Last week, DWR announced an update to the State Water Project (SWP) allocation forecast for 2025. The allocation has increased to 20% of requested supplies, up from 15% in December. The SWP provides water to 29 public water agencies that serve 27 million Californians. Despite dry conditions in January, California has effectively managed its reservoirs to keep storage above average for this time of year. Lake Oroville, the SWP’s largest reservoir, is at 127% of average for this time of year. Likewise, San Luis Reservoir is at 102% of average. Reservoirs in Southern California are also near or above their historical averages. Through its website, DWR offers information on how the SWP allocation process works and information about current and historical SWP allocations to state water contractors.

Governor Gavin Newsom has issued Executive Order (EO) N-16-25 to make it easier to divert and store excess water from incoming winter storms in Northern California. Specifically, the EO suspends the local flood plan requirement of California Water Code 1242.1, which codified many elements of the previous 2023 Flood EOs and allows for diversions of flood flows for recharge without water rights. These actions will help California replenish aboveground and groundwater storage that remains depleted in many parts of the state following multi-year droughts. California has taken aggressive actions to prepare for the impacts of climate-driven extremes in weather, investing more than $9 billion to boost the state's water supplies. EO N-16-25 continues the effective work of prior years.

Jimmy Carter, our nation’s 39th president, was as much a conservationist as he was a humanitarian. He doubled America’s land areas in many states; created the U.S. Department of Energy; added solar panels to the White House roof; and established the Federal Emergency Management Agency, more popularly known as FEMA. But before all of this, he signed Executive Order 11988 — the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard — which recognizes the importance of floodplains and the need to protect them. DWR Technical and Policy Advisor Micheal Mierzwa writes about the significance of this policy in the latest edition of the California WaterBlog.

The Flood-MAR Action Teams will be ramping up in the coming weeks. These teams emerged from discussions during the March 2023 quarterly Flood-MAR Network workshop and are collaborations of volunteers working to develop and advance specific products, projects, or initiatives over the next one to two years. The six teams comprise Estimating Recharge, Incentives for Flood-MAR, Water Quality Monitoring, Instream Flows, Assessing Policy, and Website. To join or learn of upcoming meetings and efforts, please inquire via email to floodmar.network@gmail.com. And don’t forget to check out today’s virtual Lunch-MAR session beginning at noon, which will feature the San Joaquin Valley Flood-MAR Dashboard.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan) reports that Southern Californians have reduced their per-person potable water use by 45% since 1990. Driven by Metropolitan’s nearly $1 billion investment in conservation rebates and programs, this decline over 35 years reflects a collaborative effort on the part of Metropolitan’s member agencies and Southern Californians’ willingness to adopt mindful resource management and an effective conservation ethic.

The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources’ virtual Post-Fire Resilience Workshop series begins tomorrow evening and will run weekly every Thursday from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. through March 20. This cohort is for Butte County and Tehama County landowners and anyone interested in post-fire forest stewardship. Topics will include post-fire management, reforestation, forest maintenance and vegetation management, and financial and professional assistance for landowners. Registration is open now and includes an in-person field trip in Butte County on Saturday, March 22. Questions can be directed via email to Katie Reidy.