The federal Central Valley Project – which delivers water to farmers – says it will increase water allocations by another 5%, bringing the current total to 25%.

 

Paul Wenger grows almonds and walnuts in Modesto. He’s also president of the California Farm Bureau Federation:

"It’s better. It still may be too little too late. Especially as it relates to planting of a lot of the annual type crops: tomatoes, melons and other things where growers actually need contracts before they can go to the bank and get the money to borrow to put the crop in the ground.”   

 

Wenger says a lot of land will be uncultivated...and effectively remain in a fourth year of drought.

 

“Some folks might plant a short term crop. But we know there’s somewhere between 250,000 and 400,000 acres that have been fallowed because of no water.”

 

Wenger says that fallowed land is in danger of creating a dustbowl and increasing air pollution in the Central Valley.