California desperately needs additional water storage capacity. The proposed enlargement of Los Vaqueros Reservoir by 115,000 acre-feet is a step in the right direction, albeit a very small one. An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover 1 acre of land to a depth of 1 foot.

After California voters authorized the State Water Project in 1960, the Department of Water Resources signed contracts with various water agencies in the state for future entitlements to the water that the SWP would develop. These entitlements total 4.2 million acre-feet annually.