Water diversion debate in Northern California

A farmer plows a field in the Sacramento Valley.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Irrigated fields near Chico in the Sacramento Valley.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Cracked dry earth in the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge near the city of Williams in the Sacramento Valley.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

A crop duster dives over a flooded rice field near the city of Williams in the Sacramento Valley.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Water bubbles up from a pump flooding a cornfield in the Sacramento Valley.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Pelicans wade in the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge near the city of Williams in the Sacramento Valley.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Rice grows in a watery field on Don Bransford’s farm near the city of Williams in the Sacramento Valley.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

A lateral canal flows off the Glenn-Colusa Canal near rice fields and nut orchards near the city of Williams in the Sacramento Valley.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

An egret wades through shallow water in the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge near the city of Williams in the Sacramento Valley.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Countless insects swarm along a road near the city of Williams in the Sacramento Valley.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

A dusky sky is reflected in a flooded rice field near the city of Williams in the Sacramento Valley.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

A grain silo is silhouetted against the evening sky near a flooded rice field near the city of Williams in the Sacramento Valley.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

A flooded rice field, left, reflects the rising sun alongside the Glenn-Colusa canal in the Sacramento Valley near the city of Williams.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)