The agreement would result in about 35,000 acres of rice fields left unused - or about 6% of the state's normal crop each year, according to the California Rice Commission.
An expert explains why early heatwaves combined with California's drought is priming our lands for a fire season starting as early as May.
Today, all but about 5% of those wetlands are gone, consumed by a complex system of dams and canals that diverts much of the water into large reservoirs. Those reservoirs are then used for drinking water in the state's major cities and irrigation for Central Valley farmers who supply most of the nation's fruits, nuts and vegetables.
"We're never going to be able to build it back exactly like it was," said Chuck Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife."But there's a strong discipline in science about reconciliation ecology, about recreating enough of that mosaic that we can get functioning ecosystems back. That's the optimism, that's what's in this voluntary agreement announcement today.
The negotiations have dragged on since 2016, but state officials say the agreement announced Tuesday is a breakthrough. The agreement still must go through a lengthy regulatory review process before it can become official. But it includes some of the state's biggest water agencies, including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California that provides drinking water to 19 million people, and Westlands Water District, the largest agricultural water district in the country.