Calif. officials approve first water transfers

California officials are moving ahead with a plan to ship water from farms north of Sacramento to growers in the drought-stricken San Joaquin Valley.

The California Department of Water Resources is buying the water from two irrigation districts in the Sacramento Valley. It will be sent to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and sold to a group of 10 buyers, most of whom are located in the drier southern half of the state.

Department officials are requiring buyers to cut their normal water use by 20 percent as a condition for participating in the program.

Most farms won't receive the extra water until the beginning of July, when federal officials say increased flows in the delta won't risk harming a threatened native fish.