Feb. 21—The Department of Water Resources announced a 5% increase in state water allocations forecasts for 2024 on Wednesday, which is now 15% of requested supplies.

According to officials, this translates to about 200,000 acre-feet of additional water for the 29 public water agencies that serve 27 million Californians. The Department of Water Resources previously anticipated 10% allocations for 2024 in December 2023, which was based on reservoir storage, precipitation, dry soils and runoff at the time.

This assessment does not include the results of any of the storms that hit the state earlier this month, but the State Water Project will review these conditions and may amend the forecast in mid-March. However, the February allocation forecasts do take into account snow survey measurements and data up until Feb. 1 and spring runoff forecasts.

While the state has seen a series of winter storms this year, those storms have been warmer than the cooler systems seen in early 2023. Southern California has seen historic rainfall while Northern California has experienced below average precipitation.

Despite this, the State Water Project has been able to take advantage of these storms, increasing storage at both Lake Oroville and San Luis Reservoir. Lake Oroville has increased 460,000 acre-feet and San Luis Reservoir has increased 85,000 acre-feet since Jan. 1, officials said.

“We will continue to assess our State Water Project allocation forecast as more storms materialize in February and March,” Director Karla Nemeth said in a statement. “This season is an important reminder of our extreme conditions and shift to bigger, flashier storms and the need to continue increasing the state’s ability to capture and store stormwater when it comes as rain instead of snow.”

As of Wednesday, the statewide snowpack is 86% of average for Feb. 21 and 69% of average for April 1, which is considered the peak snowpack for the season. State Water Project reservoirs remain above average for this time of year, as the state continues to benefit from last winter’s historic snowpack and efforts to capture and store as much water as possible. Lake Oroville, the State Water Project’s largest reservoir, is at 134% of average for this date.