For Immediate Release
Contact: Elizabeth Jonasson
(559) 241-6233
Westlands Water District Responds to Initial 2025 Allocation
Fresno, California – Today, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) announced an initial 35% water allocation for Westlands Water District (District) and other South-of-Delta Central Valley Project (CVP) agricultural contractors. This allocation marks a notable improvement over last year’s dismal 15% initial allocation under similar hydrologic conditions, providing our farmers with a critical opportunity to make timely planting decisions, reduce groundwater pumping, and help sustain our nation’s food supply.
“We are encouraged by the state and federal administration’s recent efforts concentrating on water, maximizing water supply for Californians and spotlighting California’s complex longstanding water issues,” said Allison Febbo, General Manager. “This allocation offers our farmers the opportunity to make critical planting decisions that optimize feeding the nation. Westlands looks forward to working with Reclamation and other agency partners to continue prioritizing improvements to our state’s water supply and reliability for all of California.”
While the allocation is an important and very positive first step toward implementing recent directives aimed at maximizing water supply, much work remains. Recent winter storms predominantly benefitted Northern California, leaving the central region—and, by extension, San Joaquin River flows—less fortunate. South-of-Delta CVP allocations are limited by low San Joaquin River flows due to current Delta regulations.
Furthermore, the lack of adequate surface water storage meant a large amount of water was left uncaptured. This underscores the pressing need to revisit current regulations that prevent higher allocations and invest in additional storage capacity and an improved conveyance infrastructure. These measures are critical to better capturing and delivering available water in years with similar hydrologic conditions. We anticipate working with Reclamation on these next steps soon.
The District is hopeful that continued hydrological improvements will lead to an increased updated allocation for farms and communities in the coming months. Meanwhile, Westlands Water District will continue to engage with Reclamation on the review of current regulations and spring water supply operations decisions that will shape both this year’s and the long-term water supply.
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About Westlands Water District
Westlands Water District is recognized as a world leader in agricultural water conservation and has served the farmers and rural communities on the west side of Fresno and Kings counties for more than seven decades. As stewards of one of California’s most precious natural resources, Westlands continually invests in conservation and champions farmers deploying innovative irrigation methods based on the best available technology.