From the US Bureau of Reclamation:
Today, the Bureau of Reclamation announced major steps to improve California water supply. The initial allocation to be provided to California farmers on the west side of the Central Valley south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta is more than twice what the initial allocation was in 2024, a year with similar hydrology. In addition, the Trump administration is investing more than $315.5 million to create new water storage at the future Sites Reservoir and at the existing San Luis Reservoir.
Reclamation, as directed through President Trump’s Executive Order 14181, has worked to maximize water supply, particularly for south-of-Delta contracts. Reclamation continues its dedicated efforts to deliver more water and produce more hydropower as a commitment to California farmers and communities. Reclamation will continue to maintain full pumping whenever possible at the Jones Pumping Plant to move water to parts of California where it is needed most and provides the greatest economic value to the entire country.
Water supply allocations are based on an estimate of water available for delivery and reflect current reservoir storage, precipitation, and snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, as well as contractor-rescheduled water from the last water year.
“Recent atmospheric rivers and the good condition of most of our reservoirs going into this water year have benefited our water supply outlook; however, the San Joaquin Basin has experienced critically dry conditions this winter,” said California-Great Basin Regional Director Karl Stock. “Initial allocations reflect this significant variation across the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys.”
The 2025 water year has been somewhat inconsistent, punctuated by an extremely wet November followed by an exceptionally dry January. Today’s allocations consider the results of the most recent February storms that hit across California. As always, Reclamation continues to review conditions and make updates as new information and data are analyzed, and assumptions are adjusted.
“There is still a portion of the traditionally wet season in front of us, and we are committed to delivering as much water as possible to our contractors consistent with the goals of the Central Valley Project and Executive Order 14181,” added Regional Director Stock. “We will continue to work closely with our Central Valley Project contractors and partners, monitor the forecasts, and adjust numbers accordingly as the remaining winter and spring months play out. Further, both Reclamation and the Department of the Interior are committed to investing aggressively in projects such as Sites Reservoir and B.F. Sisk Dam Raise and San Luis Reservoir Expansion to improve water supply reliability for project contractors.”
Based on current hydrology and forecasting, Reclamation is announcing the following initial Central Valley Project water supply allocations:
North-of-Delta Contractors
Sacramento River
- Irrigation water service and repayment contractors north-of-Delta are allocated 100% of their contract total.
- Municipal and industrial water service and repayment contractors north-of-Delta are allocated 100% of their contract total.
- Sacramento River Settlement Contractors’ water supply is based upon settlement of claimed senior water rights. The 2025 water year is determined as non-critical, as defined in their Settlement Contracts, which allows for 100% of their contract water supply.
American River
- M&I water service and repayment contractors north-of-Delta who are serviced by Folsom Reservoir on the American River are allocated 100% of their contract total.
In-Delta Contractors
- M&I water service and repayment contractors who are serviced directly from the Delta are allocated 100% of their contract total.
South-of-Delta Contractors
- Irrigation water service and repayment contractors south-of-Delta are allocated 35% of their contract total.
- M&I water service and repayment contractors south-of-Delta are allocated 75% of their historical use, or public health and safety needs, whichever is greater.
- San Joaquin River Settlement Contractors and San Joaquin Exchange Contractors’ water supply is based upon settlement/exchange of claimed senior water rights. The 2025 water year is determined as non-critical, as defined in their contracts, which allows for 100% of their contract supply.
- In addition to this allocation, CVP contractors south-of-Delta are expected to reschedule approximately 180,000 acre-feet of unused allocated water from 2024 for use in 2025.
Friant Division Contractors
- Friant Division contractors’ water supply is delivered from Millerton Reservoir on the upper San Joaquin River via the Madera and Friant-Kern canals. The first 800,000 acre-feet of available water supply is considered Class 1; Class 2 is considered the next amount of available water supply up to 1.4 million acre-feet. The Friant Division water supply allocation is 45% of Class 1 and 0% of Class 2.
Wildlife Refuges
- The 2025 water year is determined as non-critical, as defined in their contracts, which allows for 100% of contract supply for wildlife refuges (Level 2), both north- and south-of-Delta.
Reclamation reserves about 83,000 acre-feet of water in San Luis Reservoir that is attributed to a drought reserve pool and is not considered available for water supply allocations in non-critical years. Further, Reclamation recognizes around 180,000 acre-feet of previous year water rescheduled by Central Valley Project contractors for use this water year. This rescheduled water, representing enough to support around an additional 10% south-of-Delta irrigation water service and repayment contract allocation, is not considered available for current year water supply allocation, though it may be used by these contractors this year.
As the water year progresses, changes in hydrology, actions that impact operations, and opportunities to deliver additional water will influence future allocations. Reclamation will continue to monitor hydrology and may adjust basin-specific allocations if conditions warrant an update. Water supply updates are posted on Reclamation California-Great Basin Region’s website.
