Borrego Valley Water Shortage

Lane Sharman, a San Diego computer scientist descended from one of Borrego Valley’s pioneer farming families, in an abandoned family vineyard. He created the Borrego Water Exchange, in part to formulate a sustainability ordinance. (Annie Wells / LAT)

Sept. 16, 2014 7:42 AM PT

THIRST centerpiece In a flat desert valley filled with cholla, creosote, citrus, and golf, far away from any major highway or California water project, residents are struggling to deal with an impending water shortage, highlighted by the failure of a public well this past spring. Williams. 36 inches w/art, map. (clifford) MOVEDPreserving a way of life here may force dramatic changes, and water experts say that some of the difficult choices facing Borrego Springs whether to fallow farmland, allow desert flora to wither and die and starve wildlife in Californias largest state park will be confronted increasingly by Californians in other parts of the state as water sources become less reliable.

Dennis Dickensin of the Save Our Aquifer Coalition, a local group, walks along the bed of Upper Coyote Creek in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. (Annie Wells / LAT)