The Central Valley Project: Is it Broken?

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - A handful of large farms get most of the water and subsidy dollars delivered by the country's biggest federal water supply project, according to a study by a national environmental organization.

The Central Valley Project, authorized in 1936 to support family farms, now funnels up to $416 million of subsidized water to agricultural giants in California's Central Valley, according to a study released earlier this month by the Environmental Working Group.

Specifically, the report indicated that the top 10 percent of agricultural water users were getting 67 percent of the water.

``The system is broken,'' said Environmental Working Group spokesman Bill Walker.
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If the project was intended to support "family farms" then the system is certainly broken. How does only 10% of the farms get 67% of the supply? Who's regulating this? That would be like Starbucks taking advantage of federal dollars and leaving Java Time up in Auberry with pennies.