California's State Water Resources Control Board adopted an update to the Bay-Delta Plan, marking the first major revision to the plan's Sacramento River and Delta protections since 1995.
The updated plan pairs river flows with large-scale habitat restoration and enforceable safeguards to improve the health of the Sacramento River and Delta region while helping communities and farms adapt to climate change. Governor Gavin Newsom's administration secured $2.9 billion in funding commitments to support the plan's implementation through the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes Program, a voluntary-agreements approach allowing water users, farmers, and conservation organizations to combine river flow contributions with habitat restoration projects.
"We don't have to choose between healthy rivers and reliable water supplies — California needs both," Governor Newsom said. The Bay-Delta region supplies water to nearly 30 million Californians and 4 million acres of farmland while sustaining salmon and other native wildlife.
The plan targets restoration of more than 27,000 acres of aquatic habitat through watershed-scale projects designed to improve ecosystem function and reconnect floodplains. Water users can choose between participating in the voluntary Healthy Rivers and Landscapes pathway—which includes enforceable restoration commitments and scientific monitoring—or a traditional regulatory pathway focused on maintaining river flows.
Participation in the voluntary pathway is optional, but participants are held to binding commitments verified through public accounting and construction milestones. A dedicated science program with annual reporting and review will assess whether restoration efforts are improving ecological conditions.
Following approval by the Office of Administrative Law, the board will release a draft implementation methodology within one year and develop implementing regulations within two years. Implementation of the voluntary-agreements pathway is scheduled to begin no later than October 1, 2027.