The Department of Water Resources announced its initial State Water Project allocation on Monday for the 2025 water season and Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency officials say it was not an unexpected initial allocation.
The forecasted allocation is 5% of requested supplies for 2025.
Each year, the Department of Water Resources provides the initial State Water Project allocation based on available water storage, projected water supply, and water demands, according to a DWR news release.
Allocations are updated monthly as snowpack, rainfall and runoff information is assessed, with a final allocation typically determined in May or June. Depending on snowfall and rain, the allocation may be increased by the end of the year.
“We do anticipate that the allocation will go up over time by the end of this water year and getting our state water supplies, we have been working diligently internally and with partners to ensure that we have adequate supplies of water for the Santa Clarita Valley,” said Kevin Strauss, spokesman for the SCV Water Agency.
Strauss said that the water agency is not concerned at this point because agency officials know it is an initial allocation, and they know that the allocations tend to go up over time.
For comparison, last year’s initial allocation was 10% and increased to 40% by the end of the year.
The initial allocation forecast does not consider the series of strong storms that brought precipitation to above average across Northern California in the last two weeks of November, according to the news release. The storms will be taken into account along with other variables for future allocation updates.
“Based on long-range forecasts and the possibility of a La Niña year, the State Water Project is planning for a dry 2025 punctuated by extreme storms like we’ve seen in late November,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth in the news release. “We need to prepare for any scenario, and this early in the season we need to take a conservative approach to managing our water supply. Our wettest months of the season are still to come.”
