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Curtailment Compliance and Responses

Rescission of Curtailment and Reporting Orders

Effective April 3, 2023, all orders imposing water right curtailment and reporting requirements (curtailment and reporting orders) issued pursuant to the emergency curtailment and reporting regulation for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) watershed (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 23, § 876.1 et seq.) are hereby rescinded.

The curtailment and reporting orders imposed reporting requirements and required water right holders and claimants to monitor the Delta Drought website and cease diversions when the Delta Watershed Curtailment Status List showed their right or claim was curtailed. Following the Governor’s recent Executive Order (N-5-23), and in consideration of reservoir storage conditions and continued precipitation throughout the Delta watershed, the curtailment and reporting orders are no longer needed.

As a result of this rescission, water right holders and claimants will no longer be subject to curtailment requirements under the drought emergency regulation for the Delta Watershed. This includes checking curtailment statuses, enhanced reporting for larger rights and claims, and reporting for human health and safety exceptions. Pending requests for an exception to curtailment are similarly no longer necessary and are now considered closed. Please note that this rescission does not eliminate ongoing or pending enforcement actions for past violations and related settlements.

If you received an exception to curtailment on the basis of a human health and safety exception, proposal that curtailment was inappropriate, non-consumptive use certification, or alternative water sharing agreement, this exception is no longer in effect. All pending requests for exemption from curtailment, including alternative water sharing agreements, are now closed. Any exceptions, whether previously granted or pending, will not automatically apply to any future drought. To receive an exception to curtailment during a future drought, a water right holder or claimant would need to take action in compliance with any applicable regulation(s) active at that time. However, information submitted to support exception requests may be used to support future exception requests.

Please email bay-delta@waterboards.ca.gov for information on previous exceptions to curtailment.