Many Latino farmers and workers, whose lives revolve around California's agriculture industry, have been forced to make difficult decisions due to the ongoing water crisis. Years of low rainfall and snowpack in the state have now led to rapidly draining reservoirs. Last month, the state's two largest reservoirs reached "critically low levels" just as extreme drought conditions expanded from covering 40% to 60% of the state, according to the US Drought Monitor.
On top of this, federal officials dealt a heavy blow to farmers in the state's Central Valley when earlier this year, they significantly reduced allocations for irrigation. Many of these farmers rely on underground reservoirs for their operations and officials said only a limited number of agriculture customers would receive water deliveries.
While farmers have previously made numerous changes in response to the drought, this year's water limits have pushed them to leave more portions of their land idle and reduce the number of workers they hire.
Source: cbsnews.com