IG10065 — Bureau of Reclamation Central Valley Project: Infrastructure and Water Deliveries

/ Bureau of Reclamation Central Valley Project: Infrastructure and Water Deliveries Central Valley Project (CVP) The CVP, owned and operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, covers approximately 20,000 square miles in California, from Redding in the north to Bakersfield in the south. In an average year, the CVP delivers approximately 5 million acre-feet (AF) of water to its contractors, including agricultural (Ag) contractors operating on some of the nation's most valuable farmland, municipal and industrial (M&I) users, and state and federal wildlife refuges, among others. Some of these deliveries go to contractors north of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers’ Delta (NOD); other water is “exported” (via pumps and conveyance infrastructure) south of the Delta (SOD). CVP Water Contractor Type NOD Settlement NOD Ag/M&I Wetland Habitat/Refuge SOD Exchange Friant Division SOD Ag/M&I In Delta American River M&I SOD Settlement Eastside Federal Dam State Dam Local Government/Utility Dam Pumps/Pumping Stations CVP Conveyance State Aqueduct Local Aqueduct River Names Only dams with storage over 500,000 acre-feet. State Water Project (SWP) A separate project operated by the State of California, the SWP, coordinates its operations with the federal government and delivers about 70% of its water to M&I users. Selected CVP Contractor Allocations, 2003-2024 Annual allocations as a % of maximum contract allocations Water Rights Contractors Reclamation first makes CVP water available for delivery to contractors with water rights that predate construction of the CVP, including NOD (Sacramento River) Settlement Contractors and SOD (San Joaquin River) Exchange Contractors. NOD Settlement Contractors 2,115,620 AF SOD Exchange Contractors 875,623 AF Other Agricultural (Ag) Water Contracts Other contract types (e.g., water service, repayment contracts) account for most of the CVP's remaining supplies. These deliveries have a lower priority than water rights contractors and wildlife refuges. This category includes Westlands Water District, the country’s largest irrigation district. NOD Ag 468,990 AF SOD Ag 1,951,217 AF Central Valley Wildlife Refuges California’s Central Valley is home to 19 state and federal wildlife refuges that receive water from the CVP pursuant to a 1992 law (P.L. 102-575). NOD National Wildlife Refuges 151,250 AF SOD National Wildlife Refuges 271,001 AF Friant Division Contractors Friant Division Contractors receive San Joaquin River water that is stored behind Friant Dam, in Millerton Lake. This water is delivered through the Friant-Kern and Madera Canals. Friant Division 800,000 AF Maximum allocations (as of 2026) AF: acre-feet Ag: Agricultural NOD: North-of-Delta SOD: South-of-Delta For more information, see CRS Report R45342, Central Valley Project: Issues and Legislation. Map sources: California State Geoportal, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and ESRI. Information as of March 26, 2026. Prepared by Charles V. Stern, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy; Mari Lee, Visual Information Specialist; and Cassandra Higgins, Geospatial Information Systems Analyst.

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