California Code of Regulations › Title 23 - Waters › Division 3 - State Water Resources Control Board and Regional Water Quality Control Boards › Chapter 2 - Appropriation of Water › Article 23.5 - Scott River and Shasta River Watersheds Drought Emergency Requirements › Section 875 - Emergency Curtailment Where Insufficient Flows are Available to Protect Fish in Certain Watersheds

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) It
				  is necessary to prevent the diversion of water that would unreasonably
				  interfere with an emergency minimum level of protection for commercially and
				  culturally significant fall-run Chinook salmon, threatened Southern
				  Oregon/Northern California Coast coho salmon, and culturally significant
				  steelhead. For this reason surface water and groundwater shall not be diverted
				  from the watersheds listed below at a diversion point or for the benefit of a
				  place of use that is subject to a curtailment order, during the effective
				  period of the curtailment order under this article, except as provided under
				  sections 875.1,
				  875.2, or
				  875.3.
(b) The Deputy Director for the Division of
				  Water Rights (Deputy Director) may issue a curtailment order upon a
				  determination that without curtailment of diversions, flows are likely to be
				  reduced below the drought emergency minimum flows specified in subdivision (c),
				  within the constraints detailed in this article. Curtailment orders shall be
				  effective the day after issuance.
(1) Where
				  flows are sufficient to support some but not all diversions, curtailment orders
				  shall be issued, suspended, reinstated, and rescinded in order of water right
				  priority provided in section
				  875.5. In determining which
				  diversions should be subject to curtailment, the Deputy Director shall consider
				  the need to provide reasonable assurance that the drought emergency minimum
				  flows will be met with consideration of hydrologic, weather, and other
				  conditions that influence flows.
(2) If maintaining the flows described in
				  subdivision (c) would require curtailment of uses described in section
				  875.2 or
				  875.3, then the Executive Director
				  may determine whether or not those diversions should be allowed to continue
				  based on the most current information available regarding fish populations,
				  human health and safety needs, livestock needs, and the alternatives available
				  to protect human health and safety, livestock, and fish populations.
(3) The Deputy Director may determine not to
				  issue curtailment orders, to issue curtailment orders to a smaller priority
				  grouping described in section
				  875.5, or to suspend curtailment
				  orders already issued in order of priority as described in section
				  875.5, as applicable, using
				  information provided by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife
				  described in section
				  875.1(c)(1)(B),
				  as well as other information that could affect the need for curtailments to
				  meet minimum flow needs for fisheries purposes, including weather forecasting,
				  the need for flows to ramp up or down, the contributions of voluntary flow
				  measures, and future flow needs.