Office of the Delta Watermaster
Compliance with Water Board Requirements During the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) Emergency
UPDATED AS OF MARCH 23, 2020, 1:00 p.m.
The State Water Resources Control Board and the nine California Regional Water Quality Control Boards (the Water Boards) are continuing their efforts to protect public health, safety, and the environment consistent with all federal, state, and local public health directives and guidelines related to COVID-19.
Please be aware that timely compliance by the regulated community with all Water Board orders and other requirements (including regulations, permits, contractual obligations, primacy delegations, and funding conditions) is generally considered to be an essential function during the COVID-19 response. As a result, the Water Boards consider compliance with board-established orders and other requirements to be within the essential activities, essential governmental functions, or comparable exceptions to shelter-in-place directives provided by local public health officials.
If there is a specific Water Board order or requirement that cannot be timely met because it would be inconsistent with current governmental directives or guidelines related to COVID-19, the entity responsible for compliance with the Water Board order or requirement must notify the applicable Water Board Office promptly. With respect to annual reports of water diversion and use, the notification shall be via electronic mail to the appropriate email address identified below, and shall include:
- the specific annual report or other requirement that cannot be timely met,
- the inconsistent COVID-19 directive or guideline which prevents timely compliance,
- an explanation of why the responsible entity cannot timely meet the report deadline or other requirement, and
- any action that the entity will take in lieu of complying with the specific report deadline or other requirement.
Water Board staff will do their best to respond within 24/48 hours.
Please note that more specific directions for certain types of Water Board orders and other requirements may also be provided.
Contacts for the Water Boards
State Water Board – Water Rights
- Diversion located within the Legal Delta or Suisun Marsh - kristi.matal@waterboards.ca.gov
- Diversion located outside the Legal Delta or Suisun Marsh – rms@waterboards.ca.gov
Reporting Reminder:
- April 1, 2020 – Deadline to report water use for 2019 under Licenses
- July 1, 2020 – Deadline to report water use for 2019 under Statements of Water Diversion and Use
The Office of the Delta Watermaster – Background
The Office of the Delta Watermaster was created as part of the Delta Reform Act of 2009. The Watermaster is an independent officer of the State, appointed to a four-year term by the State Water Resources Control Board, reporting jointly to the Water Board and to the Delta Stewardship Council.
- January 1, 2020 - Deadline for large diverters to provide telemetered diversion data (diverting more than 10,000 acre-feet annually, or directly diverting more than 30 cubic feet per second during June 1 through September 30)
Visit the Division of Water Rights’s Telemetry Requirements webpage for more information
- January 1, 2020 – Annual Water Use Reports for the 2019 reporting year are available on the eWRIMS Report Management System (RMS)
- April 1, 2020 – Deadline to report water use for 2019 under Licenses
- July 1, 2020 – Deadline to report water use for 2019 under Statements of Water Diversion and Use
Submit your water use reports to the eWRIMS Report Management System (RMS)
- Term 91 is likely to be triggered within May, earlier than usual. Read more. (5/1/2020)
- On Feb. 4, 2020, the CA Natural Resources Agency and the CalEPA unveiled a substantial revised Framework of Voluntary Agreements to update and implement the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control plan. The presentation slides supported their presentation. The slides are available on the Office of the Delta Watermaster’s webpage via this link (1/4/2020)
- Lindsay Kammeier and Beti Girma, Water Resource Control Engineers, were accepted into the 2020 Water Leaders program sponsored by the Water Education Foundation (1/15/2020)
- The Department of Water Resources has formerly commenced the environmental review of its proposed single tunnel Delta conveyance project (1/15/2020)
