The state’s water management system struggles to balance public health and safety, protecting the environment, and supporting the economy. The California Water Action Plan (PDF)(opens in new tab) (WAP) was developed to move California toward more sustainable water management. The WAP includes three objectives: 1) more reliable water supplies; 2) restoration of important species and habitat, and 3) a more resilient sustainable managed water resources system.
As part of implementation activities for the WAP’s Action 4, to protect and restore important ecosystems, the CDFW Instream Flow Program will support flow enhancement activities and develop flow criteria in priority streams that support critical habitat for threatened and endangered anadromous salmonids including Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead. CDFW will develop flow criteria for use in water management planning and decision making processes, which may include being submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) pursuant to Public Resources Code §10000-10005.
The five priority streams are:
More information regarding the SWRCB’s effort under the WAP.