Water woes in Southern California

Big Apple of the Fresh Produce Discussion Group posts this link about Southern California water woes and the impact on agriculture. From his post:

Officials from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California stated that deliveries to southern California's agricultural customers will be cut by almost a third next year. Half of the water to Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties comes from the district, with the rest coming from underground sources and other local supplies. Cuts to agricultural customers will take effect on January first, following the August delta smelt ruling. Many utilities sell water at a discount rate to agricultural users who, in exchange, are the first to suffer cutbacks during shortages. Rates for residential water customers are expected to increase five to ten percent in 2009.


For a good backgrounder on California's water issues, this Website for the Water Education Foundation appears to take a balanced approach. From the Website:

Since the days of Mark Twain -- who is said to have coined the phrase "Whiskey's for drinking; water's for fighting over" -- cities, farmers and environmentalists have battled over who will control California 's water.

TK: More battles ahead, now and well into the future. The foundation says California's Department of Water Resources forecasts a gap between water supply and demand ranging from 2.4 million acre feet during normal years and up to 6.2 million acre feet in drought years by 2020.