More Lake Shasta water shipped south to San Joaquin Valley after Trump Administration order

• California’s south-of-Delta water agencies will receive 50% of their contracted water allocation from the Central Valley Project.
• North-of-Delta agencies will receive 100% of their contracted water allocation.
• Increased snow and rainfall led to higher reservoir levels, prompting the allocation increase.
• The decision follows a Trump administration order aimed at increasing water deliveries to Central and Southern California.

Agricultural irrigators and communities south of the San Joaquin Delta that rely on water from Lake Shasta and other federal reservoirs in California will get more water this year.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced this week that it is increasing the amount of water that south-of-Delta agencies receive from the federal Central Valley Project to 50% of their total contracted amount.

Agencies north of the Delta that receive federal water will receive 100% of their contracts, the bureau said.

In February, the bureau initially allocated 35% of contract amount to agricultural and municipal agencies south of the Delta, but higher-than-average snow and rainfall this past winter have North State reservoirs rising, the agency said.

As of Sunday, Lake Shasta was 115% of average for this time of year and Trinity Lake was 116% of average. Both are Central Valley Project reservoirs. Lake Shasta is the largest reservoir in California and is the keystone in the Central Valley Project.

Lake Shasta was 97% full and Trinity Lake was 96% full, according to the State Department of Water Resources. Shasta also continues to fill this spring, with the amount of water flowing into the lake much higher than what was being released from Shasta Dam into Keswick Lake and the Sacramento River.

As of Sunday, 9,631 cubic feet per second was flowing into Lake Shasta, while 5,941 was being released from the dam.

In announcing the increase in water deliveries to the San Joaquin Valley, the bureau noted it was following a Trump administration order issued earlier this year during a series of devastating Southern California wildfires.

The executive order was aimed at sending more water to Central and Southern California.

“Today’s increase in allocations reinforces our commitment to achieving the objectives outlined in Executive Order 14181, which seeks to maximize water supplies within the Central Valley Project,” said Acting California-Great Basin Regional Director Adam Nickels.

Trump’s order was issued in January in response to a perceived water shortage in some Southern California areas as fires raged in the Los Angeles area.

After some fire hydrants went dry during the Palisades Fire, Trump criticized California elected officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom for mismanaging the state’s water.

After the president issued the executive order federal water managers released some 2.2 billion gallons of water during the winter, but that water was being stored in Tulare County reservoirs to irrigate crops during the summer, according to water managers in the region.

The water in Tulare County did not reach the Los Angeles area.

Some fire hydrants in Los Angeles ran dry during early stages of the fires. But Janisse Quinones, head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said hydrants are designed for fighting fires at one or two houses at a time, not hundreds, according to the Associated Press.

Fire officials said at the time that they would normally rely more heavily on air tankers to fight the blazes, but high winds at the time prevented their use, according to the AP.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said 20% of city operated hydrants went dry during the Palisades Fire.

Reporter Damon Arthur welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834, by email at damon.arthur@redding.com and on Twitter at @damonarthur_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!