Bureau Increases South-of-Delta Allocation by ACWA Staff Jun 26, 2024 Water News SACRAMENTO – The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on June 25 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,” California-Great Basin Regional Director Karl Stock stated in a Bureau news release. In a news release, Westlands Water District welcomed the increase and called it clearly justified, but also described it as long overdue, especially given the current favorable water conditions throughout the state. “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,” Westlands Water District General Manager Allison Febbo stated in the release. “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.”
