The Delta Stewardship Council, a state-appointed agency that works to protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta while preserving it as a major water source, recently released a draft adaptation plan called Delta Adapts: Creating a Climate Resilient Future. 

It is a framework for assessing the vulnerabilities of the Delta due to climate change and industrial use and deciding on adaptation strategies. The plan has been under development since 2021. 

All stakeholders are invited for public comment through Jan. 17 by emailing climatechange@deltacouncil.ca.gov. The plan and additional information can be found on the council’s website.

Fisheries and environmentalists have long contested increases in water diversions from the Delta. It was once a vast wetland supporting abundant wildlife, but it is now seeing declining populations of fish that depend on cool fresh water flowing out to the Bay, like salmon, sturgeon and Delta smelt.

Along with Delta farmers, these groups are concerned that increased diversions combined with sea level rise could result in the intrusion of salt water into the Delta. 

“The ongoing series of recent storms hitting the state is definitely good news for water supply, our environment, and beleaguered salmon fishermen,” said Scott Artis, executive director of the Golden State Salmon Association.

“But it’s important to note that salmon experience drought conditions often far after droughts are over,” he said.

Artis blames almond growers for diverting too much water to the Central Valley.

“That’s why our fishing season is shut down in 2024 and why it was also closed last year. And this is exactly why we need new rules for water diversions that reflect current science to protect the Bay-Delta, salmon runs, and fishing jobs,” he said.

Ruth Dusseault is an investigative reporter and multimedia journalist focused on environment and energy. Her position is supported by the California local news fellowship, a statewide initiative spearheaded by UC Berkeley aimed at supporting local news platforms. While a student at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism (c’23), Ruth developed stories about the social and environmental circumstances of contaminated watersheds around the Great Lakes, Mississippi River and Florida’s Lake Okeechobee. Her thesis explored rights of nature laws in small rural communities. She is a former assistant professor and artist in residence at Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture, and uses photography, film and digital storytelling to report on the engineered systems that undergird modern life.