Dignitaries do the honors of the the first Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area Passport Program stamp. Shown from left to right: Delta Protection Commission Chair Diane Burgis, U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, Delta NHA Advisory Committee Vice Chair Elizabeth Patterson (Photos by Delta Protection Commission/Jada Portillo)
RIO VISTA, Calif. (Feb. 28, 2026) – U.S. Rep. John Garamendi and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area (NHA) celebrated the launch of the NHA’s Passport Program Saturday at RioVision Gallery in Rio Vista.
The Gallery hosts one of 27 self-serve “stamping stations” located throughout the Delta NHA, where visitors can stamp the NHA’s name, the date, and the city of the stamping station in passports. The passports are available from Eastern National, a nonprofit partner of the National Park Service that administers the nationwide passport program. But people who don’t have a passport can stamp any piece of paper.
Locals and visitors alike can find stamping station locations, as well as other nearby attractions, on an interactive map or in list form.
The Delta National Heritage Area is one of 44 NHAs that participate in the Passport to Your National Parks Program, in addition to nearly all parks in the National Park System. Many travelers become avid collectors of stamps that commemorate their visits to some of the nation’s most beautiful and historically significant places.
Attendees on Saturday had the opportunity to stamp their passports alongside Garamendi, Delta Protection Commission (DPC) Executive Director Amanda Bohl, and DPC Chair Diane Burgis. The DPC coordinates the National Heritage Area.
Garamendi was a key supporter in Congress in the creation of the NHA – California’s first – in 2019.
On Saturday, he told the gathered audience that he began participating in the Passport to Your National Parks program the 1990s.
“As we’ve traveled in the years since that time, we’ve always carried a passport with us,” he said, calling it an extraordinary opportunity to remember where they were and what they did when visiting places of historic, cultural, and natural significance.
All photos by Delta Protection Commission/Jada Portillo
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Feb. 27, 2026) – Congressman John Garamendi has announced the launch of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area’s Passport Program, a brand-new way to experience the cultural and natural riches of the California Delta.
Tomorrow, Saturday, February 28, Congressman Garamendi and the Delta Protection Commission (DPC) will commemorate this new program with a ceremonial first passport stamp during the city of Rio Vista’s Lunar New Year Celebration.
“I have spent my career fighting to protect and elevate the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, and today I’m proud to partner with the Delta Protection Commission and Diane Burgis to launch California’s first and only National Heritage Area Passport Program,” said Congressman Garamendi. “This exciting new initiative will inspire a new generation to explore the Delta’s breathtaking landscapes, rich history, and vibrant communities. Through the Passport Program, visitors can capture stories, preserve memories, and discover America’s natural and cultural treasures in a hands-on way. I invite everyone to visit the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area and experience the Delta for themselves.”
“The Passport program provides residents and visitors with a fun opportunity to explore the Delta and appreciate the tremendous variety of landscapes and communities within the NHA,” says Delta Protection Commission Chair and Contra Costa County Supervisor Diane Burgis. “We are thrilled to be part of a popular National Park Service program that enhances the region’s connection to America’s important cultural, historic, and natural resources.”
California’s first and only National Heritage Area (NHA) established Passport stamping stations as part of the “Passport to Your National Parks” program to inspire visitation and exploration of this unique and culturally significant region.
Encouraging travelers to “capture stories, preserve memories, and discover America’s natural and historical treasures,” the Passport Program provides stations at Delta venues where visitors can access free cancellation stamps to create a lasting memento of their adventures. Official passports may be purchased through the nonprofit partner of the National Park Service.
Delta NHA sites offering Passport cancellation stations range from museums and libraries to California State Historic Parks and nature preserves. Locations span four of the five counties that make up the NHA: Sacramento County, Yolo County, Contra Costa County, and Solano County.
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area was designated by Congress in 2019 and is managed by the Delta Protection Commission, which supports the region’s economic development while preserving its historical and cultural significance.
There are 62 National Heritage Areas across the United States. NHAs support historic preservation, natural resource conservation, recreation, heritage tourism, and educational initiatives through public-private partnerships.
For more information about the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area Passport Program, contact Blake Roberts or Kira O’Donnell at the numbers listed above.
