Dry Winter Means Water Cuts For California Districts

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California is planning on doling out smaller amounts of water to cities and farms after a dry start to the winter.

The Department of Water Resources said Monday it currently expects to provide customers of the State Water Project with just 20 percent of their requested amounts.

California has had a disappointing winter, with just a quarter of the normal snowpack in the Sierra Nevada by earlier this month.

The State Water Project provides drinking water to more than half of California's nearly 40 million people, as well as to farms. Allocations from the water system have dropped as low as 5 percent in 2014, at the peak of California's 5-year drought.

Water officials say this year's allocation could go up if more rain and snow falls.