FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 24, 2025
Contacts:
Barry Nelson, Senior Policy Advisor, Golden State Salmon Association
510.340.1685 | barry@westernwaterstrategies.com
Scott Artis, Executive Director, Golden State Salmon Association
925.550.9208 | scott@goldenstatesalmon.org
Media Statement on today’s State Water Resources Control Board briefing on the progress of the Sacramento/Delta process to update the Bay-Delta Plan.
“This is a sad day for the State Water Board and one more on a long list of bad days for salmon. The Board seems to be collapsing under pressure from the Governor to approve the fatally flawed voluntary agreements. The VAs are a scam that could cost taxpayers billions, enrich water agencies and make the rivers even sicker. The VAs set the stage for even more damaging diversions by the massive Delta tunnel. Commercial fishing in California has been closed for 3 years because of unsustainable water diversions. This looks like a plan to kill California’s most important wild salmon runs and fishing jobs.
One thing is clear. The voluntary agreements aren’t a solution—they’re a water diversion tactic dressed up as progress, with consequences California’s natural heritage, salmon, people and communities can’t afford.”
Scott Artis, executive director, Golden State Salmon Association
July 24, 2025 State Water Board Presentation:Revised Draft Sacramento/Delta Updates to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan