Friant Class 1 Water Supply 2016 Allocation to Increase

Thanks to improved forecasted hydrologic conditions, commercial power operations in the Upper San Joaquin River Basin, current storage in Millerton Lake and cooler weather demand patterns, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) has announced an increase in allocations for the Friant Division contractors of Class 1 supply from 40 to 50 percent.

The Class 1 water supply allocations have risen several times throughout the past month and Reclamation has indicated that Class 1 supplies will continue to be reassessed at weekly intervals until further notice. The initial Friant Division Class 1 allocation was 30 percent as announced on April 1, 2016with an additional 100,000 acre-feet of uncontrolled season supply to be scheduled and delivered by the end of April. Soon thereafter, on April 11, Reclamation increased the allocation from 30 to 40 percent.

Class 1 is commonly considered the allocation which can be reliably managed through storage regulation throughout the season and deliver at a contractor’s convenience. Class 2 supplies are uncontrolled scenarios, including the need to evacuate water from the reservoir in the near term to avert flood control concerns, the situation is generally undependable in character with regard to predicted volume and duration, and may not necessarily scheduled at the contractor’s convenience.

The Friant Division of the Central Valley Project delivers water to over one million acres of irrigable farmland on the east side of the southern San Joaquin Valley from approximately Chowchilla on the north to the Tehachapi Mountains on the south.