irrigate

And much of that water is to irrigate crops.

The spill affected aquatic life as well as farmers who use the water to irrigate their crops.

It has argued that just a 2% reduction in the amount of water it gets from the Nile could result in the loss of 200,000 acres of irrigated land.

In parts of the Tulare Lake basin, the ground has sunk as much as six feet over the last decade as water levels have declined beneath farmlands where wells irrigate cotton, tomatoes and other crops.

Soft fruit and vegetable production, mainly based in the south and east of the country, often requires large volumes of water to irrigate crops.