A new study out says California's farmers can save billions of gallons of water by changing what they plant and how they water it. KPBS Reporter Erik Anderson has details.
The report comes from the Pacific Institute which is a non-partisan thinktank. The Institute's Peter Gleick says farmers in the Central Valley are putting too much pressure on the Sacramento San Joquin Delta.
Gleick: We're taking too much water out of the Delta, and so the premise of this report is how do we continue to have a healthy agricultural sector while taking less water out of the Delta. Water that can either be left in for ecosystem purposes, ah, water that can be returned for ecosystem purposes."
San Diego gets about 40 percent of its drinking water from the delta, but that percentage could drop. Recent court rulings to protect endangered species and a long running drought are conspiring to reduce the amount of water Southern California gets from the state water project. There's talk rationing might happen next year. The Institute issued a report two years ago that urged city residents to do more to conserve.
Erik Anderson, KPBS News.
