Introduction to the San Joaquin River Settlement Agreement

From its headwaters in the Sierra Nevada to its meeting with the Sacramento River in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, the San Joaquin River stretches over 350 miles, making it the second largest river in California. Historically, the San Joaquin River supported annual salmon runs of over 300,000 fish. As one of the two main tributaries to the Bay-Delta Estuary, the waters of the San Joaquin River gave life to the largest estuarine ecosystem on the west coast of North America. However, in the 1940’s the federal government built Friant Dam on the San Joaquin River and diverted nearly 95 percent of this once-mighty river's flow. As a result, over 60 miles of the river dried up, causing the extirpation of the second largest salmon run in the state. In 1988, the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a lawsuit to restore flows and Chinook salmon.  After 18 years, a settlement agreement was reached in 2006, transforming one of the West's longest water battles into one of the largest salmon and river restoration projects in the nation. The complex settlement agreement contains goals for the restoration of salmon, the management of flow releases, a schedule of required milestones to measure progress, requirements to the construct of nearly a dozen projects and the development of a water management plan to recirculate and reuse restoration flows. This presentation will discuss the history of the San Joaquin River and this historic settlement agreement that has enabled farmers and environmental groups, as well as federal and state agencies, to all work together to bring the San Joaquin River back to life.