- State Agencies Release Draft Water Resilience Portfolio (1/3/2020)
- Department of Water Resources Briefs the CA Water Commission on State Water Project Operations (12/18/2019)
- Department of Water Resources Releases Environmental Review in Consideration of Changes to the State Water Project Operations (11/21/2019)
- State Water Board Revokes Water Right License for Failure to Report Annual Diversions (08/07/2019)
- Release of Memo Regarding Claimed Overlap Between Riparian and Pre-1914 Water Rights in the Delta (06/06/2018)
- A Comparative Study for Estimating Crop Evapotranspiration in the Delta (05/01/2018)
- Cover Memo Describing Staff's Review of Responses to 2015-0002 Informational Order
- Statement Analysis Master (Excel Spreadsheet) Summarizing Staff's Review of Responses to 2015-0002 Informational Order (9/4/2018)
- Role of the Delta Watermaster
- Biography - Michael George, Delta Watermaster
- State Water Resources Control Board
- Email List Subscription
- Delta Stewardship Council
- Delta Conservancy
- North Delta Water Agency
- Central Delta Water Agency (Under Construction)
- South Delta Water Agency (Under Construction)
Water Rights Reporting
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Annual Water Diversion and Use Reporting Help
- Annual Water Use Reporting Requirements for Water Right Holders (Water Right Type, Water Use Report Deadlines, How to Report Water Use, Measurement Information)
- Measurement Information
- eWRIMS – Electronic Water Rights Information Management System (Fact Sheet, Database to View Water Rights, Web Mapping Application, Report Management System and Help Center)
- Click Here to File Your Water Use Report (eWRIMS – Report Management System)
Delta Measurement Experimentation Consortium
2015 Informational Order
- Cover Memo: Summary of Preliminary Review of Responses to Informational Order WR 2015-0002-DWR
- Informational Order 2015-0002-DWR
- Frequently Asked Questions on the Pre-1914 and Riparian 2015 Informational Order Response Review Summary (2/20/2018)
General Water Rights Resources
- Delta Water Rights/Claims (Summary)
- Interactive Water Rights Map of the Legal Delta
- Drought Year Water Actions
- Complaints
- Enforcement Actions
- Orders and Decisions
- Water Rights: Statement of Water Diversion and Use Program
- Water Rights Process
- Statements of Diversion and Use
- Term 91
- Overlap Between Pre-1914 and Riparian Water Right Claims within the Delta
- Delta Science Program
- Bay Delta Program
- Statement of Diversion and Use Program
- Yolo Bypass Memorandum of Understanding
- A Beginner's Guide to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
- Challenges Facing the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta
- Delta Atlas
- Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta Overview
- San Francisco Estuary Institute - A Delta Renewed November 2016 (11/29/2016)
- Important Legal Decisions
- Orders and Decisions
- Ruling on Delta Plan Statutory Challenges (5/18/2016)
- Order Dismissing Enforcement Actions against Byron-Bethany Irrigation District and Westside Irrigation District (6/7/2016)
- Tanaka Final Decision (5/26/2016)
- 2014 - 2011 Orders and Decisions
- Enforcement Actions
- Complaints
Programs
Studies
Publications and Articles
Legal
- Video: Quarterly Report on current Delta Science Issues – SWRCB Meeting (10/16/2018) - Starts at 2:24:15
- Video: Quarterly Report on current Delta Science Issues – SWRCB Meeting (07/10/2018) - Starts at 2:37:35
- Video: Crop Study Presentation - SWRCB Meeting (05/01/2018) - Starts at 2:19:18
- Video: Quarterly Report on current Delta Science Issues – SWRCB Meeting (03/20/2018) - Starts at 37:00
- Video: 2015 Informational Order WR-2015-002: Release of Staff Findings – Erik Ekdahl and Michael George (2/20/2018)
- Video: Delta Stewardship Council Explains How it Works to Protect Delta Farmland (12/27/16)
- Measurement Fair Presentation (8/22/2016)
- Delta Issues Presentation to the California Water Association (05/19/2016)
- Diversion Reduction Program Presentation to the State Water Resources Control Board (05/03/2016)
- Presentation to the Suisun Marsh Landowners Workshop (04/20/2016)
- Quarterly Watermaster update to Delta Stewardship Council (03/24/2016)
- Delta Protection Commission (03/17/2016)