To learn more about the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area, view the NHA fact sheet and Management Plan (PDF), visit the Delta Protection Commission’s website, or call (916) 375-4800.
Participants of the 2026 Delta Leadership Program met in Rio Vista on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, for their third seminar of the year, a lively day of discussion featuring:
A discussion of the Delta environment with Cory Overton, Science Director for California Waterfowl; Kimberly Evans, researcher for the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences; and Jerred Dixon, director of Staten Island (Conservation Farms and Ranches). Dixon is a 2023 alum of the program and a member of the Delta Protection Advisory Committee.
A visit to the Dutra Group to learn from company Vice President Ryan Abood about levee repairs and dredging in the Delta.
Lunch at Foster’s Bighorn, legendary for its densely packed taxidermy collection.
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Feb. 10, 2026) – Applications to fill five seats on the Delta Protection Advisory Committee (DPAC) opened today. The application deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, and the Delta Protection Commission is scheduled to make the appointments May 21.
The terms of five Committee seats expire in May 2026:
Delta Organization (Mariah Looney)
Delta Agriculture Seat 1 (Jeff Iniguez)
Delta Recreation (vacant)
State Agency (Edward Hard)
Utilities-Related Infrastructure (Sam Garcia)
Incumbents are eligible to reapply.
DPAC provides recommendations to the Delta Protection Commission on diverse interests within the Delta, including the Delta’s ecosystem, water supply, socioeconomic sustainability, recreation, agriculture, flood control, environment, water resources, utility infrastructure, and other Delta issues.
Committee members are expected to attend six meetings per year. DPAC typically meets on the first Tuesday of even-numbered months (February, April, June, August, October, and December), though meeting dates may occasionally shift. The 2026 schedule is here. Meetings are held in the Delta at rotating locations.
Committee member terms are three years, so these terms will expire in 2029.
The Delta Protection Commission is hiring a Senior Environmental Planner with responsibilities that are key to the DPC’s mission: land use and levees. If you love rural places and want meaningful opportunities to protect them, this job’s for you.
The DPC’s mission is to protect, maintain, enhance, and enrich the overall quality of the Delta environment and economy. We do this with a focus on agriculture, recreation, and natural resources, while remaining mindful of the importance of the Delta to all Californians.
This Senior Environmental Planner will perform planning, project development, and grants management; conduct analytical studies; formulate procedures and policies; make recommendations to the Executive Director on a broad spectrum of program-related issues that impact the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta; and represent the Commission as assigned.
Occasional travel is required, so candidates must possess a valid driver’s license.
The job is hybrid, requiring at least two days a week of in-person work at the DPC’s office in West Sacramento.
Benefits include:
Health, dental, and vision insurance,
CalPERS pension and retirement plans,
Paid time off and holidays, and
Professional development opportunities
Requirements: Civil service examination or other proof of eligibility, valid California driver’s license, education transcripts, employment application, Statement of Qualifications
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Jan. 9, 2026) –Fifteen Delta leaders arrived at Sacramento’s Nature Conservancy on Friday to kickstart their entry into the Delta Leadership Program.
The 2026 Delta Leadership class. Back row L-R: Erin Mullen Brosnan, Rachel Vanderwerff, Jason Culberston, Jack Johnson, Alli Hauger, Nicole Cuellar-Nelson, Bret Bartholomew. Front row L-R: Bhajleen Khalsa, Lisa Kirchhoff, Sabrina Snyder, Gustavo Cruz, Jenni Shaw, Emily Groth, Ashley Castaneda, Minh Nguyen (Photo by Delta Protection Commission/Jada Portillo)
Managed by the Delta Protection Commission and the Delta Leadership Foundation, the program aims to identify potential and emerging leaders in the Delta from an assortment of backgrounds. Over the span of five seminars, participants learn leadership skills and tools to improve and foster community within the Delta.
The first seminar covered an introduction to the Delta, Delta legislation, experiences from alumni of the program, and a panel featuring the three Delta agencies.
