Boxer Statement on Announcement of Increased Water Supplies for California Farmers

Bureau of Reclamation Allocations Will Help Farmers Impacted by Drought

Washington, D.C. – U. S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today praised the U.S. Department of the Interior’s announcement that the Bureau of Reclamation’s 2010 Central Valley Project Water Supply allocations have increased throughout the Central Valley. The increase results from additional precipitation and improved snowpack and storage at Shasta Reservoir.

Senator Boxer said, “I am so pleased that the Bureau of Reclamation has agreed to release their updated water allocations a few weeks early so that farmers can start making more informed planting decisions. Water supplies are still limited, but I am optimistic that allocations will continue to go up and that the other measures the Bureau is working on will provide additional relief to the human suffering on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.”

Based on a 90 percent forecast, farmers in the west San Joaquin Valley will be allocated 25 percent of their contract water supply and farmers in the Sacramento Valley will be allocated 50 percent of their contract water supply. Both of those allocations are up from 5 percent. Supplies have also increased for east side farmers in the Friant Division.

The Bureau of Reclamation typically releases allocation updates later in the month, but made today’s announcement at the urging of Senator Boxer, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Congressmen Jim Costa and Dennis Cardoza.

Additional information regarding the allocations, including water supply forecasts, is available at www.usbr.gov/mp/pa/water.