Water Delivery Cut Off As California Drought Continues To Worsen

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — California's complex water system is facing a crisis as the state's drought doesn't appear to be improving any time soon.

When it comes to water delivery, think of the state as the cable company. If you want cable, you have to plug in to get their signal and pay for it.

The state announced on Friday that it plans to essentially cut some subscribers, because the signal is too weak.

To try to slow the blow of a dire drought, the state is doing something it hasn't done in half a century—the state will no longer deliver water this summer to 29 cities, counties and water agencies, most of which are south of San Joaquin County.

UC Davis water expert Dr. Samuel Solis says the state uses Lake Oroville as a big net to catch snowmelt and rain, then that water is sent south for farmers and cities to tap into.

"It's from a large bucket to all the canals, then to small buckets and distribution systems," he said. "They will convey that water through the Feather [River], through the Sacramento [River], into the Delta and then into the aqueduct."

From there, farmers get the water through canals and channels and eventually it's used to grow crops.

By the summer, the state says farmers will have to effectively pull their straws out of the state's cup that's very low on water.