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Still coming up dry: Bureau of Reclamation revises allocations, but Westlands growers still won’t be receiving any water

Posted by: Maven on March 26, 2009 at 6:25 am

From the Hanford Sentinel:

Central Valley farmers north of the Sacramento River Delta are getting a little bit of irrigation water, but growers in Westlands Water District still won’t be receiving a drop.

A wet February allowed the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to announce last week that farmers north of the Delta will get 5 percent of their allocation instead of 0 percent. But for growers in the Westlands Water District in Kings and Fresno counties, there will still be no water flowing down from the giant pumps that suck water out of the Delta and send it south.

The pumping has been cut back to protect the Delta smelt fish and other endangered species in the Delta area, according to Pete Lucero, a bureau spokesman.

“I’ve just basically planted to keep my people busy. It’s for the workers,” said Ernie Taylor, a local farmer with 2,000 acres mostly in Westlands. This year, only 600 acres of Taylor’s acreage is being farmed, and Taylor has only three workers left out of the normal 12 to 14.

Westlands Water District, which has 30,000 of its 600,000 acres in Kings County, will let up to two-thirds of its acreage go barren this year.

Read more from the Hanford Sentinel by clicking here.

March 26, 2009 · Filed Under Drought, Weather & Snowpack

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