Water allotments look good

Glenn County and local water districts report water levels are on the rise following a strong storm season.

Lester Messina, Glenn County's water coordinator, said Monday he does not have complete information this week since the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had not finished its annual water allotment list, and the California Department of Water Resources still has groundwater field tests to do.

However, for the most part, groundwater levels in Glenn County seem to be the same as last year, he said.

"The deeper wells are down a bit and the shallower wells are the same or up a bit," Messina said, based on some agricultural well measurements taken two weeks ago.

He added the state Department of Water Resources will conduct additional spring water level measurements this month and should have the results by the first week of April. There are 100 wells tested around the county.

Still, area water districts report good news thanks to full reservoirs.

Managers for the Orland Unit Water Users Association were not available Monday, but an agency spokeswoman said both the Stony Gorge and East Park reservoirs were full.

She also said the association expected to provide a full allotment to its water users this year since the two reservoirs combined contain about 96,670 acre feet of water. The district manages both reservoirs.

Stony Gorge is near Elk Creek and East Park is in Colusa County.

Thad Bettner, general manager of Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, said his district has 100 percent of its allocation from the Sacramento River as of Monday.

It has diversions along the river south of Hamilton City and serves around 1200 landowners from south of there to Colusa, he said.

This district is a "settlement contractor" with the Army Corps of Engineers that runs Shasta Dam near Redding.

As a settlement contractor it represents water rights holders of Sacramento River water, Bettner said, dating before the construction of the Central Valley Water Project.

So as long as water inflow is at least 3.2 million acre feet into Shasta Dam, Glenn-Colusa should retain its full allotment this year, he said.

Forecasts call for Shasta to have a total inflow of about 5 million acre feet in the spring of 2010, Bettner said, so it is unlikely to change.

Next year could be different, he said, since the district will start from zero October 1 and climb from there as the wet season emerges.