Gov. Gavin Newsom more than doubled allocations for the State Water Project on Friday and lifted several drought provisions. But the administration may nudge that number up yet again next month.
Contractors and irrigation districts applauded the announcement. While the Kern County Water Agency appreciated the allocation, it was disappointed it was not more.
The Department of Water Resources will perform its final snow survey for the water year today, which could trigger another adjustment to the allocations, an the number could continue to change through June.
In 2017 the state finished the water year with an 85% allocation. It has been nearly two decades since it set a 100% allocation, and federal endangered species protections make it “extremely unlikely” to happen again, according to the Kern agency.
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As with 2017, many in the Central Valley are lamenting that the state could be storing much more floodwater if it had invested in the infrastructure.
In response to Newsom’s announcement, Republican Rep. David Valadao blasted environmentalists and “Sacramento bureaucrats” for preventing such projects from getting off the ground. He said the state’s water problems are far from over.
