Late-season storms allowed the Bureau of Reclamation to boost federal water allocations to some in California, doubling what south-of-the-Delta water contractors were earlier told to expect.

The allocation of 40 percent for Central Valley Project water users south of the Delta was expected for Los Banos-area farmer Joe DelBosque, who was optimistic that the full allocations elsewhere in the state could make water sales easier to find at relatively reasonable prices.

“Unfortunately we’re becoming satisfied with not a whole lot of water given what it could be,” DelBosque said. “Probably a lot of this allocation has to do with reservoir storage from last year. That’s the magic of storage.”

Along with its announced allocation of 40 percent for federal contractors in the San Joaquin Valley, those north of the Delta will see a full allocation this summer, as will Friant Water Authority in the south, which was told earlier in April that its users there would receive 100 percent of their Class 1 allocation.

Friant is also currently receiving Class 2 water, which is basically any extra water available under wetter conditions, which the past month provided. That water is currently being delivered to contractors.

Reclamation wants to limit the amount of carry-over water that can be stored in San Luis Reservoir by growers who bank water in the large off-stream facility. This became an issue last year as some growers had significant amounts of water they owned stored in the reservoir, reducing the amount of water Reclamation could store for its use.