California facing worst drought in 160 years
The Bureau of Reclamation has announced that many California farmers will not receive federal water imports for the second consecutive year because of the persistent drought.
California is experiencing its fourth consecutive year of below-average precipitation, and the Governor’s Emergency Drought Proclamation, issued January 17, 2014, remains in effect. Without unusually heavy precipitation over the next few months, extreme drought conditions are forecasted to persist throughout the Central Valley, said the Bureau of Reclamation in a statement.
The bureau announced Friday the initial 2015 water supply allocation for Central Valley Project agricultural contractors and municipal and industrial contractors. The allocation reflects current reservoir storages, precipitation and snowpack conditions in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada. The California Department of Water Resources reports snowpack is below average for this date with the snow water content statewide currently at 20 percent or less of average for this time of year.
Many agricultural water contractors may face a second year of receiving no water from the project – an unprecedented situation.
In addition, urban uses should expect reduced amounts of water from the CVP, said the statement
Reclamation began Water Year 2015 in October 2014, with only 3.1 million acre-feet of carryover storage in six key CVP reservoirs. This was only 26 percent of capacity and 47 percent of the 15-year average for October 1.
Meantime, January 2015 was the driest January in recorded history for northern California.
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