Today was the deadline for comments to be submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board on the proposal for phase 1 of the Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan update, which recommends a range of between 30 and 50 percent of unimpaired flow, with a starting point of 40 percent. Earlier today, the Association of California Water Agencies issued a policy statement and a press release as well as held a media call, and separately, the California Farm Water Coalition also issued a press release. Here’s what everyone had to say. From the Association of California Water Agencies: Saying California is facing a defining moment in water policy, the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) and local water leaders are calling on the State Water Resources Control Board to embrace a more effective approach to flows and water quality objectives in the Bay-Delta watershed. In response to the State Water Board’s staff proposal for the San Joaquin River and tributaries and widespread concern about its impacts, ACWA’s Board of Directors adopted a policy statement outlining a more collaborative, comprehensive path to achieving positive ecological objectives while maintaining water supply reliability. The statement urges the State Water Board to set aside its proposed “unimpaired flow” approach and heed Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for negotiated agreements, which have proven successful on many rivers and tributaries in the Bay-Delta watershed. “California’s urban and agricultural water managers are united in their vision for a future that includes a healthy economy as well as healthy ecosystems and fish populations,” ACWA Executive Director Timothy Quinn said. “That vision is best achieved through comprehensive, collaborative approaches that include a broad suite of actions and non-flow solutions that contribute real benefits to ecosystem recovery.” As part of its update to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan, the State Water Board issued a staff proposal last fall that would require water users to leave significantly more water in the San Joaquin River and its tributaries from Feb. 1 to June 30 each year in an effort to provide fish and wildlife benefits. The deadline for public comment on the proposal is at 12 p.m. today, March 17. ACWA submitted its policy statement to the State Water Board along with a formal comment letter on the proposal. The ACWA statement notes that the proposal could lead to widespread fallowing of agricultural land and would negatively affect water supply reliability for much of the state’s population. It also would undercut the state’s groundwater sustainability goals, cripple implementation of the Brown Administration’s California Water Action Plan, and affect access to surface water for some disadvantaged communities that do not have safe drinking water. These impacts are not in the public’s interest and are inconsistent with the Brown Administration’s water policy objectives. “With this statement, ACWA’s agricultural and urban agencies are sending a clear message that unimpaired flow approach cannot lead us to the future we want in California,” said Quinn. “There is a better path. Negotiated agreements on many streams have succeeded because they include a more comprehensive set of tools and the support of local stakeholders, resulting in even better outcomes for ecosystems and water users. Forced regulations seldom yield those results.” ACWA’s policy statement emphasizes that the state’s flow policy must reflect the best available science, take economic impacts into account and be consistent with the coequals goals of improving both water supply reliability and ecosystem health and the broader policy goals of the California Water Action Plan. Earlier this morning, the Association of California Water Agencies held a media call to present their policy statement. Executive Director Tim Quinn began by reminding that he works for a diverse 36-member Board of Directors. “My Board of Directors represent ag, urban, north, south, east, west – very diverse. They disagree with each other a lot and the way they work through those disagreements is by working on policy documents,” he said. “This is maybe the 13th or 14th in my 10-year tenure as Executive Director, and arguably the most important so far. They unanimously approved the policy document that we’ve shared with you a week ago on March 10th. The reason for this timing is that today, comments are due to the State Board for their Substitute Environmental Document or SED for phase 1 for the San Joaquin River.” “I want to make this very clear that what the ACWA Board wants to do is to solve the problem. They want to do that in cooperation with the State Board and with any NGOs that will roll up their sleeves and help solve the problem,” he said. “It’s really important to define the problem correctly, however. For us the problem is to identify and implement a set of actions that will improve the ecosystem and fisheries of California while providing reliable water supplies for a healthy agricultural and urban economy.” “That may sound to you an awful lot like a policy of coequal goals. If you follow California…