Bureau of Reclamation Report Shows Storage in Key CVP Reservoirs Down From Last Year

In advance of its initial water supply allocation announcement for 2016, the U.S Bureau of Reclamation Friday released a report showing storage for six key Central Valley Project reservoirs – Shasta, New Melones, Trinity, Folsom, Millerton, and the federal portion of San Luis – is down by 963,000 acre-feet, as compared to this time last year. The report also shows that the CVP’s reservoir carryover storage from Water Year 2015 into WY 2016 was 2.9 million acre-feet, just 24% of capacity and 47% of the 15-year average. In a statement accompanying the data, Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Regional Director David Murillo said that despite encouraging El Niño storms, given the low storage figures the Bureau would still need to be “prudent” in developing initial operation plans and allocations for Central Valley Project water contractors this year.