Feds boost water supplies for many Calif. farms

Federal water managers plant to boost deliveries to farms, industry and cities this year thanks to this winter's abundant rainfall. U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Friday that agriculture contractors south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta will receive 50 percent of the water they request—an improvement on the 30 percent they initially got last year. The Bureau of Reclamation will provide 100 percent of water deliveries to farms, cities and industrial water contractors north of the freshwater delta. Salazar says while the last few years of drought and regulatory restrictions are still limiting supplies for Southern California industry and farms in the San Joaquin Valley, estimates could change over the next few months. AP