Welcome to Delta Science Plan 2026

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Strengthening science in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

BACKGROUND

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is one of California's most complex ecosystems, facing challenges across physical, ecological, and social dimensions. There is a shared urgency to protect and manage the Delta's resources, and science provides the evidence base needed to understand complex dynamics, anticipate future threats, and guide decisions. Initially released in 2013 to help organize science activities in the Delta, the Delta Science Plan, called for in the Delta Plan and produced by the Delta Science Program, provides the vision, principles, and approaches for conducting, coordinating, and communicating science in the Delta. This “how-to” document for Delta science is meant to rally disparate entities to work together to address the increasing, new, and persistent challenges ahead.

The Delta Science Plan is also an element of the three-part Delta Science Strategy, a collection of guidance documents that each play a distinct role in promoting the use and understanding of collaborative science in the Delta. The other two elements are the State of Bay-Delta Science and the Science Action Agenda. The first Delta Science Plan was released in 2013, the second in 2019, and this is the third iteration.

2013

2019

2026

The 2026 Delta Science Plan offers 24 ACTIONS and 8 RESOURCES structured around the 4 GRAND CHALLENGES facing the Delta. We invite the entire Delta science community (including you!) to use the Delta Science Plan to help build a more connected, collaborative, and resilient Delta.

2026 DELTA SCIENCE PLAN: GRAND CHALLENGES

Circle with 2026 Delta Science Plan in the middle with the four grand challenges written out around it. The circle has colors bleeding together to show that the grand challenges are all interconnected. Four photos depict sandbag positioning training for flooding, golden mussels encrusting sampling plates from the Port of Stockton, a cultural burn, and a teacher workshop.

The four grand challenges facing the Delta are not independent but rather overlapping and interconnected issues that require collaborative and interdisciplinary action.

“These grand challenges aren't meant to be solved by any one entity alone. The 2026 Delta Science Plan serves as a rallying cry for better coordination of Delta science to advance the coequal goals of achieving a reliable California water supply and resilient Delta ecosystem in a way that protects and enhances the Delta as the special place that it is.”

– Delta Lead Scientist Dr. Lisamarie Windham-Myers

The 2026 Delta Science Plan is organized around four grand challenges facing the Delta: anticipating new conditions, rapid environmental change, decentralized flows of information, and siloed decision-making. The grand challenges push us to be more forward-looking and collaborative in our missions, identifying areas where coordinated action has high potential to impact scientific understanding and decision-making.

For more information on the development of the four grand challenges, please see: Grand Challenges in Delta Science: Planning for Science in a Dynamic System.

2026 DELTA SCIENCE PLAN: 24 ACTIONS

The final 24 Actions in the 2026 Delta Science Plan reflect the Delta science community's collective priorities for addressing the four grand challenges. These Actions are intended to be used as a “how-to” guide for a more collaborative and coordinated approach to how science is done and used in the region.

GRAND CHALLENGE 1: Scientists and managers must anticipate a world in which environmental conditions and regulations may be fundamentally different from those faced today

Action 1.1: Support the ongoing shift from single species to holistic monitoring and management of ecosystems
Action 1.2: Support horizon scanning to detect and understand emerging signals
Action 1.3: Strengthen links between models and data for more streamlined and informed decision-making
Action 1.4: Focus on regional resilience to climate change
Action 1.5: Improve connectivity between executive, management, and staff/scientist levels
Action 1.6: Build stronger science and management goal alignment

GRAND CHALLENGE 2: Environmental change is outpacing the traditional pace of science

Action 2.1: Expand support for adaptive management and monitoring to inform decision-making in a changing Delta
Action 2.2: Invest in enhanced tools and expertise in cutting-edge technology to anticipate near-future conditions
Action 2.3: Support scenario-based models that allow us to test management interventions that consider radically different future conditions
Action 2.4: Support actions to cut green tape and streamline decision-making practices
Action 2.5: Utilize mechanisms of sharing information more efficiently and effectively
Action 2.6: Implement more responsive and targeted funding structures

GRAND CHALLENGE 3: Flows of scientific information remain decentralized and poorly connected to communities and decision-makers

Action 3.1: Support free and open data
Action 3.2: Support collaborative venues for efficient flow of information
Action 3.3: Increase research coordination at the watershed and estuary scale through systems thinking
Action 3.4: Improve social science literacy
Action 3.5: Incorporate social science data and disciplines in management decision frameworks
Action 3.6: Proactively identify opportunities to leverage independent scientific peer review processes to enhance the rigor, transparency, and credibility of science underpinning management and policy decisions
Action 3.7: Increase funding opportunities and capacity for social science research and collaborations

GRAND CHALLENGE 4: Other ways of knowing, especially Traditional Knowledge, remain siloed from decision-making

Action 4.1: Respect tribal data ownership and confidentiality
Action 4.2: Support more co-produced and community-engaged science
Action 4.3: Explore ways to expand funding that supports and engages community and tribal expertise
Action 4.4: Build trust through intentional and reciprocal working relationships
Action 4.5: Embrace more ways of knowing

2026 DELTA SCIENCE PLAN: 8 RESOURCES

The 2026 Delta Science Plan includes eight Resources that provide practical and useful information for the Delta science community and are responsive to the Actions included within. Each Resource has its own suggested citation and can be used independently outside the complete 2026 Delta Science Plan (which also includes each Resource).