Federal Report Could Force Even Deeper Water Cuts on Siskiyou Farms & Ranches
YREKA, Calif. — Imagine relying on a river for your livelihood, only to have distant government decisions dry it up year after year. That’s the reality for farmers in Siskiyou County, northern California, where water wars have raged for decades. Now, a new federal report could make things worse.
Released November 10, 2025, by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), the 360-page document reviews the science behind two massive water systems: the federal Central Valley Project (CVP) and California’s State Water Project (SWP). These projects pump water from rivers like the Sacramento and Trinity to supply farms and cities in the drier Central and Southern parts of the state. The report calls key models for managing water temperatures and flows “too coarse” and “inadequate,” with “outdated climate inputs” failing to protect endangered fish under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). It urges fixes like better sensors and data to ensure species like salmon and Delta smelt survive.
