Westlands Water District growers found out Tuesday they'll be getting 10 percent of their water delivered instead of 0 percent. The announcement came from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The Bureau runs the Central Valley Project, the massive federal system that brings water from Northern California and sends it to farmers and urban residents in the southern half of the state via massive pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

March storms allowed for the increase, a Bureau press release stated.

But the announcement means little in terms of planting decisions that were made months ago.

Most growers decided to let the majority of their ground lie fallow after hearing in January that Westlands would get no water.

The amount of unplanted ground in western Kings and Fresno counties is a sign of the times, with drought and endangered species cutbacks curtailing the delta pumps and drying up the huge stretch of Westlands acreage that drivers zoom past on Interstate 5 in the San Joaquin Valley.

The dwindling water supply has led to unemployment as high as 40 percent in some Valley communities on the Westside, a situation that spurred thousands of farmworkers, growers and agricultural advocates to join a "March for Water" last week from Mendota to San Luis Reservoir.

Over half of Westlands' 600,000 acres will remain barren despite the allocation increase, said Sarah Woolf, Westlands spokeswoman.

That translates into less than 2.5 inches of water per acre in the district's farmland, she said.

Most of the additional water will go to permanent crops like almond and pistachio trees.

This year represents an ongoing downward spiral for Westlands growers.

In the last wet year -- 2006 -- growers got 100 percent of their allocation. That number dropped to 65 percent in 2007 and 40 percent in 2008, Woolf said. The 2008 allocation dropped further in the summer months to 20 percent because of a lack of March and April precipitation.

The allocation would be 65 to 70 percent this year if not for a biological ruling protecting the delta smelt fish, Woolf said.

Grower Phil Brooks called Tuesday's announcement "nothing compared to what we should be getting."

"You have the (State Water Project) at 30 percent, and the wildlife refuges are at 100 percent. It's not right," Brooks said.

Grower Ted Sheely said he hopes that the announcement will put the pressure on for major changes to the system.

"This really shows the need for a comprehensive water plan in the state," Sheely said.

Sheely said the Westlands allocation had never dipped below 25 percent until this year. He said growers have already done what they can in terms of conservation by installing such things as permanent drip lines that deliver water to roots below the surface.

Sheely said he's banking his portion of this year's surface water in case the district gets another zero allocation next year.

"We can't cut back anymore," he said.

The reporter can be reached at 583.2432.

(April 22, 2009)