This year’s participants are:
Bret Bartholomew, Owner, Bartholomew Solutions, Elk Grove
Ashley Castaneda, Restore the Delta, Stockton
Gustavo Cruz, Assoc. Water Resources Engineer, Solano County Water Agency, West Sacramento
Nicole Cuellar-Nelson, District Representative, State Senator Christopher Cabaldon, Sacramento
Jason Culberston, Farmer/Rancher and Trustee, Reclamation District No. 3, Walnut Grove
Emily Groth, Planner, Contra Costa County Dept. of Conservation and Development, Martinez
The Delta Protection Commission is hiring an Administrative Analyst II to serve as Commission Clerk and become an integral member of our finance and admin team. If you believe in government transparency, love rural places, and want to feel good about the work you do, this job’s for you.
The DPC’s mission is to protect, maintain, enhance, and enrich the overall quality of the Delta environment and economy. We do this with a focus on agriculture, recreation, and natural resources, while remaining mindful of the importance of the Delta to all Californians.
Preparing meeting materials in cooperation with fellow staff members.
Ensuring all materials are accessible to people with disabilities and posted on the website, in media, and in physical locations in compliance with the Bagley-Keene Act.
Keeping meetings running smoothly by ensuring a quorum is present and conducting roll call votes.
While much of the work is performed at a computer, attending at least 16 meetings a year gets the Clerk out into a variety of locations in a beautiful rural region rooted in its rivers, dotted with charming legacy communities, filled with farms and wild habitat, and bracketed with urban areas including West Sacramento, Stockton, and the cities of eastern Contra Costa County.
The job is hybrid, requiring three days a week of in-person work at the DPC’s office in West Sacramento.
The ideal candidate will have experience in:
Accounting and administrative support
Government functions and public meeting logistics
Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Office (Word, Outlook, PowerPoint)
Microsoft Teams and SharePoint
Document remediation for accessibility
Benefits include:
Health, dental, and vision insurance,
CalPERS pension and retirement plans,
Paid time off and holidays, and
Professional development opportunities
Requirements: Civil service examination or other proof of eligibility, valid California driver’s license, education transcripts, employment application, Statement of Qualifications
Qualifications:Analyst II qualifications can be found on this page
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Nov. 17, 2025) – The Delta Protection Commission voted today to appeal the Department of Water Resources’s certification that the Delta Conveyance Project is consistent with the Delta Plan.
The Project would create a 45-mile tunnel starting on the Sacramento River at the town of Hood and ending at the Bethany Reservoir west of Tracy, near the community of Mountain House in the South Delta.
The Commission’s appeal contends that the Project would do lasting harm to the Delta, irrevocably altering “the rural character of the Delta, its economic pillars (agriculture and recreation), and its cultural heritage.”
It also contends that other options that don’t harm the Delta have not been adequately considered.
The project would use thousands of acres of agricultural land during construction and leave another 1,000 permanently changed, often with industrial-looking facilities, at the four major impact areas: Hood, Twin Cities Road near I-5, Lower Roberts Island, and near the Bethany Reservoir State Recreation Area. Other permanent facilities would be built in the Delta on the tunnel route.
The Delta Reform Act of 2009 establishes coequal goals for the Delta of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem. It also states that the coequal goals “shall be achieved in a manner that protects and enhances the unique cultural, recreational, natural resource and agricultural values of the Delta as an evolving place.”
Commissioner Patrick Hume, a Sacramento County Supervisor, said at a preliminary Commission discussion of the matter on Nov. 3: “This body is the the last bastion of support for the Delta as a place. This is really the voice for the flora, the fauna, the farmers, the Flyway, the fisheries, and the economy that the Delta represents.”
The Commission’s vote to appeal on Monday was 9-0, with one abstention.
The Commission is made predominantly of elected representatives in the Delta, with 11 of its 15 members coming from county boards of supervisors, city councils, and local reclamation districts, which are responsible for flood control in the Delta’s low-lying farmland and small communities.
The remaining four members represent state agencies, and they have typically abstained on votes regarding the Delta Conveyance Project.
Commission Chair Diane Burgis, a Contra Costa County Supervisor, did not attend the meeting today and has recused herself from past discussions and votes regarding the Project. Burgis serves on the Delta Stewardship Council, which will hear the Commission’s appeal and any other appeals filed by today’s deadline.
If the Council upholds any of the appeals, the Project could be remanded to DWR to address Delta Plan inconsistencies.
