Agreements to support healthy rivers & landscapes
A Plan to Restore the Bay-Delta Ecosystem
Agreements to Support Healthy Rivers and Landscapes
The Agreements to support Healthy Rivers and Landscapes (HRL) is an eight-year agreement (with a potential extension for up to an additional seven years) that brings together dozens of water agencies with the state and federal governments to pool resources and take actions to provide functional river flows and expand habitat in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and Bay Delta watershed.
Why are the Agreements Needed?
As fish populations have declined and bird and wildlife habitat has been threatened by dramatic weather swings from year-to-year, there is a call to find more sustainable solutions to support all needs in the Sacramento River Watershed.
HRL is designed to manage available water supplies in order to provide certainty and ensure an appropriate balance of water in the reservoirs, rivers and creeks, across the landscape and aquifers, and for communities (many of which are disadvantaged) in the Sacramento Valley.
How does SRSC Participate in HRL?
The Settlement Contractors, in coordination with US Bureau of Reclamation, will redirect water for instream flows, reservoir storage, and Delta outflow by making available (and being compensated for) 100,000 acre-feet (af) of surface water available during Above Normal, Below Normal, and Dry water year types during the eight-year term.
SRSC Advancing Projects to Support HRL
As part of the HRL agreement, the Settlement Contractors, with assistance from the Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority, have also advanced numerous measures and projects to improve conditions for fish, including spawning habitat in the upper river, fish passage improvements in the middle river, and floodplain reactivation in the lower system.
How Will the Program Affect Districts, Companies and Growers
Each participating Settlement Contractor, will take different actions to meet the HRL water contributions for the program, possibly including:
Cropland idling
Shifting from higher-water-intensive crops to lower-water-using crops
Relying on groundwater substitution
Note: Contractors using groundwater will still need to comply with all statutory requirements and are specifically required to comply with the rules and requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and follow local Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSP).
Participate in HRL
The Settlement Contractors Corporation has worked extremely hard and diligently to arrive at this agreement. We strongly believe this to be the most effective and least impactful path forward through the State Water Board’s proposed updates to its Bay Delta Plan. We urge you to discuss with your representatives, consultants, or others to make your decision for participation in HRL.
For additional information on the Agreements from the California Natural Resources Agency, please visit their webpage here.