FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- Water agencies that supply millions of California residents and farmers will be getting more water this year, thanks to April rains.

The state Department of Water Resources said Wednesday that State Water Project contractors can expect to get 65 percent of their requested water this year, five percent more than earlier estimates.

The contractors supply more than 25 million Californians and nearly a million acres of irrigated farmland.

Officials said the increase is due to April's wetter-than-usual weather and high reservoir storage. Rainfall in April was 167 percent of normal in the mountainous area that produces much of California's water supply.

Higher water allocations are difficult to achieve even in wet years due to pumping restrictions to protect threatened and endangered fish. The last 100 percent allocation was in 2006.

Copyright 2012 The AP.