As drought
conditions and extreme heat continue to plague California, farmers in the Central
Valley are struggling to get enough water to feed their land -- the bread
basket of the Golden State.
But the weather
alone isn’t to blame. Fish and Wildlife regulations tightly control water
resources in the state, making it impossible earlier this year for the
reservoirs to capture the rain, when it fell late last fall. And because of the
endangered species in the region, pumping water is also restricted, leaving
farmers high and dry.
“We had a dry
winter and spring, and we lost the opportunity in autumn to capture the water,
so it’s been worsened,” says Dave Kranz, a spokesman for the California Farm
Bureau Federation.
He adds, “Farmers
are only able to buy 20% of the water available to them in their contracts with
the Central Valley Project [which controls the water resources]. And unless
there’s a wet winter coming up, they might get 0% next year.”...To Read More....
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