After yesterday’s announcement of an initial 10% State Water Project allocation, the following statements were issued:
From the Kern County Water Agency:
“Today, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced that the State Water Project (SWP) initial water allocation is 10 percent of contracted amounts. This means fewer than 100,000 acre-feet of water would be delivered to Kern County water users from the SWP in 2016—compared to the contracted amount of about one million acre-feet. The SWP provides water to more than 25 million residents and more than 750,000 acres of agricultural land throughout California.
California is in the fourth year of a severe drought and desperately needs a plentiful water year. “We’ve had to rely on groundwater these past few years to make up the deficit for lost supplies due to the prolonged drought, and we need high flow water to replenish the groundwater basin,” said Kern County Water Agency (Agency) Board of Directors President Ted Page. “While most of Kern County has experienced some much needed rain recently, it’s important to remember that one wet season will not solve our multi-year drought. So, we will continue to implement creative water management strategies to help deal with this shortage.”
Each year, DWR issues a conservative initial allocation, since California normally receives more than 90 percent of its snow and rain between December and April. Today’s allocation is expected to increase as more storms occur.
This initial allocation underscores the need for a comprehensive solution to the state’s longstanding water crisis. The Agency is part of a diverse coalition of California water agencies that have invested more than $240 million to develop California WaterFix—a prudent, realistic, science-driven and achievable approach that will fix California’s aging water delivery system, protect its economy and ensure related public safety. This approach is in response to an unprecedented level of public review and comment. It covers five main areas:
- Water Security
- Climate Change Adaptation
- Environmental Protection
- Seismic Safety
- Affordability
The Agency’s goal is to help ensure that Kern County’s agricultural economy can continue to sustain thousands of local jobs as well as provide a reliable and affordable water supply for the tens of thousands of homes and businesses in the metropolitan Bakersfield area.
“We appreciate that DWR issued at least a 10 percent allocation, which enables the ability to continue to make exchanges and transfers,” Page concluded.
The Kern County Water Agency (Agency) was created in 1961 by a special act of the State Legislature and serves as the local contracting entity for the State Water Project. The Agency, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2011, participates in a wide scope of management activities, including water quality, flood control and groundwater operations to preserve and enhance Kern County’s water supply—the main ingredient for the well-being of an economy.
From the Southern California Water Committee:
“The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) today announced an initial allocation of 10 percent for water agencies who receive water from the State Water Project, which supplies about 30 percent of Southern California’s water. This allocation is the first estimate for 2016, and could change depending on the amount of rain and snow received during the winter and spring. Ten percent of water deliveries is among the lowest recorded allocations, as California approaches a fifth year of unprecedented drought. Water agencies that receive water from the State Water Project provide water to 26 million people, businesses and farms throughout the state.
The low allocation emphasizes the need to ensure a more reliable water system. Actions are currently underway to modernize our state’s water delivery system through California WaterFix. SCWC recently released two infographics explaining the importance of the project which would ensure safe water supply, promote supply reliability, support drought protection and prepare for climate change.
“It will take more than the possibility of a wet winter to make up for four consecutive dry years. We need a modern water system that allows us to capture water when it’s available so we can store enough water to protect us during the dry periods. California WaterFix supports drought protection, allowing agencies to move more water to storage and safeguard water supplies for the future. The current delivery system is vulnerable to earthquakes and natural disasters, and if we don’t modernize our state’s water delivery system, we risk losing 30 percent of California’s water supply. In the meantime, Californians must keep conserving.“
Rich Atwater
Executive Director
Southern California Water Committee
Established in 1984, the Southern California Water Committee is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public education partnership dedicated to informing Southern Californians about our water needs and our state’s water resources. Spanning Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Imperial, Riverside, Ventura and Kern counties, the SCWC’s members include representatives from business, government, agriculture, water agencies, labor and the general public. Visit us at www.socalwater.org and find us on Facebook.
From the State Water Contractors:
“Public water agencies may only receive 10 percent of their State Water Project (SWP) water supplies in 2016, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced today. At the end of each calendar year, DWR provides an initial estimate of how much water may be delivered in the upcoming year to public water agencies that purchase supplies from the SWP. The low 10 percent allocation reflects the impacts of ongoing drought, pervasive water shortages and current storage conditions.
Deliveries may increase depending on the amount of rain and snow in California this winter, but years of sequential drought have taken a toll on water supplies. The 2014 and 2015 water years ended with historic low final allocations of just 5 and 20 percent respectively. Reservoirs are near or at record low levels and 92 percent of the state is still in severe drought.
“Despite weather forecasts, California’s water agencies caution that one wet winter cannot make up for the huge water supply deficit that has been mounting for the past several years. The drought has required communities throughout the state to make do with minimal supplies from the State Water Project, forcing water agencies to draw down on local reserves – it will take years of above average rainfall to replenish what’s been lost,” said Stefanie Morris, acting general manager of the State Water Contractors. “Today’s announcement signifies again that we are not out of the woods and water agencies must prepare for another tough year.”
DWR will provide periodic estimates of how much water can be delivered from the SWP as winter progresses. The estimate is quantified as a percentage of how much water may be available to public water agencies under their contracts with the state. Regardless of how much is actually delivered, SWP contractors are required to pay for 100 percent of the amount of water included in their contracts.
Rainfall and snowmelt flow through rivers and streams from the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) – California’s primary water supply hub. Water that moves through the Delta supplies in-Delta agricultural and municipal water diverters and supports the Delta’s recreational and environmental needs. Water agencies that receive supplies from the SWP, and its federal counterpart, the Central Valley Project, receive a portion of these supplies to serve two-thirds of the state’s residents, three million acres of farmland and businesses from Silicon Valley to San Diego.
The State Water Contractors is a statewide, non-profit association of 27 public agencies from Northern, Central and Southern California that purchase water under contract from the California State Water Project. Collectively the State Water Contractors deliver water to more than 26 million residents throughout the state and more than 750,000 acres of agricultural lands. For more information on the State Water Contractors, please visit www.swc.org.
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