California farms lose main water source to drought

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The main irrigation system for California farmers, the Central Valley Project, expects to halt water deliveries to most of its growers this year due to one of the worst droughts in state history, federal managers said on Friday.

The zero-water allocation for most CVP users was declared by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as California water officials repeated their plans to cut amounts supplied from a separate state-run water project to 15 percent of normal allotments.

The cutbacks are a huge blow to farmers in the Central Valley, which produces over half of the fruit, vegetables and nuts grown in the United States, and will undoubtedly lead to higher prices for a wide variety of crops.

… A spokeswoman for the Reclamation Bureau, Lynnette Wirth, described circumstances as “grim.”

“It doesn’t get any worse than zero,” California Farm Bureau Federation President Doug Mosebar said in a statement. “Our water reliability has hit rock bottom.”

Reuters