Background
The Central Valley Project is one of the largest water storage and conveyance systems in the world, extending 400 miles through California, from the Cascade Range near Redding to the Tehachapi Mountains near Bakersfield. The project’s complex, multipurpose network of dams, reservoirs, canals, and hydroelectric powerplants provide benefits to communities, farms, and the environment. With more than 250 contracts, the Central Valley Project delivers water for 3 million acres of highly productive farmland, serves over 6 million Californians, produces 4 billion kilowatts of hydropower in an average year, provides flood protection, and supplies water for fish and wildlife.
CVP Water contractors respond
Friant Water Authority
The Friant Water Authority has received notification that the Bureau of Reclamation (BoR) has set the initial Class 1 water allocation for the Friant Division at 45% for the 2025 water year. Given current dry hydrology, snowpack conditions, and internal data analysis, we believe this is a sensible and appropriate initial allocation for our water users.
We appreciate the Bureau of Reclamation’s timely action in announcing this initial allocation, which provides clarity and allows our stakeholders to plan accordingly for the upcoming water year. The early allocation demonstrates the BoR’s commitment to providing water managers with the information they need to make informed decisions.
As we move forward into the year, we anticipate that, as hydrology improves and snowpack conditions continue to develop, the Bureau will update the allocation. We remain hopeful that these adjustments will reflect improved conditions and ensure water reliability for all those who depend on the Friant Division.
The Friant Water Authority looks forward to continuing our collaboration with the Bureau of Reclamation, and we are confident that as conditions evolve, our water users will receive the support and resources they need.
San Luis-Delta Mendota Water Authority
Today, the United States Bureau of Reclamation (“Reclamation”) announced the initial 2025 Central Valley Project water supply allocation. In response, Federico Barajas, Executive Director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority (“Authority”), released the following statement:
“This year’s 35% initial allocation for agricultural service and repayment contractor is a significant improvement over last year’s initial allocation of 15%,” said Federico Barajas, Executive Director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority. “However, given the high storage conditions and current high Delta outflow from recent storms, I know that many of the Water Authority’s members were hoping for a higher initial allocation.
“Unfortunately, this year’s rainfall has disproportionately fallen in the northern portion of the Central Valley Project, which has benefitted water storage, but has negatively impacted forecasted operations due to reduced San Joaquin River flows, thereby impacting Reclamation’s ability to make a higher initial allocation. We appreciate Reclamation’s work and expertise coordinating with the Water Authority and its members to identify and implement improvements in the allocation process over the last year, which has in part led to this higher initial allocation.
“The last decade – in which Authority members with agricultural water contracts received water allocations below 20% six times, including four years with no allocation, and 75% or above three times – continues to reinforce that California’s water system is no longer able to provide the reliability necessary to support the demands placed on it. Rainfall and snowpack patterns are changing and our water management strategies must be responsive to this new reality.
“We are hopeful that conditions in the San Joaquin River will improve, California will continue to receive additional rainfall and snow during the coming months, and that the initial allocation will increase as the year progresses.”
Today’s announcement marks the initial allocation to Authority irrigation water service and repayment and municipal and industrial member agencies. Water supply updates will be posted on Reclamation California-Great Basin Region’s website.
Westlands Water District
Today, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) announced an initial 35% water allocation for Westlands Water District (District) and other South-of-Delta Central Valley Project (CVP) agricultural contractors. This allocation marks a notable improvement over last year’s dismal 15% initial allocation under similar hydrologic conditions, providing our farmers with a critical opportunity to make timely planting decisions, reduce groundwater pumping, and help sustain our nation’s food supply.
“We are encouraged by the state and federal administration’s recent efforts concentrating on water maximizing water supply for Californians and spotlighting California’s complex longstanding water issues,” said Allison Febbo, General Manager. “This allocation offers our farmers the opportunity to make critical planting decisions that optimize feeding the nation. Westlands looks forward to working with Reclamation and other agency partners to continue prioritizing improvements to our state’s water supply and reliability for all of California.”
While the allocation is an important and very positive first step toward implementing recent directives aimed at maximizing water supply, much work remains. Recent winter storms predominantly benefitted Northern California, leaving the central region—and, by extension, San Joaquin River flows—less fortunate. South-of-Delta CVP allocations are limited by low San Joaquin River flows due to current Delta regulations.
Furthermore, the lack of adequate surface water storage meant a large amount of water was left uncaptured. This underscores the pressing need to revisit current regulations that prevent higher allocations and invest in additional storage capacity and an improved conveyance infrastructure. These measures are critical to better capturing and delivering available water in years with similar hydrologic conditions. We anticipate working with Reclamation on these next steps soon.
The District is hopeful that continued hydrological improvements will lead to an increased updated allocation for farms and communities in the coming months. Meanwhile, Westlands Water District will continue to engage with Reclamation on the review of current regulations and spring water supply operations decisions that will shape both this year’s and the long-term water supply.
