The State Water Project expects to deliver only five percent of what its contractors requested next year. That’s a record low since the project began delivering water in 1967. Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow says the state has had three years of drought – and it has to prepare for a possible fourth one.
“It’s important that we do as much as we can to conserve water. We need to make sure that transfers are made available to those areas that are impacted and we want to encourage and actually help fund efforts for communities to diversify their water supplies.”
Snow says if conditions improve, they might increase the allocation up to 40 percent– but it’s unclear right now. Last year, the initial allocation was 15 percent. It ended up being 40 percent.
The state water project serves 25 million Californians and 750-thousand acres of farmland.