At the request of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, an ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will conduct a biennial review of the monitoring, modeling, and other relevant scientific activities and initiatives that support the long-term operations of the Central Valley Project (CVP). Along with the State Water Project, the CVP consists of coordinated federal-state water operations that annually move millions of acre-feet of water via dams, canals, tunnels, pumps, power plants and transmission lines from Northern California to a wide variety of water users throughout the state, including municipalities, agriculture, industries and wildlife refuges. Operation of these water systems affects species protected under the Endangered Species Act such as the southern distinct population segment of North American green sturgeon, California Central Valley steelhead trout, Central Valley spring-run Chinook salmon, Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon, and Delta Smelt.

In the first cycle of the study, the committee will:

1. Assess the state of science for the following topics as they relate to long-term operations of the Central Valley Project and where applicable the State Water Project:

a. Old and Middle River (OMR) flow management

i. Salmonid route selection and survival

ii. Delta Smelt entrainment and recruitment

b. Shasta cold water pool management

c. Summer-fall Delta Smelt habitat

2. Provide recommendations on how modeling and monitoring strategies and decision-support tools can be changed, improved, or replaced to more accurately assess the impacts of the CVP operations described above.

For each subsequent cycle/report, the committee will:

1. Evaluate progress toward meeting the CVPs’ long-term operational goals.

2. Discuss significant accomplishments of the CVP during the biennial report period.

3. Discuss 1-3 selected scientific topics (based on consultation with the Bureau of Reclamation and input from other agencies and stakeholders) that are timely for improving CVP management and decision-making. For each of these topics, the committee will consider the best available science along with relevant monitoring and synthesis, modeling and decision support tools, and adaptive management strategies, and it will recommend the highest priorities for improvement.