CVP sees a modest increase in water supply allocation

The Bureau of Reclamation announced another increase in the Central Valley Project 2024 water supply allocation for south-of-Delta contractors and those in the Friant Division. While all north-of-Delta CVP contractors are currently at 100% of their supplies, south-of-Delta agricultural contractors deliveries are being increased from 35% to 40%. Last week, on April 18, the Friant Division Class 1 allocation was increased from 95% to 100% and the Class 2 allocation increased from 0% to 5%.

“Hydrologic conditions have improved enough that we are able to provide this gradual increase,” said California-Great Basin Regional Director Karl Stock. “We realize that our contractors were hoping to see a greater amount of water, and we understand how critical irrigation is to California agriculture and the surrounding communities. However, continued uncertainty in long-term hydrology and regulatory constraints necessitate Reclamation’s approach with available water supplies.”

The news, however, was not as welcomed as some were hoping for. Westlands Water District pointed out that conditions are more favorable this year than in 2018 when they had a 50 percent allocation.

“Since the initial allocation of 15 percent at the end of February, Westlands has noted several conditions that are incongruent with a water supply allocation lower than 50 percent. For instance, in comparison of conditions this year to 2018 where we had a 50 percent allocation, we are now seeing substantially more Delta outflow, better snowpack, and generally equivalent storage in upstream reservoirs.”

Reclamation will continue to monitor changes in hydrology, actions that impact operations, and opportunities to deliver additional water. All other CVP contract allocations remain the same per the March 22 water supply update.