The Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced an increase to the State Water Project (SWP) allocation for 2026. The allocation is now 45 percent of requested supplies, up from the previous allocation of 30 percent announced on January 29. The allocation establishes how much water the State plans to deliver to the 29 public water agencies served by the SWP, which provides water to 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland. In the spring, SWP allocations are based on current hydrological conditions, existing reservoir storage, and remaining snowpack. While California saw record heat in March and early snowmelt, consistent rainstorms in April provided critical runoff through the system that allowed DWR to capture more water and meet environmental regulations without using stored water. Currently, the SWP’s largest reservoir, Lake Oroville, is at 99 percent of capacity. Statewide, reservoirs are 117 percent of average for this time of year. The challenge remains that California’s snowpack, the state’s frozen reservoir, is essentially gone. As of today, the statewide snowpack is just 12 percent of average. The snowpack peaked in mid-February and has since melted off. “California’s reservoirs are full, but most snowpack melted off weeks ago. We must use this stored water carefully because there’s no backfill until next season,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth.