167 
Secretary of Commerce shall authorize the Central Valley 
Project and the California State Water Project, combined, 
to operate at levels that result in negative OMR flows at 
¥7,500 cubic feet per second (based on United States Ge-
ological Survey gauges on Old and Middle Rivers) daily 
average as described in subsections (b) and (c) to capture 
peak flows during storm events. 
(b) DAYS
OF TEMPORARY OPERATIONAL FLEXI-
BILITY.—The temporary operational flexibility described 
in subsection (a) shall be authorized on days that the Cali-
fornia Department of Water Resources determines the net 
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta outflow index is at, 
or above, 13,000 cubic feet per second. 
(c) COMPLIANCE WITH ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT 
AUTHORIZATIONS.—In carrying out this section, the Sec-
retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce may 
continue to impose any requirements under the smelt bio-
logical opinion and salmonid biological opinion during any 
period of temporary operational flexibility as they deter-
mine are reasonably necessary to avoid additional signifi-
cant negative impacts on the long-term survival of a listed 
fish species over and above the range of impacts author-
ized under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, provided 
that the requirements imposed do not reduce water sup-
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168 
plies available for the Central Valley Project and the Cali-
fornia State Water Project. 
(d) OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS.— 
(1) STATE LAW.—The actions of the Secretary 
of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce under 
this section shall be consistent with applicable regu-
latory requirements under State law. The foregoing 
does not constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity. 
(2) FIRST SEDIMENT FLUSH.—During the first 
flush of sediment out of the Sacramento-San Joa-
quin River Delta in each water year, and provided 
that such determination is based upon objective evi-
dence, OMR flow may be managed at rates less neg-
ative than ¥5,000 cubic feet per second for a min-
imum duration to avoid movement of adult Delta 
smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) to areas in the 
southern Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta that 
would be likely to increase entrainment at Central 
Valley Project and California State Water Project 
pumping plants. 
(3) APPLICABILITY OF OPINION.—This section 
shall not affect the application of the salmonid bio-
logical opinion from April 1 to May 31, unless the 
Secretary of Commerce finds, based on the best sci-
entific and commercial data available, that some or 
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all of such applicable requirements may be adjusted 
during this time period to provide emergency water 
supply relief without resulting in additional adverse 
effects over and above the range of impacts author-
ized under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. In 
addition to any other actions to benefit water sup-
ply, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 
of Commerce shall consider allowing through-Delta 
water transfers to occur during this period if they 
can 
be 
accomplished 
consistent 
with 
section 
3405(a)(1)(H) of the Central Valley Project Im-
provement Act. Water transfers solely or exclusively 
through the California State Water Project that do 
not require any use of Reclamation facilities or ap-
proval by Reclamation are not required to be con-
sistent with section 3405(a)(1)(H) of the Central 
Valley Project Improvement Act. 
(4) MONITORING.—During operations under 
this section, the Commissioner of Reclamation, in 
coordination with the United States Fish and Wild-
life Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and 
California Department of Fish and Wildlife, shall 
undertake expanded monitoring programs and other 
data gathering to improve Central Valley Project 
and California State Water Project water supplies, 
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to ensure incidental take levels are not exceeded, and 
to identify potential negative impacts, if any, and ac-
tions necessary to mitigate impacts of the temporary 
operational flexibility to species listed under the En-
dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.). 
(e) EFFECT OF HIGH OUTFLOWS.—In recognition of 
the high outflow levels from the Sacramento-San Joaquin 
River Delta during the days this section is in effect under 
subsection (b), the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec-
retary of Commerce shall not count such days toward the 
5-day and 14-day running averages of tidally filtered daily 
Old and Middle River flow requirements under the smelt 
biological opinion and salmonid biological opinion, as long 
as the Secretaries avoid significant negative impact on the 
long-term survival of listed fish species over and above the 
range of impacts authorized under the Endangered Spe-
cies Act of 1973. 
(f) LEVEL OF DETAIL REQUIRED FOR ANALYSIS.— 
In articulating the determinations required under this sec-
tion, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 
Commerce shall fully satisfy the requirements herein but 
shall not be expected to provide a greater level of sup-
porting detail for the analysis than feasible to provide 
within the short timeframe permitted for timely decision 
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making in response to changing conditions in the Sac-
ramento-San Joaquin River Delta. 
(g) OMR FLOWS.—The Secretary of the Interior and 
the Secretary of Commerce shall, through the adaptive 
management provisions in the salmonid biological opinion, 
limit OMR reverse flow to ¥5,000 cubic feet per second 
based on date-certain triggers in the salmonid biological 
opinions only if using real-time migration information on 
salmonids demonstrates that such action is necessary to 
avoid a significant negative impact on the long-term sur-
vival of listed fish species over and above the range of im-
pacts authorized under the Endangered Species Act of 
1973. 
