Two water coalitions are calling on Governor Gavin Newsom and the federal government to end water cuts this year.

The Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California Water Coalition wrote a letter to Newsom and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland urging them to suspend certain actions that reduce water supplies for the 2024 water management year.

The headlines determine: The Water Blueprint is a coalition of Central Valley community leaders, businesses, water agencies, local governments and agricultural representatives committed to promoting common sense water solutions.

• The organization appointed Eddie Ocampo as its chairman in March.
• The Southern California Water Coalition operates a similar nonprofit organization in eight Southern California counties.

The big picture: Currently, the Fall X2 component of the Summer Fall Habitat Action is in effect for water year 2024.

• The Fall X2 action will result in significant reductions in water supplies in the Central Valley and Southern California.
• According to the Water Blueprint, the Fall X2 Action is designed to increase fall flow in the Delta, but it has provided no benefit to Delta smelt and has imposed unnecessary hardships on California’s agriculture industry and residents.
• The cost of this measure would be approximately 734,000 acre-feet of water in 2023, which equates to a value of $557 million on the open market.
• The groups are calling for a suspension of the measure until 2024 to allow greater water flow through the Central Valley and Southern California.

What they say: “Implementation of this action is expected to result in a loss of 300,000 to 400,000 acre-feet of water supplies over the next two months that could otherwise be put to good use,” Ocampo said. “Science has shown over the past decade that this action, which imposes significant water supply costs, does not provide the intended benefits to species, but instead reduces water supplies to affected communities that rely on water provided by the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project.”