SACRAMENTO – The Department of Water Resources (DWR) is adjusting its final 2010 State Water Project allocation to 50 percent of requested amounts because of late Spring storms.
“Unusual late season storms that augmented Northern Sierra snowpack have allowed us to increase our delivery estimate to 50 percent,” said DWR Director Mark Cowin. “But, our state will continue to suffer chronic water shortages until we improve our conveyance system, increase storage and resolve the complex environmental problems of the Delta.”
Even with a return to normal precipitation and reservoir levels, and an above normal Sierra snowpack, State Water Project (SWP) deliveries will remain limited due to current restrictions on Delta pumping to protect native fish species. The 50 percent allocation, although a dramatic increase from the 5 percent originally estimated for this year, will still leave many communities, farms and businesses with limited alternative supplies.
Lake Oroville in Butte County, the SWP’s principal supply reservoir, stands at 77 percent of capacity and 91 percent of average for this time of year. But fishery agency restrictions on Delta pumping to protect salmon, Delta smelt and other species continue to constrain water deliveries to the Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Central Coast and Southern California. DWR estimates that fishery restrictions this year will impact SWP deliveries by 800,000 acre-feet.
In 2009, DWR delivered 40 percent of the amount requested by the 29 public agencies with long-term contracts to receive SWP water. Those contractors deliver water to more than 25 million Californians and approximately 750,000 acres of irrigated farm land.
The average SWP allocation over the past 10 years is 68 percent of contractor requests.
DWR will continue to urge all California’s to conserve water this summer both indoors and outdoors. DWR is partnering with the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) on the Save Our Water program to promote conservation statewide as a long-term behavior change. The program website is www.saveourh2o.org.
Contact:
Don Strickland, Information Officer, (916) 653-9515,
donalds@water.ca.gov
Ted Thomas, Information Officer, (916) 653-9712,
tthomas@water.ca.gov