Office of the Delta Watermaster

New Report Released on Delta Drought Response Pilot Program

Delta Watermaster Key Takeaways:

  • The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy (Delta Conservancy) funded the 2023 Delta Drought Response Pilot Program (DDRPP) based on a grant of $10.8 million from the Department of Water Resources (DWR).
  • The Office of the Delta Watermaster provided oversight and technical assistance for DDRPP, in a partnership the Delta Conservancy, DWR, The Nature Conservancy, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the University of California (UC)-Merced and Davis, and the UC Cooperative Extension.
  • This was the second year of the Program, which evaluated the effectiveness of agricultural water conservation practices and beneficial bird habitat practices in 61 projects over 18,450 acres in different areas of the Legal Delta.
  • Program funding facilitated an incentive program for landowners to carry out conservation practices such as shifting crops, reducing irrigation, delaying harvest to provide nesting cover for birds, and intentional flooding of croplands for bird habitat.
  • Results of the study reflect the diversity of land types, soils, crop practices, and bird habitat types, within both upland and Delta island areas, such that consumptive use and water savings estimates differed substantially across different land types and practices, particularly since 2023 was a wet water year.
  • Additional research work will continue at a few sites through Water Year 2026 to evaluate water conservation practices over different water year types, to improve the scientific understanding of crop evapotranspiration and land surface hydrology, and to support the use of remote sensing techniques such as OpenET that enable consistent water use reporting throughout the Delta region.

Resource Links:
The 2023 Report
Delta Drought Response Pilot Program

Important Information about Water Reporting for Water Year 2023 for Water Reporters in the Legal Delta under California Law

All water use reports were due before June 17, 2024, and are now considered past due.

Please note that the Office of the Delta Watermaster is encouraging all eligible water users within the Legal Delta to file their WY 2023 Supplemental Statements of Water Diversion and Use (for their Statement Numbers ["S0____"]) and Reports of Licensee (for their Licenses ["A0____"]) through the Delta Alternative Compliance Plan website (www.DeltaACP.com). The Delta ACP reporting platform provides a singular repository to better measure and understand actual consumptive use in the Legal Delta.

The Office of the Delta Watermaster – Background

The Office of the Delta Watermaster was created as part of the Delta Reform Act of 2009. The Watermaster is an independent officer of the State, appointed to a four-year term by the State Water Resources Control Board, reporting jointly to the Water Board and to the Delta Stewardship Council.

Important Reminder!

Water Rights Reporting

Delta Measurement Experimentation Consortium

Overlap Memo

2015 Informational Order

  Access the 2015 Informational Order FTP Document Repository

URL: https://ftp.waterboards.ca.gov
Username: IORR-FTP
Password: AccessIORR

General Water Rights Resources

Responsibilities

The Watermaster is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day administration of water rights, and, when necessary, for taking enforcement action, related to water diversions within the Delta. The Watermaster also confers with and assists both the Water Board and the Stewardship Council as they carry out their respective legislative mandates to achieve the dual objectives of enhancing the Delta ecosystem and improving water supply reliability within the constraints of the water rights system and of the Delta as an evolving place.

The Delta – The Hub of California’s Water Management System

The Delta is an inland estuary located at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers just before their outlet to San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The Delta is comprised of a network of islands, channels and wetlands which make up the largest estuary on the Western Coast of the United States. The Delta is the hub of California’s water management system as well as an important ecological system supporting a variety of species, several of which are protected under endangered species acts. The Delta ecosystem and the water management facilities located there are under pressure from a variety of natural and man-made stressors including:

  • water diversions from its natural tributaries;
  • withdrawal of a portion of its water to meet the needs of users throughout the State;
  • invasive species which compete with or prey upon its endangered natives;
  • the constant risk of salinity intrusion from the Ocean and of salinity concentration by farming;
  • degradation in its water quality from historic causes such as hydraulic mining and current causes such as farm and urban runoff;
  • channelization of its waterways and the fragility of some of its levees;
  • oxidation and erosion of friable peat soils which have left some islands subsided below the surrounding water table;
  • complex (and sometimes conflicting) regulatory constraints; and
  • a clash of public and private interests that has generated decades of litigation and conflict.

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Delta Waterway
Photo credit: Department of Water Resources

  Contacts

For Questions or Comments
Contact the Office of the Delta Watermaster:

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 916-319-8264

U.S. Mail:
Office of the Delta Watermaster
State Water Resources Control Board
P.O. Box 100
Sacramento, CA 95812-0100

Delta Challenges