The Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) have prepared an initial drought contingency plan for 2015 operations, which they today provided to various state and federal agencies. Although there were late 2014 storms that helped our water supply situation in certain areas, the last three dry years have left California’s overall water storage levels below last year.
In the Sacramento Valley, it is important that both the CVP and SWP are able to retain as much water as possible in storage–now through May–so the water will be available later this spring and summer for various beneficial purposes. As an example, water that is stored in Lake Shasta can serve multiple purposes in the Sacramento Valley and is available for: 1) cold water releases for salmon rearing in the upper part of the Sacramento River during the summer; 2) farms and the related habitat in the Sacramento Valley; 3) the Pacific Flyway and bird habitat on ricelands and the National Wildlife Refuges; and 4) the Sacramento metropolitan area. Additionally, water in storage will also be available to serve various beneficial purposes in the Delta, including salinity control, fisheries, in-Delta needs and other project purposes.
With respect to timing, the sooner that water can be retained in these reservoirs, the better cold water habitat for salmon will be available later this year. The Drought Contingency Plan is a positive step forward to prepare for a dry year. We appreciate the thoughtful approaches in the Drought Contingency Plan and encourage follow-up actions as soon as possible to allow the projects to retain water in storage for later this year. This, in turn, will provide water resources managers with the certainty necessary to manage water for maximum beneficial uses as already described. This is truly a win-win for the economy and environment in these challenging years.
