Reclamation announces initial water supply allocations for CVP users

The Bureau of Reclamation announced its initial 2024 water supply allocations for Central Valley Project water users last week. Water supply allocations are based on an estimate of water available for delivery to Central Valley Project water users and reflect current reservoir storage, precipitation, and snowpack in the Sierra Nevada.

“The wet hydrologic conditions we experienced during the 2023 water year left most of our reservoirs in good shape as we progressed to the 2024 water year,” said California-Great Basin Regional Director Karl Stock. “Precipitation totals this water year started off slowly, evidenced by the fact we were well below average at the time of the Feb. 1 water supply forecast. Since that time, several storms have boosted the Sierra Nevada snowpack, bringing us to near normal conditions for Northern California. It is likely we will see the water supply benefits from these storms in the March 1 forecast update. At the same time, we must be prepared for and respond accordingly to the possible re-emergence of drier conditions.”

Status of Major Central Valley Project Reservoirs (as of Feb. 19):

• Trinity 70% of capacity
• Shasta 87% of capacity
• Folsom 62% of capacity
• New Melones 82% of capacity
• Millerton 63% of capacity
• San Luis (federal share) 93% of capacity

Based on current hydrology and forecasting, Reclamation is announcing the following initial Central Valley Project water supply allocations:

North-of-Delta Contractors

Sacramento River

• Irrigation water service and repayment contractors north-of-Delta are allocated 75% of their contract total.
• Municipal and industrial water service and repayment contractors north-of-Delta are allocated 100% of their historic use.
• Sacramento River Settlement Contractors’ water supply is based upon settlement of claimed senior water rights. The 2024 water year is determined as non-critical, as defined in their Settlement Contracts, which allows for 100% of their contract water supply.

American River

• M&I water service and repayment contractors north-of-Delta who are serviced by Folsom Reservoir on the American River are allocated 100% of their contract total.

In-Delta Contractors

• M&I water service and repayment contractors who are serviced directly from the Delta are allocated 100% of their contract total.

South-of-Delta Contractors

• Irrigation water service and repayment contractors south-of-Delta are allocated 15% of their contract total.
• M&I water service and repayment contractors south-of-Delta are allocated 65% of their historical use, or public health and safety needs, whichever is greater.
• San Joaquin River Settlement Contractors and San Joaquin Exchange Contractors’ water supply is based upon settlement/exchange of claimed senior water rights. The 2024 water year is determined as non-critical, as defined in their contracts, which allows for 100% of their contract supply.
• In addition to this allocation, Central Valley Project contractors south-of-Delta have been approved to reschedule approximately 184,000 acre-feet of unused allocated water from 2023 for use in 2024.

Eastside Water Contractors

• Eastside water service contractors (Central San Joaquin Water Conservation District and Stockton East Water District) will receive 100% of their contract total.

Friant Division Contractors

• Friant Division contractors’ water supply is delivered from Millerton Reservoir on the upper San Joaquin River via the Madera and Friant-Kern canals. The first 800,000 acre-feet of available water supply is considered Class 1; Class 2 is considered the next amount of available water supply up to 1.4 million acre-feet. The Friant Division water supply allocation is 60% of Class 1 and 0% of Class 2.

Wildlife Refuges

• The 2024 water year is determined as non-critical, as defined in their contracts, which allows for 100% of contract supply for wildlife refuges (Level 2), both north- and south-of-Delta.

In recognition of recent efforts to develop a south-of-Delta drought plan, Reclamation is reserving approximately 83,000 acre-feet of water currently in San Luis Reservoir that will contribute to a drought reserve pool and is not considered as a volume of water available for water supply allocations.

As the water year progresses, changes in hydrology, actions that impact operations, and opportunities to deliver additional water will influence future allocations. Reclamation will continue to monitor hydrology and may adjust basin-specific allocations if conditions warrant an update. Water supply updates are posted on Reclamation California-Great Basin Region’s website.