California reduces supplies to water agencies amid drought

California's urban water users and farmers who rely on supplies from state reservoirs will get less than planned this year

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California's urban water users and farmers who rely on supplies from state resevoirs will get less than planned this year as fears of a third consecutive dry year become reality, state officials announced Friday.

Water agencies that serve 27 million people and 750,000 acres (303,514 hectares) of farmland, will get just 5% of what they've requested this year from state supplies beyond what's needed for critical activities such as drinking and bathing.

That's down from the 15% allocation state officials had announced in January, after a wet December fueled hopes of a lessening drought.

But a wet winter didn't materialize and unless several more inches of rain falls this month, the January-March period will be the driest start to a California year at least a century.