300,000 acres may be retired
The Bureau of Reclamation is considering a plan to retire 300,000 acres of irrigated land in some of the nation's most productive area. The Westlands Water District in California is being asked to stop irrigating a large number of acres.
Notice the estimated cost. Nebraska needs to immediately retire about 150,000 acres next to the stream and another 125,000 in about 15 years to stay in compliance via shutdowns. That means within 15 years all land within 2 miles of any stream or tributary has to be turned off to stay in compliance if we don’t do transfers. This article would give you an idea of the cost. They are estimating $2,467 an acre which is less than what Colorado is paying right now to buy out irrigation in the Republican River Basin.
Read the central California Record report
and the Kansas City Star version