State deepens water supply cuts as drought continues
Project by $25 million. That corrects a funding shortfall from2018. In addition, the commission also voted toadjust theeligibility fundingamountsof all existingprojects toaccount for inflation at approximately 1.5%. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week invi ted the Si tes Project Authority to apply for a $2.2 bil- lion low-interest loan through the Water InfrastructureFinanceandInnovationAct. That could bring the project, planned for north of Sacramento, significantly closer to construction.
“The significance of this opportunity cannot be overstated,” said Fritz Durst, chairman of the Sites Project Authority. “We thank our federal partners and the Biden administration for supporting Sites Reservoir in such ameaningful way.” A loan through the WIFIA program could significantly reduce the costs to participants, making it more affordable for cities, farms and resourcemanagers to have increasedwater access in dry years. (Chr i s t ine Souza i s an ass i s tant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)
ByChristine Souza The California Department of Water Resources is cutting its water allocation for the State Water Project to 5%—down fromitsearlierpromisedallotment of 15%. The agency cited dropping reser- voir levels and reduced snowpack amid California’s continuing drought. The March 18 announcement marked another setback for farmers and others who rely on state surface-water supplies. “Farmers and ranchers are themost re- silientgroupofpeopleIknow,but this third year of Mother Nature’s drought coupled withthestate-imposedregulatorydrought iscutting tothebone,”saidDannyMerkley, California FarmBureau director of water resources. “State regulators need to find a balance to their decisions for all beneficial uses of water: the environment, human health and healthful, locally grown food and farmproducts.” DWRDirectorKarlaNemethsaid theal- locationwasreducedduetothehistorically dry JanuaryandFebruary, andbecauseno significant storms are forecast forMarch. Inaddition,DWRsaid itplans toprovide anyunmet critical healthandsafetyneeds for the 29 water agencies that contract to receive State Water Project supplies. Statewide reservoir levels are about 70% of average, and the statewide Sierra snow- pack has fallen to 55%of average. DWR said it will preserve as much stor- age as possible in Lake Oroville, the State Water Project’s largest reservoir. Water releases fromLake Oroville will be priori- tized tomaintain delta water quality, pro- tect endangered species andmeet senior water-right needs. The agency’s next assessment of the State Water Project allocation will follow the next snow survey on April 1. A final allocation for the water year is typically announced inMay or June. With hopes of sufficient rainfall fading, the California Water Commission last week approved a proposed work plan to develop long-termstrategies formanaging a sustained drought in the state. The work plan includes a proposed set of investmentsandpolicies thatwouldbet- ter position the state to manage severely constrained water supplies for at least six consecutive years. It also makes recom- mendations to protect communities, fish andwildlife in long-termdry conditions. Laura Jensen, Ca l i forni a Water Commission assistant executive officer, provided an overview of the work plan, which she said focuses on research, out- reach and a white paper, which will offer guidance through the drought crisis. She said the document will be provided totheCaliforniaEnvironmentalProtection Agency and Natural Resources Agency. Jensen said staff will engage with repre- sentatives fromother countries that have experienceddrought, includingAustralia, SouthAfrica and Israel. In a separate action, the commission in- creasedpotentialfundingamountsforseven water-storage projects ranked through the
WaterStorageInvestmentProgram, thepro- cess for ranking projects and determining eligibility of funding public benefits under Proposition1, passedbyvoters in2014. This month, with approximately $64 millioninavailable fundingremaining, the commission voted to increase the poten- tial fundingamount for theSitesReservoir
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March 23, 2022 Ag Alert 3
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