State moves forward with water restrictions for thousands of farms and water agencies
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Avenue 21 divides a green almond grove and dried grasslands as temperatures soar and drought continues to grip the state in Madera last month.Brontë Wittpenn/The Chronicle
As California’s drought escalates, thousands of farms and water agencies from Fresno to the Oregon border, including some in the Bay Area, will face new water restrictions under plans advanced Tuesday by state regulators.
The sweeping cuts, enacted by the State Water Board, come in the form of a rare application of California’s water-rights hierarchy. They force property owners who have less seniority to stop drawing water from rivers and creeks in the vast Sacramento-San Joaquin River watershed.