The Bay-Delta Plan and Voluntary Agreements: Ensuring Effective Legislative Oversight

Mar 18, 2026 - In a 2010 report , SWRCB concluded that “current flows are insufficient.” The report also acknowledged the need for non‑flow habitat improvements, noting that flow and physical habitat measures are not interchangeable.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5163

The Bay-Delta Plan and Voluntary Agreements: Ensuring Effective Legislative Oversight [Publication Details]

Mar 18, 2026 - This report discusses the State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB’s) proposed—and long-overdue—update of the water quality control plan for the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which includes an alternative compliance pathway for certain water users called voluntary agreements (VAs, also known as Healthy Rivers and Landscapes).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5163

The 2025-26 Budget: May Revision Trailer Bill Proposals on the Delta Conveyance Project and Water Quality Control Plans

May 27, 2025 - By do ing so, this draft plan provides two compliance pathways —one for VA parties based on their proposed VA instream flow and habitat restoration targets, and one for non-VA parties based on the unimpaired flows approach developed by SWRCB staff.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5053

The 2022-23 Budget: State Water Resources Control Board—Bay-Delta Plan Update

Jan 31, 2022 - Specifically, to improve conditions for fish and wildlife, the new flow standards call for 40  percent of unimpaired flow in the rivers. The required flows can be adjusted within a range of 30  percent to 50  percent between February and June depending on other actions and conditions in the fisheries.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4506

Managing Floods in California

Mar 22, 2017 - During periods of high water flows, more than 80  percent of Sacramento River waters can end up flowing through the Yolo Bypass instead of through the main stem of the river near the City of Sacramento.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3571

The 2020-21 Budget: Resources and Environmental Protection

Feb 25, 2020 - Background Cross ‑Border Pollution Flows Into Southern California in Rivers From Mexico. Areas in Southern California have experienced pollution flowing in binational rivers across the border from Mexico.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4178

The 2022-23 Budget: Clean Energy Package

Feb 22, 2022 - Examples of technologies that might receive funding include flow batteries (batteries that use a different chemical process than traditi onal batteries), thermal storage, and compressed air technologies.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4554

The Salton Sea: A Status Update

Aug 29, 2018 - Anticipating these potential effects associated with the QSA, the state required that the reductions in water flowing into the Sea be delayed to provide the state time to develop a long ‑term response plan.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/3879

What Threat Does Sea-Level Rise Pose to California?

Aug 10, 2020 - Additionally, water infiltrating upward may flow through hazardous contaminants currently buried in the soil and carry them toward the surface, thereby distributing pollutants into fresh groundwater supplies and surface soils, as well into stormwater runoff that flows through local streets and fields.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4261

Overview of New Updates to the Cap-and-Invest Program

Dec 9, 2025 - Additionally, the requirements under A B  1207 that CARB report certain information and participate in various legislative hearings may improve information flow to the Legislature on key topics, such as the cost and impacts of the cap ‑and ‑invest program and other market ‑based  regulations.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5097