Farmers who grow hay in the Imperial Valley will soon be eligible to receive cash payments in exchange for temporarily shutting off water to their fields for up to two months this year. Under a program approved by the board of the Imperial Irrigation District, farmers can now apply for federal funds to compensate them for harvesting less hay as part of an effort to ease strains on the Colorado River. Paying growers to leave fields dry and fallow for part of the year represents a major new step by the district to help boost the levels of the river’s reservoirs, which have been depleted by chronic overuse, years of drought and higher temperatures caused by climate change. The Imperial Irrigation District delivers the single largest share of the Colorado River’s water to farmlands that produce hay for cattle as well as many of the country’s vegetables. District officials … say the approach is aimed at avoiding longer-term fallowing of crops that would take farmland out of production and bring a heavier blow to food production and the area’s economy.