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The year’s first allocation from California’s massive water storage and delivery system has been set at just 10% of requested supplies, officials with the state Department of Water Resources announced Monday.
DWR operates the State Water Project, which delivers water to 29 public water agencies that serve an estimated 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland throughout the state.
DWR is required to set its initial annual water allocation by Dec. 1 every year and the size of the allocation is typically fairly small at first.
As the rainy season develops, however, if the state sees an increase in rain and snowfall totals, water allocations could potentially increase every month, with final allotments announced in May or June.
For example, last year the initial allocation was just 5% of requested supplies but eventually increased to 50%.
“Recent history has shown us that anything can happen during a California winter, so it’s important that our early season allocation for the State Water Project is conservative,” DWR Director Karla Nemeth said in a news release Monday.
Currently, the state seems to be in pretty good shape, with statewide reservoir storage levels at 114% of average, according to DWR officials.
Lake Oroville, the largest reservoir, is at 100% of average for this time of year, a bit above where it was at last December.
Historical data on SWP allocations is available at water.ca.gov/programs/state-water-project/management/swp-water-contractors.
