CALFED Bay-Delta Program
Contact: Jeff McCracken, (916) 978-5100
The CALFED Bay-Delta Program upholds the Administration's commitment to a long-term solution for water resource issues in the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the hub of California's water system. The Program is an effort that addresses four interrelated resource management objectives - water quality and reliability, ecosystem restoration, and levee integrity. The FY 05 budget request for CALFED is $15 million.
Twenty-three state and federal agencies are implementing the various Program elements, while a new California Bay-Delta Authority provides oversight of activities. A 30-member Bay-Delta Advisory Committee, with members from state, environmental, water user, Tribal, and community interests, serves as a Federally chartered group to advise the Secretary of the Interior and the Governor of California.
Program Phases and Elements
The CALFED Bay-Delta Program has three phases: Phase I identified the problems (completed in September 1996); Phase II completed an environmental review and the Programmatic Record of Decision (ROD) was signed (completed in August 2000); and Phase III began the long-term plan to restore state-wide resources, expected to take at least 30 years to complete.
The Program's four objectives are addressed through eleven elements:
Water Management - expanding water supplies and ensuring efficient use of the resource.Storage - pursuing more capacity in both surface reservoirs and underground aquifers.
Conveyance - provides for moving water through the Bay-Delta as efficiently as possible to increase the system's flexibility.
Water Use Efficiency - encourages water conservation and recycling, increases the use of efficient water use practices, and manages wetlands by providing support and local incentives.
Water Transfers - promotes transfers from willing sellers to buyers while protecting other water users, local economies, and the environment through an effective water transfer market.
Environmental Water Account - allows for the purchase of water that can be used for the flexibility to benefit the environment and minimize water supply impacts on water users.
Drinking Water Quality - ensures continuous improvements in the water quality of the Bay-Delta for all beneficial uses.
Watershed Management - restores ecological health and improves water management by working with the community at a watershed level.
Levee System Integrity - protects water supplies needed for the environment, agriculture, and urban uses by reducing the threat of levee failure and seawater intrusion.
Ecosystem Restoration - helps restore and improve the health of the Bay-Delta system for all native species while reducing its water management constraints.
Science - integrates world-class science and peer review into every aspect of the Program, developing the best scientific information possible to guide decisions and evaluate actions.