An aerial view of the California Aqueduct looking north over Interstate 5 in the Central Valley. Credit: DWR

March 18, 2019 - SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Bureau of Reclamation last week issued updated allocations for Central Valley Project contractors for the 2019 contract year. This update reflects the benefits of the series of storms that brought significant precipitation to California during February and early March.

“The precipitation we’ve experienced since mid-February has provided a significant boost to the projected water supply for the Central Valley Project this year,” said Mid-Pacific Regional Director Ernest Conant. “With the improved CVP storage conditions and the latest runoff forecasts, we are pleased to increase the amount of water allocated to many of our water service contractors.”

The three updated allocation areas include:

• North of the Delta, in-Delta and American River contractors’ allocations, for both agricultural water service and municipal and industrial service contractors, are increased to 100 percent.
• South-of-Delta agricultural water service contractors’ allocations are increased to 55 percent of their contract total.
• South-of-Delta allocations for municipal and industrial contractors’ allocations are increased to 80 percent of their historic use.

Friant Division’s allocation remains unchanged with Class 1 contractors at 100 percent. The period for uncontrolled season deliveries to Class 2 contractors has been extended to April 10, and for the time being, contractors are being encouraged to take delivery of as much water as possible for beneficial use under their respective contracts to help minimize flood control releases. (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).

In addition, due to the current hydrologic conditions and storage levels in San Luis Reservoir, Reclamation declared the temporary availability of Section 215 water from the Delta for south-of-Delta contractors that enter into a "Temporary Water Service Contract for Surplus Water" with Reclamation. Section 215 refers to a section in the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-293) that defines temporary water supplies that are unusually large and not storable for project purposes, and how that non-storable water may be used. The availability period for this water delivery will depend on hydrologic conditions and water demands in the coming weeks.

As the water year progresses, changes in hydrology and opportunities to deliver additional water will influence future allocations. Water supply updates are posted here. For additional information, please contact the public affairs office at 916-978-5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or mppublicaffairs@usbr.gov.
Source: BOR