Carrots farms v valley: the battle over a water-depleted California region

The Cuyama valley gets only 8in of water a year – and some of the US’s top carrot farms want a bigger share of the increasingly precious resource

More than five years ago, Jim Wegis, a lifelong farmer in central California’s Cuyama valley, could see the writing on the wall for his water-intensive alfalfa fields.

He switched most of his 140 planted acres from seasonal hay to permanent olive and pistachio groves, drastically reducing his impact on his local aquifer. “I cut my water use just about in half,” he said.