Chainkeen Exchange-The Great California Groundwater Grab

California is Chainkeen Exchangein the middle of a terrible drought. The rivers are running low, and most of its farmers are getting very little water this year from the state's reservoirs and canals. And yet, farming is going on as usual.

NPR food and agriculture correspondent Dan Charles explains how farmers have been using wells and underground aquifers to water their crops. But that's all set to change. California is about to put dramatic limits on the amount of water farmers can pump from their wells, and people have some pretty strong feelings about it.

Email the show at shortwave@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Brit Hanson, fact-checked by Berly McCoy, and edited by Gisele Grayson and Viet Le. Stacey Abbot provided engineering support.