News

California’s severe climate-driven drought is having a significant impact on the state’s water supply, but it’s also putting the state’s salmon population at serious risk.

In an effort to boost water supply reliability for millions of Californians, DWR announced its first round of funding to 20 agencies responsible for managing critically overdrafted groundwater basins throughout the state.

Following the driest three-month stretch in the state’s recorded history and with warmer months ahead, DWR announced its seventh round of grant awards for local assistance through the Small Community Drought Relief program.

DWR released the public draft of the 2022 Update to the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan (CVFPP). The plan is California's strategic framework for reducing flood risk in the Central Valley, which has among the highest flood risk in the nation.

DWR signed an agreement to award $3.3 million in funding to the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority to repair segments of the Delta-Mendota Canal (DMC) in the San Joaquin Valley that have been damaged by land subsidence.

DWR conducted the fourth snow survey of the season at Phillips Station. Following three straight months of record dry conditions, the manual survey recorded just 2.5 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of one inch, which is four percent of average for this location for April 1.

With California now in its third year of drought, collaboration among state, federal and local partners is critical to improving the resiliency of California’s water system. Today, DWR announced it has released $29.8 million in funding to the Friant Water Authority (FWA) to repair segments of the Friant-Kern Canal.

DWR announced its second phase of funding through the Urban and Multibenefit Drought Relief Grant program. The program will provide financial assistance to 62 projects throughout the state to tackle drought impacts on human health and safety, protect fish and wildlife resources, and support other public benefits, such as ecosystem improvements.

DWR announced it must reduce the State Water Project allocation to 5 percent of requested supplies for 2022. DWR previously set the allocation at 15 percent but a historically dry January and February, with no significant storms forecast for March, requires a reduction in the allocation to conserve available water supply.

This week marks National Groundwater Awareness Week, and as California enters a third consecutive year of drought it is more important than ever to be aware of groundwater’s role in the state’s water supply and the need to protect this precious resource.