Farmers on the Westside of the Central Valley will be getting a 35 percent water allocation this season, according to an announcement from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
“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,” the Bureau stated in a news release.
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. The announcement, which was made Feb. 26, reflects the results of the most recent February storms that hit across California. The Bureau will continue 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 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.”
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.
Executive Order 14181, issued on January 24, 2025, focuses on addressing water resource challenges and improving disaster response in California, particularly in Southern California. This order was prompted by devastating wildfires that caused significant loss of life and property. It directs federal agencies to take measures to ensure adequate water resources, override state or local policies that hinder water delivery, and enhance infrastructure to prevent and combat wildfires.
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.
