Unites States-California Drought.

UNITED STATES-DROUGHT.

Farmers in California are reeling after an announcement Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that no water is available for agriculture use, the result of a worsening drought.

San Joaquin Valley farmers will be hit hard, as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation supplies more than 80 percent of the water to the valley. Farms supplied water by the state will still receive 15 percent of their normal deliveries.

Early reports indicate that more than 75,000 jobs will be lost, $2 billion will disappear from the economy and more than 1 million acres will not have access to above-ground water. Farmers will be forced to take water away from annual crops and use available groundwater to keep permanent crops alive.

This means an even greater dependence placed on the groundwater supply, already overtaxed in many parts of the valley. To drill a well varies from $20,000 to $1 million, depending upon depth. "Under any circumstance, putting a well in is not cheap," says Ryan Jacobson, executive director of the Fresno County Farm Bureau. In some parts of California, underground water reservoirs have been emptied by overuse and over-drilling of wells. In other areas, the aquifer might not produce any water or it is not good quality