Update: Federal irrigation water is now at 100% for all of western Stanislaus County
Allotments now stand at 100% for every last acre that gets federal water in Stanislaus County.
The April 20 announcement followed a winter that brought far-above-average rain and snow to California. Some irrigation districts on the West Side got zero federal water in 2021 and 2022 due to drought.
The announcement was from the Central Valley Project, which delivers water from several reservoirs in the mountains flanking the region. It includes the Delta-Mendota Canal, serving farms from San Joaquin to Kern counties.
This system does not involve suppliers that tap local rivers, such as the Modesto, Turlock, Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation districts. They also are making full deliveries in 2023.
The CVP service area includes several districts that had less severe drought cutbacks thanks to senior water rights. Four of them make up the Exchange Contractors Water Authority, stretching from Crows Landing to Mendota.
State Water Project follows suit
The CVP announcement came on the same day the State Water Project boosted all allotments to 100%. It supplies a lower volume to farmers, including the small Oak Flat Water District near Patterson. Much of the water goes to urban users in Southern California and elsewhere.
“This year has seen a remarkable turnaround in the state’s water supply,” said Adel Hagekhalil, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, in a news release. “After three years of the lowest State Water Project deliveries in history, we’re now seeing the first 100% allocation since 2006.”
The SWP supply has been less than 100% even in wet years like 2017, due to pumping restrictions to protect fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Gov. Gavin Newsom eased them this year so more water could be stored against future droughts.
The zero federal allotments in 2021 and 2022 had been for districts with junior rights. Among them is the Del Puerto Water District, straddling Interstate 5 from the Tracy area to Santa Nella. The uncertainty prompted it to add recycled wastewater from Modesto, Ceres and Turlock.
Early winter storms led the CVP to project 35% of contracted water to districts that got zero recently. That was raised to 80% in late March and finally 100% last week.
The largest of these contractors is the Westlands Water District, west of Fresno.
“This water supply will assist growers in Westlands with putting the land to work to grow the food that feeds the world,” Interim General Manager Jose Gutierrez said in a news release.
Calls for more storage
Gutierrez and other irrigation leaders said the 2023 conditions should not stall long-term efforts to upgrade the systems. They include storage above and below ground, along with conservation and recycling.
The Exchange Contractors Water Authority already was at 100% due to an 1930s agreement to give up direct diversions from the San Joaquin River in exchange for CVP water. They are the Central California Irrigation District, the San Luis Canal Co., the Firebaugh Canal Water District and the Columbia Canal Co.
The only allotment less than 100% is in part of the area served by the Friant-Kern Canal, stretching between Madera and Kern counties. Full deliveries will be made for the first 800,000 acre-feet. An additional 600,000 will be at 70%, up from the initial 20%.
