Kern County Water Agency declares drought emergency
| Friday, Mar 06 2009 09:04 PM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 11:54 AM
Less than a month after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger broadened a previous emergency drought declaration for the state of California, the Kern County Water Agency on Friday declared a drought emergency of its own.
“The cumulative effects of dry hydrology and regulatory restrictions have created a perilous situation,” said Adrienne Matthews, president of the Kern County Water Agency board of directors.
The county’s economy will lose nearly $300 million as a result of water supply shortages this year, the agency said. About 40,000 acres of permanent crops will be under-irrigated this year, and another 40,000 acres will go unplanted.
The agency called for emergency measures to address the water crisis, including educating the general public, water transfers and exchanges within Kern County and development of more programs to provide emergency water supplies.
KCWA is a local contracting entity for the California State Water Project, which delivers water to more than 25 million residents and 750,000 acres of farmland.
