California to Provide 100% of Water Allocation for the First Time Since 2006...

Oroville_Spillway_at_Lake_Oroville_California_AP_Noah_Berger

by Ellen Villalovas at Washington Examiner

The California Department of Water Resources announced it would deliver 100% of the water requested by the state’s cities and farms for the first time since 2006. The news is the result of an extremely wet winter season.

The State Water Project will increase water supplies from 75%, the percentage previously announced in March. California reservoirs are reaching full capacity, and with summer approaching, snowmelt runoff is expected to be collected as well. The unusually wet winter in the West allowed 29 water agencies that cater to around 27 million customers and 750,000 acres of farmland to receive all their resource demands.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RESCINDS WATER RESTRICTIONS AFTER MASS RAINFALL

“Water supply conditions and careful management of reservoir operations during this extreme winter allows DWR to maximize water deliveries while enhancing protections for the environment,” DWR Director Karla Nemeth said. “DWR is moving and storing as much water as possible to the benefit of communities, agriculture, and the environment.”

California Drought — Water flows through the Oroville Spillway at Lake Oroville on Saturday, March 25, 2023, in Butte County, Calif. The California Department of Water Resources was releasing water to create room at the reservoir for anticipated snowpack melt. At the time of this photo, the reservoir stood at 82 percent of capacity and 118 percent of its historical average.

The San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, which was only one-quarter full in December, is now full. Additionally, the SWP’s largest reservoir, Lake Oroville in Butte County, and multiple reservoirs in Southern California are predicted to be full by the end of May.

The Federal Bureau of Reclamation reported it would be increasing its 2023 Central Valley Project…