergencies, with the exception of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Bay-Delta and the Russian River.
