How the “exchange contract” pits California farmers against each other
[On the southeast side of California’s Central Valley] farmers are pumping unreliable groundwater to make up the difference, hoping their already struggling wells don’t go dry … Others will rip up their trees and leave their fields fallow. … About 100 miles away, on the northwest side of the Central Valley, the situation could not be more different. Even during an unprecedented drought, the almond and pistachio farmers around the city of Los Banos will get around 75 percent of a normal year’s water … The startling contrast is the result of an obscure and contentious legal agreement known as the exchange contract …
Related articles:
- NBC Palm Springs: Desert farmers concerned, prepared for extreme drought
- The Desert Review: IID schedules public workshops on Equitable Distribution Plan
- ABC Sacramento: California drought - Cattle ranchers struggle with conservation