THIS JUST IN … State Water Project allocation increased to 30%

Photo: A drone view of low water conditions at West Branch Feather River Bridge along Highway 70 located at Lake Oroville in Butte County, California. On this date, the water storage was 1,790,095 acre-feet (AF), 51 percent of the total capacity. Photo taken January 12, 2022. Andrew Innerarity / California Department of Water Resources. Recent Storms Allow State Water Project to Increase Expected 2023 Deliveries to 1.27 Million Acre-Feet of Water.

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) today announced that recent storms will allow the State Water Project (SWP) to boost deliveries to 29 public water agencies serving 27 million Californians. Based on the amount of water captured and stored in recent weeks, DWR now expects to deliver 30 percent of requested water supplies – or 1.27 million acre-feet — in 2023, up from the initial 5 percent announced on December 1.

The allocation increase is the direct result of extreme weather in late December and nine atmospheric rivers in early January that helped fill reservoirs and dramatically increase the Sierra Nevada snowpack. The SWP’s two largest reservoirs (Oroville and San Luis) have gained a combined 1.62 million acre-feet of water in storage — […]

Full article: THIS JUST IN … State Water Project allocation increased to 30%

Also see: The Science Behind Atmospheric Rivers