State Says It Can Deliver Only 10% of Water Requested by 29 Agencies

SACRAMENTO — Bracing for an unprecedented seventh year of drought, officials announced Tuesday that they have only enough water available for the coming year to deliver 10% of the amounts requested by the Metropolitan Water District and 28 other agencies served by the State Water Project.

Water Resources Department Director David Kennedy said the announcement means that the state can only commit to providing 385,000 acre-feet of the 3.8 million acre-feet the agencies have said they need in the coming year. An acre-foot represents about 326,000 gallons.

Though the announcement means all users of state water will probably have to conserve more in 1993, its most immediate impact was on farmers who use the initial water allotment to plan their crops and to obtain financing. Gary Bucher, water resources manager for the Kern County Water Agency, said the shortage will be particularly hard on farmers on the west side of his county who depend exclusively on the State Water Project.

MWD officials, meanwhile, said they had anticipated the cutbacks and expect to get through the year without mandatory rationing. General Manager Carl Boronkay said it is his agency’s goal to cut back no more than 20% on its deliveries to Southern California water districts. Officials said most water users are already conserving that amount voluntarily.

Kennedy said the delivery allotments will be updated in the coming year and may be increased as winter storms move across the Sierra.