Farmers in two of Southern California’s ag-centric irrigation districts have long been playing their part to slow the decline in the Colorado River’s system supply. They do this while working with Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to provide water to 19 million urban residents. … Through a grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture, (Blythe farmer Grant) Chaffin installed a Rubicon water system that tightly measures and controls his ditch deliveries from the main Palo Verde Irrigation District Canal to his home ranch with its 1,600 acres. He drastically reduced water deliveries to his crops, … Western farmers are following suit and have been for some time. Between 1984 and 2013, pressurized irrigation usage doubled across 17 states.

Other agriculture news:

• California Department of Food and Agriculture: 2026 is the International Year of the Woman Farmer