California IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Farm Water Supplies May Be Cut by 65%

California’s drought-stricken farmers could see their state water supplies cut by two-thirds during 1991, authorities said. The Department of Water Resources said in an annual December letter to its long-term contractors that farmers may receive only 35% of their allocated supplies next year, while municipal and industrial customers could expect 85%. “We’re saying that if we have a critically dry year from now on, this is how much we’ll be able to deliver,” said Don Long, the department’s top water project analyst. During 1990, farmers had been told they would receive 50% of their expected supplies, a figure that later improved during the year as unexpected rains made more water available.