'Historically Dry' Winter Prompts Dramatic Water Allocation Drop

Alameda CA

21 March, 2022

10:57 AM

Description

CALIFORNIA — California's water usage regulator estimated Friday that the state will only be able to fulfill 5 percent of this year's requested allocations from the state's main water storage and delivery system. Following what the state Department of Water Resources called a "historically dry" January and February, the agency said it would only be able to fulfill 5 percent of requests rather than the previous estimate of 15 percent. Avoiding more water requests, DWR officials said, will allow the state to conserve water supplies in the State Water Project, which collects water from rivers in Northern California and distributes it to the Central Valley and Southern California. The State Water Project provides potable water to some 27 million state residents and 750,000 acres of farmland. "We are experiencing climate change whiplash in real time with extreme swings between wet and dry conditions," DWR Director Karla Nemeth. "That means adjusting quickly based on the data and the science." The state's reservoirs are currently at roughly 70 percent of their average, according to the DWR, while the Sierra snowpack is down to 55 percent of its average for this time of year. DWR officials are expected to revise their State Water Project allocation projections in April following the state's next snowpack survey. State water officials generally issue their final water allocation plan for the year in May or June. Copyright © 2022 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.