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Oct. 9, 2025) – The Delta Protection Commission has appointed Amanda Bohl as its next Executive Director. She is expected to join the Commission on Oct. 20.
Bohl currently serves on the executive management team of the Delta Stewardship Council, where she is the Special Assistant for Planning and Science. There, she leads the Delta Plan Interagency Implementation Committee (DPIIC) and guides cooperation among the 18 state and federal agencies – including the Delta Protection Commission – involved in the Delta Plan.
Prior to joining the Council in 2016, Bohl was the Economic Development Lead for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy. There, she managed the Delta Marketing Project and helped develop the Conservancy’s Proposition 1 Grant Program, which funded water quality and ecosystem restoration grants.
“The Delta is one of our greatest treasures, rich in natural resources, agriculture, history, and diverse communities,” said Diane Burgis, Chair of the Delta Protection Commission and Contra Costa County’s District 3 Supervisor.
“We were fortunate to have an outstanding pool of candidates. Moving forward, I’m excited about the Delta Protection Commission’s appointment of Amanda Bohl. She brings the vision, leadership, and understanding needed to navigate the complexities of this unique and vital region.”
Bohl has spent her career focused on people’s connection to the land. “When I think of the Delta Protection Commission, I think of landscapes, the land, places,” she said. “I also think of the best of public service and what government can do to protect places.”
She grew up in Amador County, but her childhood was steeped in Delta life. She enjoyed boating and camping in the Delta with her parents and grandparents, and still remembers the family’s drive to Rio Vista in 1985 to see Humphrey the Whale.
“I’m thrilled to be joining the Delta Protection Commission and to be serving the Delta in this new capacity,” Bohl said. “With new challenges and opportunities on the horizon, the Commission’s mission to protect, maintain, enhance, and enrich the overall quality of the Delta environment and economy has never been more important.”
Bohl has a bachelor’s degree in international studies from Southern Oregon University and a master’s degree in community development from the University of California, Davis. She is a 2014 Water Education Foundation Water Leader, and serves on the board of the Sacramento Valley Conservancy.
The program targets potential or emerging leaders in the Delta from all walks of life – agriculture, law enforcement, local government, non-profit organizations, local business, and the tourism and hospitality sectors, among others. It puts participants through an intensive curriculum to expand their knowledge of key issues and challenges in the Delta, teach them leadership skills and tools, build relationships and trust, and foster community.
The ultimate goal of the program, which has been operating since 2016, is to build a cadre of dedicated leaders to protect and improve the Delta. Alumni can be seen in leadership positions throughout the Delta and often appear in the news.
What’s Involved
Interested participants can apply through 5 p.m. Monday,Nov. 24, participants are announced the week of Dec. 8, and the curriculum – five day-long seminars held on Fridays – runs January through April. Applicants must commit to 100% attendance on these dates to be considered for participation in the program:
Seminar 1: Jan. 9, 2026, in Sacramento
Seminar 2: Jan. 30, 2026, in Stockton
Seminar 3: Feb. 20, 2026, in Rio Vista
Seminar 4: March 20, 2026, in Oakley
Seminar 5: April 17, 2026, in Clarksburg
In addition to attending seminars, participants work on team projects designed to benefit the Delta, with some of the work occurring during seminars and some on their own time – about two hours per month. Participants also can take an air and water tour of the Delta in March or April, date to be determined.
The program concludes with a graduation at the Delta Protection Commission meeting tentatively scheduled for 5 p.m.May 21 at a location in the Delta. The exact date will be determined in November, when Commission sets its 2026 meeting schedule.
Applying
The application form can be completed online. The deadline is 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, 2025.
The quality and content of the application is critical to the applicant’s success. Try to include specific examples and make sure you have included all of your civic and leadership experience and service.
People accepted into the program will be notified by the week of December 8, 2025.
REQUIRED: Upload at least one and up to two substantial letters of recommendation. You will upload these during the online application process.
OPTIONAL: You may upload your resume during the application process.
QUESTIONS?
If you have questions, please contact Program Coordinator Erik Vink at erik.vink@delta.ca.gov or (530) 650-6327.
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WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Feb. 27, 2026) – Congressman John Garamendi has announced the launch of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area’s 
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Feb. 10, 2026) – Applications to fill five seats on the 
Applications are open for the 2026