CO-PETITIONERS:
Tell the Dam Truth, Patagonia, California Trout, Friends of the River, Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group, Ríos to Rivers, Center for Biological Diversity, Save the World’s Rivers
For Immediate Release: March 25, 2026
Contact:
Ren Brownell, Media Contact for the Petition
530-598-8255
ren@residenttrout.com
Reservoirs Contribute to Climate Change, it’s time for California to track their Emissions.
Years of research show that dams and reservoirs produce a substantial amount of greenhouse gases. A coalition has filed a petition with the California Air Resources Board to accurately track these emissions.
Sacramento, CA – Today, a petition was filed with the California Air Resources Control Board (CARB) to add dams and reservoirs as reporting entities under California’s Regulation for the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Numerous scientific studies have established that dams and reservoirs produce and 
emit substantial amounts of greenhouse gases, with California’s major dams and reservoirs producing the equivalent of burning 5.8 billion pounds of coal every year. The petitioners, which include Patagonia, California Trout, Friends of the River, Ríos to Rivers, Center for Biological Diversity, Save the World’s Rivers, Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group, and the research entity Tell the Dam Truth, assert that these should be tracked to ensure that the state can reach its climate goals.
“Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas, and water storage reservoirs in California are a significant and largely untracked source,” said Keiko Mertz of Friends of the River. “Our goal with this petition is to support the State’s climate efforts. If California is serious about climate leadership, it must measure and combat all major sources of emissions, including those hiding in plain sight.”
The state of California has multiple mandates and initiatives related to emissions accounting, including Governor Gavin Newsom’s Mandate to reduce methane emissions by 40% by 2030. CARB is the governor-appointed agency that is in charge of accounting, reporting, regulating, and minimizing emissions. While other major greenhouse gas emitters in the state are required to report their emissions to CARB, there is currently no such a requirement for dams and reservoirs, despite their significant contribution of methane and other greenhouse gases.
“A reservoir is essentially a massive, underwater landfill. Vegetation, sediment, and other organic matter that flows into a reservoir doesn’t disappear, it gets consumed by micro-organisms that emit methane throughout the waterbody,” explained Gary Wockner, Director of Tell the Dam Truth. “As reservoirs stagnate and warm in the sun, they also promote algae blooms that get consumed by micro-organisms further increasing methane production.”
It is broadly established that dams and reservoirs are major greenhouse gas contributors. For over 15 years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recommended that countries estimate and report their dams and reservoir emissions to the United Nations, including the United States, which estimated and reported the methane emissions of our dams and reservoirs for the first time in 2022. The Trump Administration has since halted that tracking and reporting, but that presents an opportunity for California to once again demonstrate our climate leadership.
“Gov. Newsom understands we cannot wait for a perfect federal partner to solve the climate and nature crises. His mandate to slash methane by 40% is the most aggressive in the nation” said Keith Shattenkirk, environmental program officer for healthy lands and waters at Patagonia. “By directing state agencies to close the monitoring gap on overlooked greenhouse gas emissions sources like dams and reservoirs, Gov. Newsom can prove that California’s climate initiatives are not built on performative promises, but rather on scientific integrity and the courage to look at the whole picture.”
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Editors Notes:
You can view the full petition HERE, the bibliography is available HERE
A full report on the estimated methane emissions for major California dams and reservoirs is available HERE