Deal Seeks to Idle Farmland for Water
The Metropolitan Water District approved an agreement in which Riverside and Imperial County farmers would be paid to take land out of production so irrigation water could be diverted to urban users in Southern California coastal communities.
The 35-year agreement, which will have a start-up cost of $100 million, calls for farmers in the Palo Verde Irrigation District to receive steady payments for rotating their crops and making the water from the Colorado River available to 18 million customers from Ventura County to the Mexican border.
The agreement with the 100,000-acre Palo Verde district could involve up to 111,000 acre-feet of water annually. One acre-foot is enough to supply two average homes for a year.
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