California Agricultural Issues Lab
of the University of California
Modern Farmer / June 7, 2021
Droughts in California have been part of agriculture for a very long time…California is a wonderful place for many crops and that has not changed at all.
AIC DIrector Dan Sumner
Snowpack statewide is only at 59% of its April 1 average, based on electronic measurements according to the California Department of Water Resources. Farmers in the Central Valley producing water-intensive crops such as almonds and tomatoes are already facing some difficult choices. “It’s really serious, particularly in the Central Valley.”
UC Davis Agricultural Economist Daniel Sumner
NPR Marketplace Jan 4 2016
California’s years-long drought may be easing now that the snowpack is a bit higher up in the Sierras, and more storms are in the forecast. But that doesn’t mean it’s over, and that’s not good news for U.S. agriculture.
Click here for article (audio): https://www.marketplace.org/2017/01/04/sustainability/snowpack-means-hope-drought-ridden-farms
Slate.com, June 22, 2016
Despite the arrival of increased rain and snow from El Niño this winter, California enters the fifth straight year of its worst drought in 1,200 years. The drought has been especially acute in the state’s Central Valley, which ranges from extreme to exceptional drought.
Richard Howitt,Jay R. Lund. August 2016
The Economic Analysis of the 2016 California Drought for Agriculture report estimates the impacts of the drought on agriculture.
“California’s agricultural powerhouse and its extensive water supply system have been challenged by recent years of drought. After four years of severely dry conditions, a wetter 2016 winter and spring helped California partially recover surface water storage and increased recharge to some aquifers. Nevertheless, statewide storage in reservoirs remains below historical average and groundwater remains in substantial overdraft in many areas.”
Imperialvalleynews.com, August 15 2016
The drought continues for California’s agriculture in 2016, but with much less severe and widespread impacts than in the two previous drought years, 2014 and 2015. Winter and spring were wetter in the Sacramento Valley, to the extent of several reservoirs being required to spill water for flood control, but south of the Delta was unusually dry. The much-heralded El Nino brought largely average precipitation north of the Delta, replenishing some groundwater, and drier than average conditions to the southern Central Valley and southern California.
Additional media coverage of this topic
Nina M. Anderson and Daniel A. Sumner
ARE Update, February 2016
To be relevant to California’s drought, discussions of water used to produce food items should focus on the irrigation water relevant to production in California. By that measure, drought-relevant water used to produce livestock products such as beef and milk is moderate compared to crop products such as wine and broccoli.
Click here for paper: https://s.giannini.ucop.edu/uploads/giannini_public/f3/91/f39155ce-574f-43f8-9a23-6068128e4180/v19n3_2.pdf
Click here for methodology explanation and calculations:https://cail.ucdavis.edu/water-in-food_background/Drought Water Article Methodology.docx
Click here for data: https://cail.ucdavis.edu/water-in-food_background/Drought Water Article Data.xlsx
Drought costs California agriculture $1.84B and 10,100 jobs in 2015
By Kat Kerlin on August 18, 2015 in Food & Agriculture
Squeezed By Drought, California Farmers Switch To Less Thirsty Crops
NPR (audio), July 28, 2015