Water Supply Outlook For 2016 Bleak, Say Officials

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - State officials say dozens of water agencies may only receive 10 percent of expected supplies, half of what they received last year through California's massive system of reservoirs and canals.

The Department of Water Resources says that initial estimate could change, depending on the rain and snowfall this winter. The State Water Project supplies nearly two-thirds of California residents and irrigates nearly 1 million acres of farmland.

California is in a record drought, and the state's reservoirs are at or near record lows.

An El Nino weather system may drench the state this winter.

Water resources director Mark Cowin says that one wet year won't make up for the long drought.

Rich Atwater of the Southern California Water Committee says the drought underscores the need to modernize the state's water system.