FRESNO, Calif. — Tuesday afternoon the State Water Resources Control Board voted 5-0 to stop the distribution of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed, the water resource for between 4,000 to 6,000 farmers north of Fresno.

The decision to cut off access to water from the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta Watershed is an unsettling one to farmers.

"We're talking about some very long term consequences here for this valley," said Ryan Jacobsen, CEO of the Fresno County Farm Bureau.

"And of course of food being grown for not just California but for the United States and in some cases the world," said Jay Kroeker, partner of Starrh Family Farms in Kern County.

Valley farmers' food production is in limbo as the state swelters in drought.

The is expected to stay dry and hot for the next 14 days too.

On Wednesday, Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) released the following statement regarding the State Water Resources Control Board vote to curtail water in the Central Valley:

“The theft of water that propels the Board to order curtailments, will no doubt deprive our most vulnerable communities of clean water and jobs, but it will also deprive an already constrained global food system,” said Senator Hurtado. “The California Water Board must do better to prioritize human security which incorporates the human right to water and the human right to food. Depriving communities of those fundamental rights is a violation of those rights.”

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