Delta Conveyance Updates

The series of atmospheric river storms that brought record-breaking amounts of rain and snow this year has many Californians asking if our existing water infrastructure is able to capture and store flows from these extreme weather events.

The proposed Delta Conveyance Project would help ensure water supply reliability for the State Water Project in light of projected future changes in precipitation and seasonal flow patterns due to climate change.

DWR today released the Draft Environment Impact Report (Draft EIR) for the Delta Conveyance Project, marking an important step in evaluating a key strategy to adapt to a changing climate and provide clean, reliable water for future generations.

Modernizing how California moves water supplies across the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta can’t be done by repeating the past.

Preventing fish from getting caught up in the water diverted at the intakes - a situation known as “entrainment” - is a high priority and many innovative technologies have been developed to meet the challenge.

California is immersed in a third year of drought, with January, February and March of 2022 experiencing the lowest precipitation on record. Weather whiplash of big storms followed by dry spells makes every drop of rain, every flake of snow, and every water molecule vital this year for families, farms, the environment and the economy.

The upcoming year will mark an important milestone in the proposed Delta Conveyance Project planning process, with the anticipated release of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for public review and comment in mid-2022.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is one of the largest estuaries in North America, providing habitat for around 500 plant and animal species, including about 50 species of fish. Approximately two thirds of California's salmon pass through the Delta on their way upstream to spawn.

Rain and snowfall in California have always been inconsistent and unpredictable. It is our climate’s natural state. The realities of climate change, that take the inconsistent nature of precipitation in California to an extreme, are making water management that much more of a challenge. The proposed Delta Conveyance Project is just one way the stat ...

DWR hosted a series of webinars to provide background information related to preparation of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed Delta Conveyance Project. The first in a series of four webinars was on Operations of the State Water Project (SWP) and Delta conveyance.