California accepts drought water deal with Delta farmers
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article21701118.html
In a significant breakthrough in California’s efforts to conserve water, state officials Friday agreed to a compromise measure that will reduce supplies to Delta farmers by 25 percent.
The State Water Resources Control Board approved the settlement with scores of Delta farmers, heading off a potentially lengthy legal battle over the state’s ability to halt diversions from rivers and streams. State officials have been looking at issuing “curtailment orders” to the state’s most senior water rights holders, and growers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta have among the most senior rights of all.
“This proposal helps Delta growers manage the risk of potentially deeper curtailment, while ensuring significant water conservation efforts in this fourth year of drought,” said State Water Board Chair Felicia Marcus in a prepared statement. “It allows participating growers to share in the sacrifice that people throughout the state are facing because of the severe drought, while protecting their economic well-being by giving them some certainty regarding exercise of the State Water Board’s enforcement discretion at the beginning of the planting season.”
Ellen Hanak, a water expert at the Public Policy Institute of California, said the agreement is a good sign that competing interests are coming together as the drought worsens. “I’m happy to see people working together to find creative ways to stretch the water,” she said.