Kern County's water supply will take a major cut due to a recent spike in deaths of the protected fish called the Delta Smelt. The number of dead fish has increased in federal water diversion pumps since mid-December and that means water supplies to farms and cities south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta will be affected.
"What this means to our growers is less water. They'll have to look to other assets such as groundwater, meaning higher costs for our growers and that's a big deal in today's economy," said Jim Beck, general manager of the Kern County Water Agency.
Water deliveries were cut here in Kern County by a 100 thousand acre-feet, about 32 billion gallons of water.
