Due Date Extended: Draft 2026 Delta Science Plan Public Comment Opportunity

Graphic that reads "Public Comment Opportunity Extended - Now Due January 30, 2026"

Draft 2026 Delta Science Plan

The Delta Stewardship Council's Delta Science Program is developing the third iteration of the Delta Science Plan, which outlines the vision, principles, and approaches that guide science in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Updated approximately every five years, the plan incorporates new concepts and actions that reflect current science and management needs and is developed collaboratively and transparently.

The draft 2026 Delta Science Plan is available for public review! All members of the Delta science community and interested parties are invited to provide input, including federal, state, and local agency scientists, tribes, non-governmental organizations, academic researchers, and interested members of the public.

The comment period opened on November 19, 2025, and the closing date has been extended to January 30, 2026. Comments may be submitted through this online survey (estimated to take 30 minutes), emailed to collaborativescience@deltacouncil.ca.gov, or mailed to the following address to be considered.

Delta Stewardship Council - Delta Science Program

Collaborative Science and Peer Review Unit

715 P Street, 15-300

Sacramento, CA 95814

Feedback will help shape the final Delta Science Plan and guide the next phase of collaborative science in the Delta.

REVIEW THE DRAFT 2026 DELTA SCIENCE PLAN

A Note from our Deputy Executive Officer for Science

“Climate change is having profound effects on water, ecosystems, and communities in the Delta,” says the Council’s Deputy Executive Officer for Science Henry DeBey. “This update to the Delta Science Plan strengthens and accelerates the science needed to guide sound decisions in the face of rapid change and growing uncertainty.”

Covers of the Delta Science Plan-Science Action Agenda and State of Bay-Delta Science 2025

Led by the Delta Science Program, the Delta Science Strategy is a collaborative effort intended to guide and benefit the broad Delta community. It consists of three connected documents: the Delta Science Plan, the Science Action Agenda, and the State of Bay-Delta Science.

Group of Delta Science Program workers in the field.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009 established the Delta Science Program within the Council to provide the best possible unbiased scientific information to inform water and environmental decision-making in the Delta. This knowledge must be unbiased, relevant, authoritative, integrated across agencies, and communicated to interested parties.

Delta Science Program

715 P Street, 15-300

Sacramento, CA 95814

deltacouncil.ca.gov

Business Hours:

8:00 AM-

5:00 PM

(916) 445-5511