Last week, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) sent an important letter to Dr. Jerry Meral, the Resources Agency Deputy Secretary for the Bay Delta Conservation Planning Program (BDCP) in regards to the required oversight and project specifics. The letter points out that any changes in conveyance (e.g. a new canal or tunnels), a component of BDCP, will be subject to approvals by the State Board. The letter drew Dr. Meral’s attention to the Flow Criteria report adopted by the State Board last year, which includes flow criteria for the Delta to protect public trust resources.  

Based on the points highlighted in the letter to Dr. Meral, and consistent with previous communications to Bay Delta Conservation Plan, the State Board staff specifically suggested analyzing an alternative adding 1.5 million acre feet to Delta outflow. This recommendation has the potential allow flow consistent with the standards adopted by the State Board last fall is consistent and in turn make the Boards approval of the project more appealing.