State water managers announced this week that 29 State Water Contractors will receive 45 percent of their requested water amounts this year.

Forty-five percent sounds like a glass half full, but the news was cause for celebration for water districts that saw only 20 percent of their water request last year, and 5 percent in 2014. The State Water Project distributes water from Lake Oroville via the Feather River. The 29 agencies provide water to 26 million people in urban areas, as well as 750,000 acres of farmland, a press release from the Department of Water Resources states.