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23 Hastings W.-Nw. J. Envt'l L. & Pol'y 115 (2017)
Ad-Hoc Drought Management on an Overallocated River: The Stanislaus River, Water Years 2014-15

handle is hein.journals/haswnw23 and id is 128 raw text is: Ad-hoc Drought Management on an Overallocated River: The Stanislaus River, Water Years 2014-15 Philip Womble* *J.D., Stanford Law School, 2016; Ph.D. Candidate, Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, Stanford University. Many thanks to stakeholders who took the time to share their thoughts with me in interviews and to Leon Szeptycki, Jeffrey Mount, Brian Gray, Molly Melius, Ellen Hanak, Ted Grantham, Caitlin Chappelle, John Ugai, and Elizabeth Vissers for their feedback and support. This publication was developed with partial support from Assistance Agreement No. 83586701 awarded by the US Environmental Protection Agency to the Public Policy Institute of California. It has not been formally reviewed by EPA. The views expressed in this document are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the agency. EPA does not endorse any products or commercial services mentioned in this publication. Introduction Like many rivers in California, the Stanislaus River is heavily overallocated. The river faces substantial demands from established agricultural users and environmental needs. When persistent drought strikes and supplies drop to a level where needs cannot all be met, no blueprint exists for allocating water among these competing demands. Water users and regulators disagree regarding which water uses hold the highest priority, and no court has resolved this issue. No specific criteria establish when and how state water quality objectives may be relaxed when supplies become scarce, and reducing water volumes for federally endangered species likely involves a lengthy regulatory process. Likewise, state water quality objectives and regulatory criteria for federally endangered species on the Stanislaus institutionalize little in the way of contingency or scenario planning requirements when water supplies drop below important thresholds. This uncertainty does not provide a good platform for effective water management. During California's recent drought, water allocation decisions on the Stanislaus have been primarily ad hoc. Water sales that moved water downstream, provided benefits for water quality and endangered species -5

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