{"id":6554,"date":"2014-07-15T08:48:09","date_gmt":"2014-07-15T15:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/?p=6554"},"modified":"2014-07-15T11:31:44","modified_gmt":"2014-07-15T18:31:44","slug":"uc-davis-drought-study-assesses-current-impacts-potential-losses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2014\/07\/15\/uc-davis-drought-study-assesses-current-impacts-potential-losses\/","title":{"rendered":"UC Davis Drought Study Assesses Current Losses and Potential Future Impacts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"CDFA<\/a>

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross (standing) at the National Press Club in Washington DC with UC Davis professors Jay Lund (right) and Richard Howitt, co-authors of the drought impact study.<\/p><\/div>\n

A new report from the University of California, Davis, shows that California agriculture is weathering its worst drought in decades due to groundwater reserves, but the nation\u2019s produce basket may come up dry in the future if it continues to treat those reserves like an unlimited savings account.<\/p>\n

The UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences study, released today at a press briefing in Washington, D.C., updates estimates on the drought\u2019s effects on Central Valley farm production, presents new data on the state\u2019s coastal and southern farm areas, and forecasts the drought\u2019s economic fallout through 2016. The study found that the drought — the third most severe on record — is responsible for the greatest water loss ever seen in California agriculture, with river water for Central Valley farms reduced by roughly one-third. Groundwater pumping is expected to replace most river water losses, with some areas more than doubling their pumping rate over the previous year, the study said. More than 80 percent of this replacement pumping occurs in the San Joaquin Valley and Tulare Basin.<\/p>\n

The results highlight California agriculture’s economic resilience and vulnerabilities to drought and underscore the state\u2019s reliance on groundwater to cope with droughts. \u201cCalifornia\u2019s agricultural economy overall is doing remarkably well, thanks mostly to groundwater reserves,\u201d said Jay Lund, a co-author of the study and director of the university\u2019s Center for Watershed Sciences. \u201cBut we expect substantial local and regional economic and employment impacts. We need to treat that groundwater well so it will be there for future droughts.\u201d Other key findings of the drought\u2019s effects in 2014:<\/p>\n