On a water chart, a percentage can look like an answer for an orchard. In California’s State Water Project record, the 30% figure in an allocation report is already out of step with later agency notices.
The Inland News Today report says the Department of Water Resources was raising the allocation from 10% and attributes the decision to improving statewide drought conditions. It also describes the calculation as a mix of hydrology, reservoir storage, and an assumption about dry conditions ahead. The report puts weather at the center of that judgment.
A percentage with an asterisk
The trouble is the calendar. DWR’s release archive records an allocation of 30% in January, then a further increase to 45% in May. Those agency notices make the October report’s figure hard to read as a current statewide update.
That does not establish what any particular pistachio operation can take at its turnout. A State Water Project allocation is one part of a supply picture; the report does not identify a pistachio-growing district, a local delivery schedule, or a farm’s contract.
Weather still moves the number
DWR’s water-year preparations describe strong El Niño conditions as a reason to prepare for possible extremes and capture as much water as possible. The agency’s October update adds weather uncertainty, not a promise of a particular farm delivery.
For pistachio operators, the useful distinction is between a statewide allocation announcement and the supply their water provider can actually schedule. When those numbers disagree, the statewide figure is a poor substitute for a district notice.
The allocation report may describe an earlier point in the water-supply cycle, or it may be wrong; the materials available do not resolve which. Until the figures are reconciled, it should not be treated as a fresh irrigation instruction.