For Mojave Water Agency, 2024 is shaping up to be a good year. Here's why.

Rene Ray De La Cruz, Victorville Daily Press
Updated ·3 min read

After more than a decade of drought, California saw a significant amount of rainfall last year, allowing the Mojave Water Agency to import a record amount of water.

The Apple Valley-based water agency doesn’t deliver water directly to homes. Its mission is to manage groundwater basins, import water, and address risks proactively using science, according to agency officials.

Water flows in the Mojave River. After more than a decade of drought, California saw a significant amount of rainfall last year, allowing the Mojave Water Agency to import a record amount of water.
Water flows in the Mojave River. After more than a decade of drought, California saw a significant amount of rainfall last year, allowing the Mojave Water Agency to import a record amount of water.

All water supplied to businesses, homes, and farms throughout the High Desert is pumped from local groundwater aquifers, which are replenished, or recharged, by either natural runoff from local mountains or water imported from the State Water Project.

The State Water Project is a water storage and delivery system of reservoirs, aqueducts, pumping plants, and power plants owned and operated by the state of California and managed by the California Department of Water Resources.

As one of 29 State Water Contractors, the Mojave Water Agency is eligible to deliver up to 89,800-acre-feet of water per year from the aqueduct which is also known as its “Table A” water, agency officials stated.

The amount of Table A water delivered each year varies as the California Department of Water Resources sets allocation limits based on how much water is available in the State Water Project system.

Let it rain 

Due to rain and snow from the multiple atmospheric rivers in 2023, the California Department of Water Resources allocated 100% of State Water Contractors’ Table A water for delivery.

A 100% Table A allocation is a rare opportunity as the long-term average delivery capability of the State Water Project is only 56%, agency officials stated. The last time the agency was allocated 100% of the Table A water was in 2006, said Kimberly Cox, Mojave Water Agency Board president.

“The board was committed to taking as much water as possible to help refill our desert aquifers after more than a decade of drought conditions," Cox stated. "As a major component of the board-approved drought mitigation strategy, we knew we needed to take full advantage of this allocation. At a cost of $23,780,013, the move was critical to ensure we are sustainable.”

As a result, the Mojave Water Agency imported 59,996-acre-feet of Table A and 4,095-acre-feet of water previously stored in the San Luis Reservoir.

The California Department of Water Resources also made available surplus water in the system known as “Article 21” water, of which the Mojave Water Agency imported 35,465-acre-feet. In addition, the water agency delivered 25,000-acre-feet of Table A to a neighboring State Water Contractor to fulfill a water transfer agreement.

All totaled, the Mojave Water Agency moved nearly 125,000-acre-feet of water in 2023, which is a record amount of water delivery for the agency.

Water has been seen in the Mojave River for more than a year, often flowing past Rock Springs Road and under the bridge at Bear Valley Road.

Until a few months ago, this water was imported from the State Water Project by the agency. However, the agency stopped delivering State Water Project Water in December and current river flows are coming from the natural runoff from the local mountains.

Drought has not ended

However, this announcement doesn’t mean the drought is over, agency officials stated.

"The groundwater basins in our service area are far from full,” stated Tony Winkel, hydrogeologist and director of water resources for the water agency. “With a desert water cycle that averages roughly 10 years of dry for every one to two years of precipitation, conservation is key to our region’s long-term sustainability. This year’s abundance of water should not be wasted or taken for granted.”

The agency recently completed installing several weather stations to help measure rainfall, precipitation, and more. For more data, maps and more information, visit the agency’s website at mojavewater.org or

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Significant rainfall a boost for Mojave Water Agency