CALIFORNIA BUSINESS MINUTE
More Water
06-01-10
Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute
The Bureau of Reclamation’s 2010 Central Valley Project (CVP) Water Supply
allocations have been increased for agricultural water service contractors
in California’s San Joaquin Valley to 40 percent of contracted amounts.
The increased allocation is based in large part on efforts to secure additional
sources of water to boost allocations for South-of-Delta agricultural water
service contractors on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and improved
storage and runoff into the CVP reservoirs, in particular the American River
watershed, the Bureau says.
Meanwhile, the California Department of Water Resources announced it will increase
its 2010 allocation of State Water Project, SWP deliveries to 40 percent. The SWP
allocation had been raised from 30 percent of contractors’ requests at the end of
April. When the final snow survey of the year was conducted it showed statewide
Sierra snowpack water content was 143 percent of normal for the date.
However, Lake Oroville, the key Northern California storage reservoir for the SWP,
has gained 490,000 acre feet since April 1, but still sits at only 61 percent of
capacity caused by below average snowmelt run-off because of three consecutive dry
years. Additionally, restrictions on Delta pumping to protect delta smelt, salmon,
and other fish species “continue to limit amounts of water that can be delivered
to SWP contractors serving the Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Central Coast and
Southern California
I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.
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