We are disappointed to hear that Reclamation is not able to provide an update to water allocations this month due to a number of factors, including ongoing export limitations due to regulatory controls on Central Valley Project (CVP) operations, accounting reconciliations between the CVP and State Water Project (SWP), temperature management challenges, and the impacts of an additional 100,000 acre-feet of pumping restrictions resulting from the Interim Operations Plan that governed CVP and SWP operations.
These operational constraints are creating high levels of uncertainty and have resulted in lower allocations than expected this year.
It’s important for decision-makers to understand how critical irrigated agriculture is to the communities and the economy of the San Joaquin Valley. We must work to find a way to continue to improve our national food security, which is reliant on the water provided by the CVP.
We believe there’s a better way to balance the competing demands and will be working closely with Reclamation to improve operational flexibility for the CVP while maintaining necessary protections for species.
We understand that Reclamation will be scheduling a detailed review of the May forecast with CVP contractors as early as practicable.