Westlands Water District is frustrated with the Trump Administration for not boosting the water allocation for Central Valley farmers by a large enough amount.
Westlands General Manager Allison Febbo called the increase in allocation that the Bureau of Reclamation announced on Tuesday “inadequate.”
Flashback: Reclamation announced last month that South-of-Delta water contractors would receive 15% of their contracted total.
Water officials said at the time that the low allocation was driven by a dry and warm January, which cancelled out some storms in the Sierra Nevada mountains from earlier in the season.
The big picture: Reclamation announced Tuesday that it is increasing the South-of-Delta allocation from 15% to 20%.
What they’re saying: “Hydrologic conditions this year have required careful, real-time management of our water resources,” said Reclamation Acting Regional Director Adam Nickels. “These modest increases reflect both the improvements from late February storms and the need to remain cautious as we move through the remainder of the water year, especially given the current extended dry period and state of the Sierra snowpack. Our priority remains delivering reliable water supplies while protecting the long-term sustainability of the system.”
Febbo had harsh words for the meager boost, saying the current approach is not sustainable and underscores the need to modernize how California manages its water.
“While we appreciate the modest increase in allocation and acknowledge the constraints of California’s current hydrology – particularly as snowpack declines rapidly – this additional 5 percent is simply inadequate,” Febbo said. “Continued low allocations lead to increased reliance on groundwater pumping, a direct result of our broken water system that has suffered from decades of underinvestment and unreliable water supplies.”