Calif. orders large water cuts for farmers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — As California grapples with a relentless drought, state regulators today ordered farmers and others who hold some of the strongest water rights in the state to stop all pumping from three major waterways in one of the country's prime farm regions.

The order involving record cuts by senior water rights holders in the Sacramento, San Joaquin and delta watersheds followed mandatory water curtailment earlier this year to cities and towns and to farmers with less iron-clad water rights.

The waterways targeted in the order by the State Water Resources Control Board provide water to farms and cities in the agricultural-rich Central Valley and beyond.

Economists and agriculture experts say growing of some crops will shift in the short-term to regions with more water, so the water cuts are expected to have little immediate impact on food prices.

The curtailment order applies to 114 entities — including individual landowners and water districts serving farmers and small communities — with claims dating back to 1914 or before.

It will force thousands of water users in the state to tap groundwater, buy water at rising costs, use previously stored water, or go dry.