1. Water Allocation Stuck at 20% — District Pushing Bureau for 5–9% Increase, But No Guarantee Reclamation has not announced an allocation increase for April due to extremely dry March conditions and low snowpack. Westlands staff believes there is justification for an additional 5–9% increase based on their own demand modeling, but Reclamation is using more conservative (higher) demand assumptions that keep the allocation low. The district is engaged in daily conversations with Reclamation at both regional and D.C. levels, and the board urged staff to keep pushing aggressively. Exports are also currently restricted by the San Joaquin River 1:1 ratio (began April 13 and will continue until May 13), further limiting near-term supply. The realistic window for any further increase depends on late-May/June storms and runoff.
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