The lawsuits hit the courts within days of the state mailing notices to some Central Valley irrigation districts: They were to stop diverting from rivers and streams because there wasn't enough water to go around. Unsurprising as the move may be in this fourth year of drought, to the districts, the notices amounted to an
Eastside farmers will receive more water than expected next month from already depleted New Hogan Lake, even though not everyone wants that water. The Stockton East Water District Board of Directors voted Tuesday to send water to all agricultural customers for 10 days at the start of July. That’s a significant change. Earlier this spring,
A rural water agency that was ordered to stop pumping river water to farmers south of the delta sued the state on Thursday, alleging that California officials don’t have the authority to deny their century-old claim to water. The lawsuit, filed by the Banta-Carbona Irrigation District, is one of the first to challenge the water
The tension between California farm interests and the state’s urban water users ratcheted up Tuesday, as a consortium of mostly urban water districts filed a complaint alleging Delta farmers are stealing water. The group of 27 agencies, including the massive Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, said farmers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta put water
It is estimated that about 564,000 acres will be fallowed because of the drought, resulting in a statewide reduction in gross crop farm revenue of about $856 million. Livestock and dairies may add another $350 million in direct revenue losses for 2015. Regional economic impacts of these cuts were estimated using the IMPLAN model for
Most attempts to develop agricultural property won't work, said Charley Wolk, long known as one of California's most influential avocado growers. That's because landowners look for what property specialists call the highest and best use. If the land was best suited for development, that would have already taken place. Land that is best suited for
This is the state of California agriculture in the fourth year of record-setting drought. With deliveries of surface water through state and federal pipelines slashed by 70 percent overall, the state’s 77,000 growers are struggling to produce the diverse agricultural bounty that makes California the nation’s leading farm state. At least 800,000 acres likely will
Silicon Valley's largest water company is changing how it will roll out some of the state's strictest water conservation rules to address complaints that the new per-household allocations unfairly penalize large families. The San Jose Water Company will still assign monthly water budgets to the 1 million people it serves in San Jose and neighboring
Fresno bought nearly 3,000 acre-feet of Millerton Lake water last week for $1 million — a deal so uncommon this year that I had to read reporter George Hostetter’s story twice. On the open water market, the Millerton water might be worth five times that price. Plus, this was supposed to be a second heart-breaking drought
As a fourth year of drought continues to drain aquifers and reservoirs, California water managers and environmentalists are urging adoption of a polarizing water recycling policy known as direct potable reuse. Unlike nonpotable reuse — in which treated sewage is used to irrigate crops, parks or golf courses — direct potable reuse takes treated sewage