Central Valley Members of Congress Encouraged by State's Framework for Voluntary Agreements for Bay-Delta and Water Users

Statement

Today, Congressmen John Garamendi (D-CA03), Josh Harder (D-CA10), Jim Costa (D-CA16), and TJ Cox (D-CA21) and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) issued the following statement after the State of California released its voluntary agreement framework to water users:

"Governor Newsom's framework for voluntary agreements is a step forward for the Delta. Voluntary agreements will improve the Delta ecosystem with collaborative, science-based solutions to address our state's greatest water supply and environmental challenges and represent a significant improvement over the unimpaired flow requirements under the updated Bay-Delta Plan. When finalized, these voluntary agreements will support habitat restoration for at-risk fish and wildlife while also providing certainty for California agriculture and other water users."

"The details of any final agreement will be important, and more work remains before this framework may be finalized as voluntary agreements submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board for approval. Collaboration is always better than litigation, and we are very encouraged by the Newsom Administration's demonstrated progress with this framework."