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The Sacramento Water Allocation Model (SacWAM), built using the Stockholm Environment Institute's Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) system, is being used by the California State Water Resources Control Board to update the Bay-Delta Plan. The model simulates the complex Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta water system to assess how proposed policy changes—such as new flow requirements for the Sacramento River and its tributaries—impact agriculture, water supply, and fisheries. SacWAM allows officials to compare current operations against an 'unimpaired state' to determine flow requirements that support both 25 million people and 3 million acres of farmland while restoring the Delta's ecosystem.

The document details the struggle to protect spring-run Chinook salmon in Butte Creek, California, from the effects of water diversions by Pacific Gas & Energy's DeSabla-Centerville hydroelectric project. It highlights the species' vulnerability to low flows and high temperatures, the role of the Centerville Head Dam in blocking habitat access, and the legal pressure applied by Earthjustice to secure adequate water for spawning fish.

The document details a legal effort led by attorney Mike Sherwood and the American Fisheries Society to protect the Sacramento River winter-run chinook salmon. Although the initial lawsuit and subsequent appeal did not result in a court order for listing, the legal pressure prompted the National Marine Fisheries Service to voluntarily use emergency powers to list the species. This listing led to critical environmental interventions, including retrofitting the Shasta Dam for colder water releases, opening the Red Bluff diversion dam during migration, cleaning up the Iron Mountain Mine, and installing fish screens in irrigation districts. Consequently, the salmon population increased from a low of 190 fish during the appeal to more than 15,000 by 2004.