This week, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) submitted testimony to the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) as required for Part I of the upcoming public hearings on a request to add three new points of diversion to the State Water Project, with coordinated operations for the Central Valley Project, for California WaterFix.
In Part I, DWR will present evidence intended to show that the proposed change will neither initiate a new water right nor injure any other legal user of water. DWR’s, the Bureau’s and the State Water Board’s documentation for the hearing can be accessed here.
Part I of the hearings is scheduled to start July 26, 2016, and is expected to run several months. Part II of the hearings is currently slated for early 2017. Part II will focus on the extent to which fish and wildlife and other beneficial uses will be affected by the requested change in point of diversion and any measures needed to protect fish and wildlife from any unreasonable impacts of the change.
Additional information regarding California WaterFix may be accessed here. RCRC’s California WaterFix Policy Statement dated February 26, 2016 can be accessed here.