LegiStorm

Summary:

After five years of drought, rain and snowstorms in Northern and Central California in the winter of 2016-2017 significantly improved water supply conditions in the state in 2017. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, as of March 21, 2017, about 1% of the state was in severe drought conditions. This represents an improvement from one year prior to that date, when 73% of the state was in severe drought conditions, and two years prior, when 92% fell under this designation. Stress on water supplies due to drought resulted in cutbacks in water deliveries to districts receiving water from federal and state facilities, in particular the federal Central Valley Project (CVP, operated by the Bureau of Reclamation [Reclamation] in the Department of the Interior) and the State Water Project (SWP, operated by the State of California). In 2015, California mandated a 25% reduction in water use for nonagricultural water users, and overall SWP deliveries were limited to 20% of contractor requests. Some of these restrictions have since been relaxed. Reclamation estimated its initial water allocations for CVP contractors for the 2017 water year in a series of three announcements in February and March 2017. Although many contractors received 100% allocations due to the wet winter, some CVP water contractors south of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers' Delta (Bay Delta) did not. After several years in which no supplies were made available to these contractors (many of whom farm some of the most valuable irrigated agricultural land in the country), the initial 2017 allocation was for 65% and 90% of contracted supplies for South-of-Delta agricultural and municipal contractors, respectively. In contrast to prior wet years, Reclamation noted that the reduced allocations were for the most part not the result of drought and/or environmental restrictions but were due to rescheduled water from the prior year. Cutbacks in water deliveries to CVP contractors, especially during periods of increased precipitation, have caused some to criticize Reclamation's management of the CVP and insist that more water be delivered to contractors. Some also question the extent to which factors beyond drought (e.g., restrictions to protect endangered species) influence water management and the quantity of water delivered to contractors. They argue that congressionally directed changes in the operation of the CVP are needed and would result in increases to water allocations for agriculture and municipal contractors. Other stakeholders argue that some of these changes could undercut environmental regulations, harm fish and wildlife, and potentially lower water quality. They also worry that legislative proposals that would alter the implementation of the Endangered Species Act could harm species in the region and set a precedent that could be used to affect other listed species in the future. Legislation enacted in the 114th Congress (Subtitle J of S. 612, the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation [WIIN] Act) incorporated provisions from multiple California drought-related bills that had been considered dating to the 112th Congress. Among other things, these provisions directed pumping to "maximize" water supplies for the CVP (in accordance with applicable biological opinions), allowed for increased pumping during certain high water events, and authorized expedited reviews of water transfers. Similar to recent congresses, the 115th Congress is considering legislation that proposes additional changes to CVP operations. H.R. 23, the Gaining Responsibility on Water Act (GROW Act) incorporates a number of provisions that were included in previous legislation but were not in the final version of the WIIN Act. Congress may consider this and similar legislation, as well as oversight of CVP operations and implementation of WIIN Act CVP provisions. This report provides an abbreviated background on the CVP and SWP. It also provides a summary of recent hydrologic conditions in California and their effect on water deliveries from these projects.