The Monterey Peninsula Water Management District has a long history of environmental stewardship along the Carmel River. When the District was established in 1978, there was already strong support in the community for the District to help reverse the long-term degradation of the Carmel River. In the 1960s, as groundwater pumping and diversions from the Carmel River increased, much of the native streamside vegetation (riparian vegetation) was lost, and the Carmel River dried up from the Highway One Bridge to the Schulte Road Bridge during the summer. This led to loss of riparian vegetation, erosion, and significant impacts to the river’s ecosystem.

In 1983, to protect and restore the natural resources of the Carmel River, the District adopted the Carmel River Management Program. The program was designed to stabilize eroding streambanks and offset impacts to the Carmel River ecosystem associated with groundwater extraction. Several large restoration projects were carried out under this plan including the Schulte and Valley Hills Restoration Projects and many smaller ones.

Then in 1988, the District started addressing additional environmental concerns with the Interim Relief Plan (IRP). This IRP included three general program elements directly related to steelhead and riparian vegetation as part of its initial Emergency Relief Plan: (1) Fish Rescues (steelhead) and Rearing, (2) Irrigation of Riparian Vegetation near large production wells, and (3) Flow Releases from San Clemente Dam. The intent of the flow releases was to provide the maximum amount of steelhead habitat that could be sustained throughout the Low Flow Season with existing water supplies. This was to be achieved through two processes: a) the negotiation of an Annual Low Flow Memorandum of Agreement between Cal-Am, California Department of Fish & Game, and the District regarding the release of water from San Clemente Dam; and b) the Quarterly Water Supply Budget process mandated by District Ordinance No. 19. Since the San Clemente Dam was removed in 2015, Los Padres Reservoir is managed to provide the best habitat possible for steelhead and the Carmel River ecosystem.

Today the District still focuses on reducing the impact of water extraction on the Carmel River by maintaining riparian vegetation around large production wells in addition to rescuing steelhead from drying portions of the Carmel River and its tributaries. Legal mandates such as Order 95-10 from the State Water Resources Control Board and the 2006 Environmental Impact Report for Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Phase 1 show a clear nexus between the requirements of reducing impacts from water extraction and the provision of water supply from the Carmel River and ASR.