For the first time in nearly 2 decades, the Department of Water Resources has raised the forecast for State Water Project (SWP) deliveries to 100 percent of requested water supplies, up from 75 percent announced in March.
The increase comes as reservoirs are nearing capacity and snowmelt runoff has begun. The SWP will distribute this water to 29 public water agencies serving 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland. The last time the SWP allocated 100 percent was in 2006.
Reservoir storage is at 105 percent of the average for this date statewide. San Luis Reservoir, which holds the water supply for both the SWP and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project (CVP), is now full. Lake Oroville, the SWP’s largest reservoir, and SWP reservoirs in Southern California are expected to be full by the end of May.
DWR Director Karla Nemeth said, “The DWR is moving and storing as much water as possible to the benefit of communities, agriculture, and the environment.”
Although despite the wet winter, the DWR continues to stress water conservation as there remain several water supply challenges in the northern part of the state and in over-drafted groundwater basins that are slow to recover.
The SWP will continue evaluating allocation forecasts monthly and conduct an additional snow survey in May.
