REGION: State ups region's water allocation
But officials say it's too early to know how much area will get for summer
By: Dave Downey

Responding to a wet January and February, state officials Friday boosted the amount of water they promise to deliver to Southern California during the 12-month period that begins in July.

The amount is quite small, at just 15 percent of requested supplies.

The bump up follows a historically low initial allocation of 5 percent set by the state Department of Water Resources at the year's outset.

Still, it means conditions are improving in the Sierra Nevada, source of one-third of the water used in Riverside and San Diego counties.

"Things are looking pretty good," said Don Strickland, a water department spokesman, in a telephone interview.

If the snow continues to fall at above-average rates, Lake Oroville, the huge reservoir that captures Sierra Nevada snowmelt for eventual delivery to Southern California, will come close to refilling, Strickland said.

But it's too early to tell whether the region will enjoy a more typical supply this summer than the constrained one awarded in 2009, and whether watering restrictions will remain in place. Officials will have a better idea about that when the state measures snow levels in April, after most of the snow has fallen.

The next such measurement is scheduled for Wednesday.

Indications from electronic sensors are that levels are 3 percent above normal for this time of year, Strickland said. But Wednesday's manual snow-depth measurement will more precisely determine the level, he said. And it will factor in this weekend's storm, which is expected to dump a foot of snow on the Sierra.

The state's allocations tend to start out small and increase as the winter progresses.

In 2009, the initial allocation was 15 percent. But ultimately Southern California received 40 percent of what it asked for. That's not as bad as it sounds. The region never gets all it asks for. In a typical year, allocations are close to 60 percent.