- Presentation to Nixon Peabody (09/24/2015)
- Supplemental Statements of Water Diversion and Use May 2013
- Statements of Water Diversion & Use Water Diversion Measurement Public Workshop (07/21/2011)
- 2015 Voluntary Diversion Reduction program among in-Delta Riparian Water Right Claimants (03/11/2016)
- Local Water Governance in the Delta (09/25/2014)
- California’s Area of Origin Laws (10/08/2013)
- Gates and Barriers in the Delta (04/23/13)
- Term 91: Stored Water Bypass Requirements (12/04/2012)
- Improving Water Right Enforcement Authority (09/19/2012)
- Water Right Compliance and Enforcement in the Delta (02/07/2012)
- Statements of Water Diversions and Use: Providing a Better Picture of Water Use in the Delta (11/01/2011)
- The State Water Resources Control Board’s Role in Implementing the Delta Plan Report (03/15/2011)
- The Reasonable Use Doctrine and Water Use Efficiency Report (01/19/2011)
- Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan
- Summary of Proposed Updates to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan (9/15/2016)
- The Delta Plan (Delta Stewardship Council) (4/26/2018)
- EcoRestore
- Plan Bay Area
- San Francisco Bay Basin Plan
- Bay Area Integrated Regional Water Management Plan
- California Water Action Plan
- Frequently Asked Questions on the Pre-1914 and Riparian 2015 Informational Order Response Review Summary (2/20/2018)
- SWRCB Releases Proposed Flow and Salinity Objectives (9/15/2016)
- To save SF Bay and its dying Delta, state aims to re-plumb California
- Watermaster:Understanding the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Crisis
- Regulators Prepare Water Diverters for Stepped-up Reporting Rules
- Two Hearts Beating Not Quite As One
- California’s Agtech-Focused Plan for Tackling Its Ongoing Water Problem
Responsibilities
The Watermaster is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day administration of water rights, and, when necessary, for taking enforcement action, related to water diversions within the Delta. The Watermaster also confers with and assists both the Water Board and the Stewardship Council as they carry out their respective legislative mandates to achieve the dual objectives of enhancing the Delta ecosystem and improving water supply reliability within the constraints of the water rights system and of the Delta as an evolving place.
The Delta – The Hub of California’s Water Management System
The Delta is an inland estuary located at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers just before their outlet to San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The Delta is comprised of a network of islands, channels and wetlands which make up the largest estuary on the Western Coast of the United States. The Delta is the hub of California’s water management system as well as an important ecological system supporting a variety of species, several of which are protected under endangered species acts. The Delta ecosystem and the water management facilities located there are under pressure from a variety of natural and man-made stressors including:
- water diversions from its natural tributaries;
- withdrawal of a portion of its water to meet the needs of users throughout the State;
- invasive species which compete with or prey upon its endangered natives;
- the constant risk of salinity intrusion from the Ocean and of salinity concentration by farming;
- degradation in its water quality from historic causes such as hydraulic mining and current causes such as farm and urban runoff;
- channelization of its waterways and the fragility of some of its levees;
- oxidation and erosion of friable peat soils which have left some islands subsided below the surrounding water table;
- complex (and sometimes conflicting) regulatory constraints; and
- a clash of public and private interests that has generated decades of litigation and conflict.
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Photo credit: Department of Water Resources
Contacts
For Questions or Comments
Contact the Office of the Delta Watermaster:
U.S. Mail:
Office of the Delta Watermaster
State Water Resources Control Board
P.O. Box 100
Sacramento, CA 95812-0100
Email: deltawatermaster@waterboards.ca.gov
Kristi Matal
Communication and Outreach Specialist
Email: Kristi.Matal@waterboards.ca.gov
Phone: 916-319-8264
