Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
State Thanks 'Robust' Storms for Higher Water Allocation
GV-Wire
By Jody Murray
Published 6 years ago on
June 20, 2019

Share

Citing the winter’s “robust” storms and resulting above-average snowpack, California’s Department of Water Resources announced Thursday it will slightly raise the allocation for the State Water Project.
The increase from 70% to 75% is the final allocation level for the calendar year, and marks a dramatic increase since the water year’s initial allocation of 10% in November 2018. The water year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.
The lion’s share of the water collected by the SWP in Northern California is used in Southern California and the Bay Area, but about 30% is used by Central Valley farmers.
The 75% allocation for the SWP matched a slight increase announced June 14 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which governs water deliveries to westside farmers in the Central Valley Project South-of-Delta region. The reclamation bureau had raised the allocation from 35% to 55% in March, then to 65% in April and 70% in May.
The head of Westlands Water District, which administers water to farmland in western Fresno and Kings counties, said in May that the reclamation bureau’s allocations weren’t nearly enough.
“Reclamation’s inability to provide … water service contractors with full contract supplies is further evidence of the draconian impact ineffective regulations have had on water supplies for people,” Thomas Birmingham, Westlands’ general manager, said in a statement.

“The full reservoirs will provide a healthy buffer if we return to drier conditions next year.” — Karla Nemeth, director, Department of Water Resources
California’s reservoirs are above their historical average, thanks to more than 30 atmospheric rivers that have flowed over the state during the current water year.
“The winter’s robust storms resulted in above-average snowpack and reservoir levels, bringing California a much-improved water year from last year,” Karla Nemeth, director of the water resources department, said in a statement.
“The full reservoirs will provide a healthy buffer if we return to drier conditions next year.”
Shasta Lake, the largest supplier to the federal Central Valley Project, is at 98% capacity. San Luis Reservoir, west of Los Banos in Merced County, is at 75%.

DON'T MISS

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

DON'T MISS

California Just Blew Its First Deadline for Voter-Approved Healthcare Measure

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Halts Dozens of Research Grants at Princeton University

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

DON'T MISS

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

DON'T MISS

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

DON'T MISS

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

DON'T MISS

Auto Sales Surged in Anticipation of Trump’s Tariffs

DON'T MISS

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

UP NEXT

California Just Blew Its First Deadline for Voter-Approved Healthcare Measure

UP NEXT

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

UP NEXT

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

UP NEXT

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

UP NEXT

Three Missing Fresno Teens Found Safe After Nine Days

UP NEXT

Lakers Hold Off Rockets With 6 3-Pointers Apiece From Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent

UP NEXT

Athletics Bat Boy Stewart Thalblum Takes Down Drone in Left Field

UP NEXT

NFL Postpones Tush Push Decision but Passes Other Rule Changes, AP Source Says

UP NEXT

March Madness: It’s South Carolina vs. Texas and UCLA vs. UConn in Women’s Final Four

UP NEXT

Kings County Authorities Recover Stolen Tractor. Suspect Faces Prop 36 Penalty

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

9 hours ago

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

10 hours ago

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

10 hours ago

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

11 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

11 hours ago

Auto Sales Surged in Anticipation of Trump’s Tariffs

11 hours ago

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

12 hours ago

House Speaker Johnson Fails to Squash a Proxy Voting Effort From New Moms in Congress

12 hours ago

UN Agency Closes Its Remaining Gaza Bakeries as Food Supplies Dwindle Under Israeli Blockade

12 hours ago

Hooters Goes Bust and Files for Bankruptcy Protection

12 hours ago

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

Elon Musk has reclaimed his position as the world’s wealthiest individual, according to Forbes’ 39th annual World’s Billio...

7 hours ago

7 hours ago

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

9 hours ago

California Just Blew Its First Deadline for Voter-Approved Healthcare Measure

Nassau Hall at Princeton University is in Princeton, N.J., Oct. 8, 2024. (AP File)
9 hours ago

Trump Administration Halts Dozens of Research Grants at Princeton University

After 31 years of service, Fresno County Sheriff’s Deputy IV and Pilot Michael Sill is retiring, having logged over 10,000 flight hours.
9 hours ago

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

Khalid Ahmad holds a poster of his 17-year-old son, Waleed, who died in an Israeli prison, that reads in Arabic, "The hero prisoner Martyr, mercy and eternity for our righteous Martyrs," in the West Bank town of Silwad, northeast of Ramallah Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP/Nasser Nasser)
10 hours ago

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

10 hours ago

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

11 hours ago

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

Vehicles at an Audi showroom in Miami, March 29, 2025. President Donald Trump has said that tariffs would encourage auto companies and their suppliers to move to the U.S. (Saul Martinez/The New York Times)
11 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend