From the Bureau of Reclamation:
Today, the Bureau of Reclamation announced another increase in the Central Valley Project 2024 water supply allocation for south-of-Delta contractors.
While all north-of-Delta Central Valley Project contractors are currently at 100% of their supplies, south-of-Delta agricultural contractors are being increased from 40% to 50%. All other Central Valley Project contract allocations remain the same per the March 22 water supply update. Initial contract allocations were announced on Feb. 21 and updated in March and April.
“With the current and forecasted conditions that factor into Central Valley Project allocations, in particular, a greater than expected rate of exports during the month of June, we are pleased to be able to provide an additional increase to south-of-Delta agricultural contractors,” said California-Great Basin Regional Director Karl Stock.
Water supply updates and past year’s allocations are posted on Reclamation California-Great Basin Region’s website.
Congressman David Valadao responds
Today, Congressman David G. Valadao (CA-22) released the following statement in response to the Bureau of Reclamation’s (Reclamation) updated 2024 water allocation announcement for Central Valley Project (CVP) contractors. This announcement increases allocations for South-of-Delta agricultural contractors from 40% to 50% of their contracted supply.
“Our family farms and downstream communities rely on meaningful and timely allocations for the water they contract and pay for to grow the food that feeds the world,” said Congressman Valadao. “While I am grateful for this welcomed increase from Reclamation, it’s frustrating that we could have had this allocation back in February to give farmers proper time to plan their operations for the year. Reclamation must improve the pace and transparency of their decision-making process moving forward to ensure our farmers are not being held in the dark or gambling about the future of their water supply. I will continue urging transparency in Reclamation’s decision-making and a significant increase in water allocations for South-of-Delta agriculture.”
Last week, Congressman Valadao joined California’s Central Valley delegation in a letter to Reclamation urging them to substantially increase allocations to South-of-Delta water contractors:
“As temperatures rise, the current water allocations have the potential to reduce crop productivity, as well as reduce the flexible use of all available water types to Central Valley residents and communities. To maximize agricultural productivity and the flexible use of water contractor portfolios, we request that Reclamation provide an update in June that increases allocations,” the lawmakers wrote.
Read the full letter here.
In March, Reclamation announced a 35% allocation for South-of-Delta agricultural repayment and water service contractors, up from their initial February allocation of 15%. In April, Reclamation announced these allocations for South-of-Delta contractors would be increasing to 40%.
Since Reclamation’s initial water allocation announcement in February, Congressman Valadao has urged Reclamation to increase these allocations to reflect the record wet year in California. After Reclamation’s March announcement of increased allocations, Rep. Valadao penned a letter to Reclamation urging them to provide a significant increase in CVP water allocations for South-of-Delta agricultural water service and repayment contractors.
Background:
Central Valley agriculture contractors rely on meaningful allocations from Reclamation for their yearly planning. Central Valley farmers and communities have endured disproportionately low water allocations for many years, with contractors receiving well below their contracted supply even during wet years. As a lifelong dairy farmer, Congressman Valadao has experienced firsthand the challenges and frustrations surrounding this issue. He has consistently called for CVP allocations to reflect the needs of the agriculture community, the backbone of the Central Valley economy.
San Luis & Delta-Mendota Authority responds
The United States Bureau of Reclamation (“Reclamation”) updated the Central Valley Project 2024 water supply allocation today. Since the last allocation update in April, water conditions in California have improved, and export restrictions associated with the implementation of the Endangered Species Act and the 2024 Interim Operations Plan have lessened.
“I’d like to thank the Bureau of Reclamation for this updated water allocation and the leadership of the Congressional Representatives who supported it. This increase in surface water supplies will significantly benefit the communities and farms that rely on these supplies to implement California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act successfully”, said Federico Barajas, Executive Director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority.
“This year is a perfect example of the disconnect between available rainfall and snowpack and the ability to operate the Central Valley Project in a way that takes advantage of the water provided by nature in any given year. For critical periods this year, exports were reduced due to inflexible operational criteria that failed to fully account for conditions for steelhead and salmonid species, resulting in reduced surface water supply for Water Authority members. These reduced surface water deliveries result in one or both of two outcomes – reduced economic productivity or more groundwater extraction – both of which make limited sense when hydrology indicates that additional surface water deliveries should be possible.
“This year taught us a lesson – that we must strike a better balance in scientifically supported decision-making to adaptively manage California’s water system, which supports drinking water for more than 30 million people, the world’s 5th largest economy, and one of Earth’s most fertile and productive food producing regions. Now is the time to improve project operations, and we are committed to successfully developing flexible project operation criteria that protect species and do not unnecessarily restrict surface water supplies.”
Today’s announcement follows a bipartisan letter sent to Reclamation by eight Congressional Representatives and increases the allocations for Authority member agencies, which were last updated in April. Reclamation announced the following changes to Authority member agency allocations:
- Irrigation water service and repayment contractors have increased to 50 percent from 40 percent of their contract totals.
As the water year progresses, changes in hydrology, actions that impact operations, and opportunities to deliver additional water will influence future allocations. Water supply updates will be posted on Reclamation California-Great Basin Region’s website.
Westlands Water District Responds to Water Allocation Update
Today the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) provided an updated water allocation for Central Valley Project (CVP) South of Delta agricultural water contractors, increasing the allocation for this contract year by 10% from 40% to 50%. The increase is welcomed and clearly justified, but is long overdue, especially given the current favorable water conditions throughout the state Unfortunately, agricultural productivity and drought resiliency in Westlands Water District remain artificially suppressed by the low allocations announced earlier in the year when growers were planning cropping decisions. The underlying regulatory decisions that led to those unjustifiably low allocations must be remedied.
“This announcement provides much-needed- relief and is good news for our growers. Even so, the low water supply allocations announced earlier in this contract year, after a relatively wet winter that filled the reservoirs and lifted the state officially out of drought conditions, single-handedly demonstrate the critical and urgent need to improve water management transparency and accountability in the state of California, said Allison Febbo, General Manager, Westlands Water District. “We need a more collaborative and transparent approach to regulatory decisions that affect our water supply, and we urge the five agencies responsible for making these decisions to rely more effectively on sound data and information. Every drop of CVP water allocation given to Westlands Water District growers is food grown, jobs produced, and groundwater saved.”
Westlands’ farmers have done their part, responding and adapting to increasingly complex and prohibitive regulations to ensure future generations can produce food on some of the most productive land in the country, investing in sustainability through costly infrastructure and ultra-efficient irrigation practices. Following last year’s wet winter, farmers in Westlands banked more than 390,000 acre-feet of water. In fact, as an acknowledgment of that success and the importance of groundwater recharge, Reclamation dedicated $25 million of the recent $81 million Inflation Reduction Act funding to expanding Westlands Water District groundwater recharge efforts. The water returned to aquifers under these efforts is meant to be used during future extreme dry years, not a year like the current one that helped California escape drought conditions.
We are committed to working with Reclamation to rectify areas of concern that Westlands believes influenced this year’s water supply, including addressing the currently poorly informed application of the Endangered Species Act. Westlands remains vigilant in the effort to improve collaborative water supply decision-making and the transparency and accountability for those decisions. CVP water supply is the lifeblood of Westlands. This 50% allocation will help our growers provide food and fiber for our nation.
