Welcome to the California Department of Food and Agriculture

QUICK LINKS

About the CALFED Bay-Delta Program

The CALFED Bay-Delta Program was established in 1995 to develop and implement a long-term comprehensive plan that will restore ecological health and improve water management for beneficial uses of the Bay-Delta System. The Program, formally implemented in August 2000, is intended to be a balanced, comprehensive approach to reduce conflicts over limited water supplies and to address the state's long-term water needs.

Senate Bill 1653 was passed and signed to establish the California Bay-Delta Authority. As of January 1, 2003, the Authority acts as the governance structure, designed to oversee and ensure balanced implementation of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program. The Bay-Delta Authority is housed with the California Resources Agency and has a governing board of 20 voting members including six federal agency representatives, six state agency representatives, seven public members, one member of the Bay-Delta Public Advisory Committee and four ex-officio members. The California Department of Food and Agriculture is one of the state agency representatives.

CALFED Bay-Delta Program goals include:

  • ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION. Improve the health of the Bay-Delta system through restoring and protecting habitats and native species.
  • WATER SUPPLY RELIABILITY. Encompass an array of projects and approaches to expand water supplies and ensure efficient use of the resource.
  • WATER QUALITY. Improve water quality from source to tap for the 22 million Californians whose drinking water supplies come from the Bay-Delta watershed.
  • LEVEE SYSTEM INTEGRITY. Improve Bay-Delta levees to provide flood protection, ecosystem benefits and protect water supplies needed for the environment, agriculture and urban users.

The Office of Agriculture and Environmental Stewardship represents the Department of Food and Agriculture by providing staff support to several elements of the Bay-Delta Program:

  • Drinking Water Quality
  • Ecosystem Restoration
  • Water Management
  • Water Use Efficiency
  • Watershed Management

In addition, the Office represents the Department on the CALFED Management and Policy Groups, the latter which provides overall direction to the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, with advice from the Bay-Delta Public Advisory Committee, known as BDPAC.

Finally, the Office staffs the BDPAC Working Landscapes Subcommittee, a forum where California's agriculture and the CALFED's Ecosystem Restoration Program come together to resolve conflicts, and to work on mutually beneficial solutions.

In 2001, CALFED management established the Working Landscapes Work Group to address the agricultural resources issues surrounding CALFED Bay-Delta Program implementation. In July of 2002, the CALFED Policy Group elevated the stature of the Work Group's mission by establishing it as a full subcommittee of the BDPAC and renaming it the Working Landscapes Subcommittee.

The vision of the Subcommittee is an answer to the question, "What does a working landscape look like?"

  • A working landscape is a place where landowners, agricultural and environmental organizations and government work in partnership to produce multiple benefits for society and the ecosystem. When private landowners are given incentives, technical assistance, educational opportunities and assistance with regulatory requirements, there is the potential to result in a greater level and extent of success in restoring ecological health to the Bay-Delta region and more fully engage local landowners and communities in the CALFED process.

The missions of the Working Landscapes Subcommittee are to:

  • Assist in implementing aspects of the CALFED Record of Decision as relate to working landscapes,
  • Demonstrate the working landscapes approach through voluntary local initiatives, provide financial incentives, technical and educational opportunities to landowners who manage their land as working landscapes,
  • Address institutional barriers that prevent a balanced approach to ecosystem restoration,
  • Minimize impacts to agricultural resources.

The original Work Group characterized the issue areas on which to focus its work in a CALFED policy paper, "Local Partnerships Planning Process (PDF file)." The paper identified the following broad issue areas:

  • Regulatory assistance/streamlining
  • Coordination of State and Federal assistance programs
  • Supporting a working landscape approach
  • Selection of habitat restoration and enhancement projects that minimize impacts to agricultural land
  • Research and monitoring
  • In-lieu property taxes

The Subcommittee has developed an action plan (PDF file) to guide its work in the above six issue areas. For information on Subcommittee meetings, publications, projects and membership, visit the CALFED Bay-Delta Program's Working Landscape Subcommittee Web site.

Back to Top