(h) NO REINITIATION OF CONSULTATION.—In imple-
menting or at the conclusion of actions under this section, 
the Secretary of the Interior shall not reinitiate consulta-
tion on those adjusted operations if there is no immediate 
significant negative impact on the long-term survival of 
listed fish species over and above the range of impacts au-
thorized under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Any 
action taken under this section that does not create an 
immediate significant negative impact on the long-term 
survival of listed fish species over and above the range of 
impacts authorized under the Endangered Species Act of 
1973 will not alter application of the take permitted by 
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water supply to the State Water Project as 
compared with the water supply available under 
the smelt biological opinion and the salmonid 
biological opinion; and as a result, Central Val-
ley Project yield is greater than it otherwise 
would have been, then that additional yield 
shall be made available to the State Water 
Project for delivery to State Water Project con-
tractors to offset that reduced water supply. 
(3) NOTIFICATION
RELATED
TO
ENVIRON-
MENTAL PROTECTIONS.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior and Secretary of Commerce shall— 
(A) notify the Director of the California 
Department of Fish and Wildlife regarding any 
changes in the manner in which the smelt bio-
logical opinion or the salmonid biological opin-
ion is implemented; and 
(B) confirm that those changes are con-
sistent with the Endangered Species Act of 
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 
(b) AREA OF ORIGIN AND WATER RIGHTS PROTEC-
TIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior and the Secretary of Commerce, in carrying out 
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174 
the mandates of this section, shall take no action 
that— 
(A) diminishes, impairs, or otherwise af-
fects in any manner any area of origin, water-
shed of origin, county of origin, or any other 
water rights protection, including rights to 
water appropriated before December 19, 1914, 
provided under State law; 
(B) limits, expands or otherwise affects the 
application of section 10505, 10505.5, 11128, 
11460, 11461, 11462, 11463 or 12200 through 
12220 of the California Water Code or any 
other provision of State water rights law, with-
out respect to whether such a provision is spe-
cifically referred to in this section; or 
(C) diminishes, impairs, or otherwise af-
fects in any manner any water rights or water 
rights priorities under applicable law. 
(2) SECTION 7 OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES 
ACT.—Any action proposed to be undertaken by the 
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Com-
merce pursuant to both this section and section 7 of 
the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 
1531 et seq.) shall be undertaken in a manner that 
does not alter water rights or water rights priorities 
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established by California law or it shall not be un-
dertaken at all. Nothing in this subsection affects 
the obligations of the Secretary of the Interior and 
the Secretary of Commerce under section 7 of the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973. 
(3) EFFECT OF ACT.— 
(A) Nothing in this section affects or modi-
fies any obligation of the Secretary of the Inte-
rior under section 8 of the Act of June 17, 
1902 (32 Stat. 390, chapter 1093). 
(B) Nothing in this section diminishes, im-
pairs, or otherwise affects in any manner any 
Project purposes or priorities for the allocation, 
delivery or use of water under applicable law, 
including the Project purposes and priorities es-
tablished under section 3402 and section 3406 
of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act 
(Public Law 102–575; 106 Stat. 4706). 
(c) NO REDIRECTED ADVERSE IMPACTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior and Secretary of Commerce shall not carry out 
any specific action authorized under this section that 
will directly or through State agency action indi-
rectly result in the involuntary reduction of water 
supply to an individual, district, or agency that has 
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in effect a contract for water with the State Water 
Project or the Central Valley Project, including Set-
tlement and Exchange contracts, refuge contracts, 
and Friant Division contracts, as compared to the 
water supply that would be provided in the absence 
of action under this section, and nothing in this sec-
tion is intended to modify, amend or affect any of 
the rights and obligations of the parties to such con-
tracts. 
(2) ACTION ON DETERMINATION.—If, after ex-
ploring all options, the Secretary of the Interior or 
the Secretary of Commerce makes a final determina-
tion that a proposed action under this section cannot 
be carried out in accordance with paragraph (1), 
that Secretary— 
(A) shall document that determination in 
writing for that action, including a statement of 
the facts relied on, and an explanation of the 
basis, for the decision; 
(B) may exercise the Secretary’s existing 
authority, including authority to undertake the 
drought-related actions otherwise addressed in 
this title, or to otherwise comply with other ap-
plicable law, including the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 
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(C) shall comply with subsection (a). 
(d) ALLOCATIONS FOR SACRAMENTO VALLEY WATER 
SERVICE CONTRACTORS.— 
(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
(A) EXISTING CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT 
AGRICULTURAL
WATER
SERVICE
CONTRACTOR 
WITHIN
THE
SACRAMENTO
RIVER
WATER-
SHED.—The term ‘‘existing Central Valley 
Project agricultural water service contractor 
within 
the 
Sacramento 
River 
Watershed’’ 
means any water service contractor within the 
Shasta, Trinity, or Sacramento River division of 
the Central Valley Project that has in effect a 
water service contract on the date of enactment 
of this section that provides water for irriga-
tion. 
(B) YEAR
TERMS.—The terms ‘‘Above 
Normal’’, ‘‘Below Normal’’, ‘‘Dry’’, and ‘‘Wet’’, 
with respect to a year, have the meanings given 
those terms in the Sacramento Valley Water 
Year Type (40–30–30) Index. 
(2) ALLOCATIONS OF WATER.— 
(A) ALLOCATIONS.—Subject to subsection 
(c), the Secretary of the Interior shall make 
every reasonable effort in the operation of the 
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