With the Sierra Nevada snowpack rising to nearly 150 percent of average, the California Farm Bureau Federation said it’s understandable why some agricultural customers of the federal Central Valley Project would be disappointed by the initial CVP water outlook.

The project, operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, has told agricultural service contractors south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to expect 35 percent of contract supplies, and those north of the delta to expect 70 percent.

“California has been blessed with an abundant Sierra snowpack and that should be recognized in making an initial water allocation, so farmers can make their planting decisions,” CFBF President Jamie Johansson said. “We hope the CVP will be able to increase its allocations as the spring continues. In above-average years such as this, we need to provide as much certainty about available supplies as early as possible to farmers and all other water users.”

Johansson said the CVP likely needed to be conservative in its projections because of biological opinions for protected fish that require water to be reserved for fishery uses.

“We’re hopeful that revised biological opinions can provide more flexibility in managing the system and encourage creative projects for improving fish populations,” Johansson said.

“From our offices along the banks of the Sacramento River, I can look out and see a river swollen with runoff heading toward the ocean,” he said. “In wet winters such as this, we need to be able to capture more of that runoff, both above and below ground, to shield people and the environment from future droughts and replenish our groundwater basins.”

Johansson said Farm Bureau “will continue to advocate for balanced water policies that benefit our state’s farms, cities and environment alike.”

The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of nearly 36,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of nearly 5.6 million Farm Bureau members.