California Farmers Challenge Emergency Drought Cutbacks
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Farmers in California's Central Valley are going to court to challenge the division of water during the state's ongoing drought.
The Fresno Bee reports growers in the eastern San Joaquin Valley filed a lawsuit Friday in Fresno County Superior Court over emergency orders issued by the state Water Resources Control Board this year.
The Friant Water Authority, representing 15,000 growers, says the state gave wildlife refuges priority for water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Friant Water Agency manager Ron Jacobsma says that forced San Joaquin farmers to rely on their own wells, draining groundwater.
A Water Resources Control Board spokesman said the board had not been served with the lawsuit and could not comment. The lawsuit is one of many that have been brought by water users as the drought forces cutbacks.