After a wet December, California water officials say state reservoirs likely will be able to provide cities and farms more than the scant emergency supplies initially projected for 2022.

The Department of Water Resources announced Thursday that the State Water Project now has enough water in storage to meet 15% of the water requests from across California, still a dismally small figure but better than the 0% allocation announced last month.

The State Water Project, made up of nearly three dozen storage facilities that pipe water hundreds of miles, including massive Lake Oroville in Butte County, delivers water to 29 municipal and agricultural suppliers, including several in the Bay Area. Over the past two years, however, drought has shrunk project supplies, and water agencies have had to make do with less project water.

“December storms enabled DWR to convey and store water in San Luis Reservoir, which allows for a modest increase in water deliveries this year,” DWR Director Karla Nemeth said in a statement, referring to the Merced County facility that stores surplus water. “But severe drought is not over. Dry conditions have already returned in January. Californians must continue to conserve as the state plans for a third dry year.”

The state’s projected allocation is subject to change, depending on how the rest of California’s typically wet winter months fare.

Any curtailment of water deliveries, though, means cities and farms will have to turn to other sources of water, whether it’s local reservoirs or wells. This can be problematic for water agencies that rely heavily on the state, many of which have already imposed restrictions on how much water customers can use.

Alameda County Water District, which serves Fremont, Newark and Union City, typically gets 40% of its water from the State Water Project. Santa Clara Valley Water District, which provides water to much of San Jose, usually receives a similar amount.

While water districts are happy the projected allocation has gone up, the increase is still too small to provide much relief, said Jennifer Pierre, general manager of State Water Contractors, which represents agencies that receive water from the state.

“Unfortunately, this doesn’t come close to ending the drought or the risk to water supplies throughout the state,” she said Thursday.

Continue reading the article from the San Fransisco Chronicle here.