Environmental Water Account Independent Review Panel
A critical element to the CALFED Science Program is its scientific review of all CALFED Program components. Water supply reliability and use efficiency, water quality, ecosystem restoration, and flood management and levee stability all benefit from periodic reviews by CALFED Science Program established independent review panels that help insure that the investments being made and results being achieved are supported by the best available scientific knowledge.
The Environmental Water Account was launched in 2000. The EWA was outlined in the CALFED Record of Decision and was a key component of CALFED’s water management strategy for a number of years. The program was created to protect migratory fish from entrainment and to increase water supply reliability for the State Water Project and Central Valley Project. The EWA used purchased assets, either quantities of water or electricity, to repay water contractors for reductions in supply that they incurred when water diversions were reduced or streamflows were increased to protect salmon and delta smelt.
Between, 2001 and 2006, the Science Program convened five Independent Review Panels to provide technical reviews of the science needs and science applied to EWA implementation. These reviews involved 1) presentations and reports by Agency staff and scientists regarding the science and management decisions involved in EWA implementation, and 2) a written report of findings and recommendations by the Independent Review Panel. This site is the archive for these and other EWA products.
Review Panel Reports
- Review of the 2005-06 Environmental Water Account
- Review of the 2003-04 Environmental Water Account
- Review of the 2002-03 Environmental Water Account
- Review of the 2001-02 Environmental Water Account
- Review of the 2000-01 Environmental Water Account
Agency Reports
- The Effects of Environmental Water Account Actions on Salmonids in 2001 -2004
- Environmental Water Account Expenditures for Protection of the Delta Smelt in Water Year 2004
- The Use of the Environmental Water Account for the Protection of Anadromous Salmonids in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta in 2002-2003
- Environmental Water Account Expenditures for Protection of the Delta Smelt in Water Year 2003
- 2002 - Salmonids
- EWA Expenditures for Protection of the Delta Smelt Water Year 2002
- The Use of the Environmental Water Account for the Protection of Anadromous Salmonids in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta in 2000-2001
- EWA Expenditures for Delta Smelt Protection - 2001