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Revised SB 88 rules set hourly reporting and mapping requirements for large diverters starting water year 2027
Summary
Officials summarized revisions to SB 88 measurement regulations adopted by the State Water Board and noted key changes: definition of large diversions ( >30 CFS or >10,000 acre-feet/year), required measurement frequency scaling up to hourly, submission through Cal Waters or approved sites, and a compliance timeline extending to water year 2027.
The State Water Board's revised SB 88 measurement regulations restructure timelines and clarify measurement expectations for larger water diversions, agency staff told the Delta Measurement Experimental Consortium.
The senior engineer from the Office of the Delta Watermaster said the Office of Administrative Law requested minor edits after adoption before regulations are filed in the California Code of Regulations. "There have been various comment periods on that," the engineer said, adding the net result is a later application date and clarified requirements.
Key elements: the regulations define a large diversion as a point of diversion capable of diverting over 30 cubic feet per second (CFS) or 10,000 acre-feet per year; combined small rights that exceed 30 CFS would also meet the test. Required measurement frequency scales with diversion: daily measurements for many large diversions and hourly (or more frequent) measurement for diversions exceeding 1,000 acre-feet per year. The engineer said that submission of measurement data will be done through Cal Waters or via an approved website (for example, the CDEC site) and that the new submission requirements take effect for water year 2027.
Jay Ziegler, the Delta Watermaster, said staff have started conversations with major diverters and expect compliance paths to vary by site. "We're looking at different types of methodologies to comply with the large-diverter requirement," Ziegler said, emphasizing that the DMEC will aim for approaches that are technically feasible and cost-effective in place.
Why it matters: the new definition and telemetry/submission expectations shift what equipment and reporting cadence some Delta diverters must adopt, and they also require revisions to existing Alternative Compliance Plans (ACPs) to align with the new rules.
Practical implications: staff noted that the regs require a map and detailed description of conveyance and diversion systems. They also plan to review legacy POD records and contact water users to clarify physical site details. The office identified roughly 83 PODs in legacy ERIMS datasets that currently qualify for the large-diverter threshold and said those PODs account for about one-third of Delta water use.
Next steps: the Watermaster's office invited input from diverters and stakeholders and said DMEC experiments will inform feasible compliance pathways and methodologies.
