The aqueduct is not dry. There are irrigation pumping stations and then gates for the irrigation along the aqueduct.
I used to live in SoCal. Have they shut down water flowing into LA via the aqueduct yet or only the irrigation part to the farmers? Seems to me if there is a problem with the fish it should affect Los Angeles as well. Why pick on the farmers? That would be one way to get a whole area in a uproar at the feds.
There were problems when we lived there about irrigation in the orange groves that wasted so much water instead of being recycled. Lived in San Bernardino County and for the five years we were there, there were water rights problems. Sounds like some things don’t change. They also had problems with the water used for growing alfalfa.
Would have thought after all these years someone would have solved the irrigation problem for the farmers and orange growers but it doesn’t sound any different then before.