From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

A period of severe dry weather called a drought is damaging crops in the U.S. State of California. This could cause a rise in food prices for Americans and people around the world.
一种被称为旱灾的一段时期的严重干旱天气正在危害美国加利福尼亚州的农作物。这可能会导致全球食品价格上涨。

In the Central Valley of California, farmers are reducing crop size because they do not have enough water. Last year, California had the least amount of rain since officials began keeping records. And it may be just as bad this year.
在加州的中央谷地，因为缺水农民们开始减少种植面积。去年，加州的降雨量创有历史记录以来的新低。而今年可能会同样糟糕。

Reservoirs are areas where water is stored. In California, some reservoirs are empty. The amount of snow in the Sierra mountain is 75% below normal. This mountain snow melts in the spring and fills rivers.
水库是储水区。在加州，一些水库是空的。塞拉山的降雪量比正常值低75%。这些高山积雪春天会融化并流入河流中。

The water is used by farmers. But now, farmers are warning of the possibility of another "Dust Bowl" like the one of the 1930s - severe droughts and dust storms covered American farmlands and few crops grew.
这些水被农民们所利用。但现在农民们警告说，有可能会发生另一场类似20世纪30年代的沙尘暴，当时严重干旱和沙尘暴覆盖了美国的农田，极少有作物生长。

Farmers in California produce almost half of US fruits and vegetables, much of it comes from the Central Valley.
加州的农民生产了美国近一半的水果和蔬菜，其中很大一部分来自中央谷地。

Dan Errotabere is a third generation California farmer. He grows tomatoes, walnuts, garlic and other crops in Fresno County. He says the federal agency that controls the amount of water released from dams and rivers has stopped giving him water. He and other farmers say, officials are not correctly administering the water system.
丹·艾罗塔贝尔（Dan Errotabere）是第三代加州农民。他在弗雷斯诺县种植西红柿、核桃、大蒜等作物。他说，控制水坝和河流放水量的联邦机构已经停止向他供水。他和其他农民表示，有关官员未能正确管理供水系统。

"The last couple of years, dry years, coupled with severe environmental restrictions, has now presented us with a zero allocation year," said Errotabere.
艾罗塔贝尔说，“过去几年，干旱加上严格的环保限制，现在赐给我们的是零配置的一年。”

Farmers may not be able to plant crops on more than 200,000 hectares of farmland in the Central Valley this spring. Mr Errotabere will plant crops on just 80 percent of his farmland, he has enough work for only 15 of his 25 workers.
今年春天，农民们可能无法在中央谷地近20万公顷农田上种植作物。艾罗塔贝尔先生只会在自己80%的农田上种植庄稼，他只能为他25名员工中的15人提供工作。

"Right now, we're completely depending on wells to finish these crops off, but I'm going to be fallowing 1,200 acres of our operation. There won't be anything growing on there," he said.
艾罗塔贝尔说，“现在我们完全依赖水井来种完这些作物了。但是我将要休耕1200英亩土地，这些土地将会寸土不生。”

Federal and state officials sometimes reduce the amount of water to farmers even in years with normal rainfall levels. The officials must supply water to the Sacramento River Delta, which is home to several endangered species.
联邦和州一级官员有时甚至会在降水量正常的年份减少给农民的供水量。有关官员必须向萨克拉门托河三角洲供水，这里是一些濒危物种的栖息地。

Long-term solutions include conservation, recycling waste water and building desalination centers. The centers remove salt from seawater, so it can be used on farms. Farmers say better administration of the state's water system could also help solve the crisis.
长期的解决方案包括保护自然环境，回收废水以及建设海水淡化中心。这类海水淡化中心会去除海水中的盐分，这样它就能用于农田。农民们表示，更好地管理该州的供水系统会有助于解决这一危机。