Today, the Bureau of Reclamation announced the initial 2020 water supply allocation for California’s Central Valley Project contractors. Allotment amounts are based on an estimate of water available for delivery for Central Valley Project water users and reflect current reservoir storages, precipitation, and snowpack in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada.

“Today’s allocation comes on the heels of an operations plan signed last week, underscoring the Trump administration’s commitment to bringing a sustainable and reliable water supply to California’s Central Valley. While that operations plan is based on the best available science and maximizes water supplies, we still face significant uncertainty due to legal challenges,” said Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman. “Despite the hurdles brought on by litigation from the state and others, we remain committed to providing reliable water for families, farms, cities and the environment.”

Considering the low snowpack and low projected runoff in the coming months, the initial allocations are as follows:

North-of-Delta Contractors (Including American River and In-Delta Contractors)

• Agricultural water service contractors North-of-Delta are allocated 50% of their contract supply.
• Pursuant to Reclamation’s M&I water shortage guidelines, M&I water service contractors North-of-Delta (including American River and In-Delta Contractors) are allocated 75% of their historic use or public health and safety needs.
• The Sacramento River Settlement Contractors are allocated 100% of their contract supply.

Eastside Water Service Contractors

• Eastside water service contractors (Central San Joaquin Water Conservation District and Stockton East Water District) will receive 100% of their contract total.

South-of-Delta Contractors

• Agricultural water service contractors South-of-Delta are allocated 15% of their contract supply.
• M&I water service contractors South-of-Delta are allocated the greater of 65% of their historic use or public health and safety needs.
• The San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors and San Joaquin Settlement Contractors are allocated 100% of their contract supply.

Wildlife Refuges

• Wildlife refuges (Level 2) North- and South-of-Delta, which also have allocations subject to pre-established Shasta inflow criteria, are allocated 100% of their contract supply of 422,000 acre-feet.

Friant Division

• Friant Division contractors’ water supply develops in the Upper San Joaquin River Basin Watershed and is delivered from Millerton Lake through Friant Dam to the Madera Canal and Friant-Kern Canal. The first 800,000 acre-feet of available water supply is considered Class 1; and Class 2 is considered the next amount of available water supply up to 1.4 million acre-feet. Given the current hydrologic conditions, Reclamation determined that Friant Class 1 initial allocation will be 20% and Class 2 will be 0%.
• For the San Joaquin River Restoration Program, Reclamation is currently forecasting a “Critical-High” water year type, providing for 70,919 acre-feet to be used for Restoration Program purposes.

Click here for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s full release