About Us

The Sacramento River Settlement Contracts (SRSC) involves some of the oldest water rights in California, tracing its roots to the late 1880s. The first settlers in the Sacramento Valley began using water from the Sacramento River to irrigate farms across the region. Individual property owners, irrigation and reclamation districts and mutual water companies throughout the region were established and granted water rights on the river prior to 1914.

In the 1930s, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) began exploring the need for canals to deliver much-needed water to sustain people and farms in the Central Valley.

After the Central Valley Project (CVP) was authorized, contractors holding water rights on the Sacramento River protested the issuance of CVP water rights. The contractors contended that construction and operation of the CVP would reduce their ability to divert water from the river under their senior rights.

Following nearly two decades of negotiation, more than 100 agricultural and municipal senior water rights holders in the Sacramento Valley reached agreements with federal officials to protect these senior water rights. The parties agreed that the contractors can divert free of charge (Base Supply) and that they have to pay for (Project Water). The total amount of Base Supply is 1,775,509 acre-feet and the total amount of Project Water is 340,111 acre-feet. Project Water is primarily available July through September and is subject to the pricing and other requirements of federal reclamation law.

The Sacramento River Settlement Contracts were first signed in 1964, covering a 40-year term, and renewed in 2005 for another 40 years.