CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / SACRAMENTO

The Department of Water Resources announced Wednesday that it will give State Water Project contractors 40% of what they requested. Although that figure remains low, it is far more than earlier allocation numbers, which started at 15% and then rose to 20% and 30%.

“Early May snow and rain improved the water supply situation enough to allow this modest expansion,” said department Director Lester A. Snow. But he cautioned that the state’s three-year drought was not over. “Gov. Schwarzenegger’s statewide drought declaration remains in effect and all Californians must heed his call to reduce their water use,” he said.

As of May 1, statewide precipitation and reservoir storage were 80% of average for the date. Runoff was 60% of the norm.

Urban Southern California gets about a third of its water from the state system, which pipes supplies south from the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta east of San Francisco.

-- Bettina Boxall