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San Luis Reservoir image via Google Earth

published on November 30, 2018 - 2:27 PM
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The state has issued an initial water allocation of 10 percent for contractors of the State Water Project.

The California Department of Water Resources announced the allocation with the caveat that it may change as hydrologic and water supply conditions shift through the season.

“Even with the recent rainfall, Water Year 2019 has started dry and many of the state’s largest reservoirs are below average for this time of year,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “With California’s extreme hydrology, we have to plan for a wet or dry year.”

The Department’s initial allocation for 2018 was 15 percent. The final allocation for 2018 reached 35 percent. The lowest initial SWP allocation was 5 percent in 2014 due to the record drought.

Lake Oroville, the SWP’s largest reservoir, is at 29 percent capacity and 48 percent of average for this time of the year. Shasta Lake, the Central Valley Project’s (CVP) largest reservoir, is at 48 percent of capacity and 80 percent of average. San Luis Reservoir, the largest off-stream reservoir in the United States where water is stored for the SWP and CVP, is at 57 percent of capacity and 96 percent of average.


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