California increases 2026 State Water Project allocation to 30%
California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) has increased the 2026 State Water Project (SWP) allocation to 30% of requested supplies, up from the initial 10% announced Dec. 1, following mid-December storms that boosted available water supplies. The SWP delivers water to 29 public water agencies serving approximately 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland.
According to DWR, SWP allocations are based on hydrologic conditions, existing reservoir storage and planning assumptions that the remainder of the year will be dry. While December storms improved conditions statewide, January has been unseasonably warm and dry, leaving snowpack and precipitation below average for this time of year.
“What Mother Nature provides each winter is the main driver of our State Water Project allocations and it is increasingly unpredictable,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth in a press release. “We need to adapt our water system to capture as much as possible during warm and wet storms. We are now managing during these storms with more real-time information about potential harm to state and federally protected species. Operational flexibility matters because every drop counts.”
Despite the recent dry conditions, California’s reservoirs remain well above average, at 125% of typical storage statewide. Lake Oroville, the SWP’s largest reservoir, is currently at 138% of average for this time of year.
DWR also pointed to increased operational flexibility following a December amendment to the project’s Incidental Take Permit, which allows adjustments to certain fish protection actions during storms. That flexibility enabled the SWP to capture an additional 15,000 acre-feet of water in December and January, enough to supply approximately 45,000 homes for a year.
DWR will continue to update SWP allocations monthly as snowpack and runoff data are evaluated, with future increases dependent on conditions during February and March, traditionally the state’s wettest months.