The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation boosted Friant Division Class 1 water allocation by 20 percent on Monday.
Friant Division water contractors will now receive 95 percent of their Class 1 water allocation.
The big picture: Class 1 water for the Friant Water Division is the first 800,000 acre feet of water captured in Millerton Lake.
- Class 1 contractors are usually cities or districts without access to groundwater supplies.
- Class 2 water is the next 1.4 million acre feet in Millerton Lake, which is mostly used for irrigation and groundwater recharge.
What they’re saying: Friant Water Authority CEO Jason Phillips thanked the Bureau of Reclamation for swiftly reacting to the recent storms in California.
- “Quickly reacting to the ever-changing hydrologic conditions is one of the most important actions that our partners at the Bureau of Reclamation can take to ensure the communities and farms on the eastside can survive another year,” Phillips said. “The decision today will help to avoid unnecessarily losing water as Millerton Reservoir continues to quickly fill as snow turns to water and will take some pressure off an already over drafted groundwater aquifer. On behalf of the Friant Division, we thank the Bureau for today’s welcomed update.”
