Business

Reclamation plans for fourth dry year in a row for Central Valley Project

Tags
Reclamation plans for fourth dry year in a row for Central Valley Project
(Shasta Dam is a curved gravity concrete dam on the Sacramento River above Redding, Calif.)

The Bureau of Reclamation is asking its contractors that receive Central Valley Project water for municipal and industrial use to begin planning for potentially extremely limited water supply conditions in 2023.

Despite the early storms that California experienced in November 2022, drought conditions continue, according to a release. Conservative planning efforts will help better manage the limited water resources in the event conditions remain dry and the area moves into a fourth consecutive drought year.

The CVP’s major reservoirs are (from north to south) Trinity, Shasta, Folsom, New Melones, Millerton, and the federal share of San Luis Reservoir. The Shasta powerhouse has a capacity of 633 MW, Folsom 198.72 MW, New Melones 300 MW and Trinity 140 MW. San Luis Reservoir provides water to the 424 MW William R. Gianelli pump-generating plant.

The CVP typically supplies water to about 3 million acres of agricultural land in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys. The CVP also provides urban water for millions of people and industrial water, including that essential to the San Francisco Bay Area’s economy. In addition, water from the CVP is vital for the environment, wildlife and fishery restoration, and hydroelectric power production.

The CVP began the 2023 water year on Oct. 1 with water storage reservoirs near historic lows. Shasta Reservoir, the state’s largest reservoir and cornerstone of the CVP, is at 31% capacity. If drought conditions extend into 2023, Reclamation will find it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to meet all the competing needs of the CVP without beginning the implementation of additional and more severe water conservation actions.

Under Reclamation’s Municipal & Industrial Water Shortage Policy, CVP municipal and industrial contractors are asked to provide specific information to calculate public health and safety numbers using the standard calculation outlined in the Central Valley Project Municipal and Industrial Water Shortage Policy Guidelines and Procedures.

Reclamation said it continues to closely monitor hydrologic conditions and will provide regular updates in the coming months. Initial water supply allocations for the CVP will be announced in February.