Water Scarcity

in California’s
Central Valley:
An analysis of how the region can
best adapt and prevent
groundwater overdraft in the
most equitable and economically
viable fashion for all stakeholders,
with a focus on the San Joaquin
Valley counties
Why is this topic important?

• Over 1.7 billion people worldwide live in areas where groundwater

resources are under threat from over-exploitation. (Molle, Lopez-
Gunn and van Steenbergen, 2018)

• Arid and semi-arid regions are most at risk from this, as

groundwater is used as both a fresh drinking water and
agricultural water source. (Molle, Lopez-Gunn and van
Steenbergen, 2018)

• Anthropogenic warming in combination with changes to the

distribution and quantity of precipitation brings increased
likelihood of longer, more severe droughts in these regions
(Zommers and Alverson, 2018, pp.129).
WATER
RESOURCES

A water system
with water
management
infrastructure
THE CENTRAL VALLEY OF
CALIFORNIA

The central valley is a vast, 47000

square kilometre stretch of semi-arid
landscape which lies between the coast
and the sierra Nevada mountains,
(Zommers and Alverson, 2018, pp.127)
THE SAN JOAQUIN
VALLEY

The San Joaquin valley is the

southern part of the central valley.

This region contains within it eight

counties, as labelled on this map
in green.
Thesis
statement
In order to prevent groundwater

overdraft, Industry and communities of

the Central Valley must adapt to

structural drought in an equitable and

economically viable fashion for all

stakeholders in water resources.

The Central Valley’s
water supply
dilemma
Groundwater
Groundwater is used as the
primary water source when
surface waters are depleted.
Community
Rural communities in the Central valley use the
same water sources that are used for agriculture
Drought
Drought leads to surface water
curtailments and depletion.
Agribusiness
Water is in high demand for the irrigation of
crops and industrialised agriculture
7
The Central Valley agricultural industry

ECONOMIC VALUE GROUNDWATER USE

• The Central valley has 7 million acres • Central valley agricultural land is irrigated with
of agricultural land. (Medellín-Azuara approximately 27.2 billion cubic metres of water
et al., 2015). per year (Medellín-Azuara et al., 2015).

• The 250+ varieties of crops grown in • Groundwater accounts for at least 30% of
the central valley are valued at agricultural water use in a non-drought year, and
$17billion per year (Zommers and upwards of 50% in drier years (Medellín-Azuara et
Alverson, 2018, pp.128). al., 2015, pp. 1206)
The economic impact of drought

• During 2014 (a drought year), groundwater use in

the central valley region was up 6.2 billion cubic
metres in comparison to an average year, resulting
in an additional $447.6 million per year cost of
operation (Medellín-Azuara et al., 2015, pp. 1211).

• The economic impacts of drought on California

agriculture in 2016 amounted to $603 million,
$597 million of which was in the Central valley
(Zommers and Alverson, 2018, pp.129).
How can the agricultural industry
adapt to long term water scarcity?

As outlined by Medellín-Azuara et al.,

(2015), if growers allocate scarce
water resources to the more
profitable crops and leave others to
fallow, this could increase revenues
per unit area by 11.1%.

Predicted changes in irrigated crop

areas for the 2014 California drought
in the central valley regions.
(Medellín-Azuara et al., 2015).
The role of rural communities

• Agribusiness is an industry responsible for at least

half a million jobs (Medellín-Azuara et al., 2011).

• Many people living in rural communities

throughout the central valley are dependent on
agriculture for their income. (Greene, 2018)

• Most of these small, rural communities lie in

unincorporated territory without access to
municipal water and as such rely on shallow wells
as a household water source, (Zommers and
Alverson, 2018, pp.132).

11
Conclusion
As droughts and subsequent water crises become more

frequent worldwide, we must re-evaluate the way we

use our water resources, particularly groundwater.

As stated by (Greene, 2018), the adaptations to

climate vulnerability of one group or system can

function to increase the vulnerability of another group if

the socioeconomic and environmental feedbacks and

drivers of climate vulnerability are not understood.

Thank you
for listening.
Any questions?
 Reference list

Greene, C. (2018). Broadening understandings of drought – The climate vulnerability of farmworkers and
rural communities in California (USA). Environmental Science & Policy, 89, pp.283–291.

Medellín-Azuara, J., Howitt, R.E., MacEwan, D.J. and Lund, J.R. (2011). Economic impacts of climate-
related changes to California agriculture. Climatic Change, 109(S1), pp.387–405.

Medellín-Azuara, J., MacEwan, D., Howitt, R.E., Koruakos, G., Dogrul, E.C., Brush, C.F., Kadir, T.N., Harter,
T., Melton, F. and Lund, J.R. (2015). Hydro-economic analysis of groundwater pumping for irrigated
agriculture in California’s Central Valley, USA. Hydrogeology Journal, 23(6), pp.1205–1216.

Molle, F., Lopez-Gunn, E. and van Steenbergen, F. (2018). The Local and National Politics of Groundwater
Overexploitation François. http://www.water-alternatives.org/, 11(3), pp.445–457.

Nelson, T., Chou, H., Zikalala, P., Lund, J., Hui, R. and Medellín–Azuara, J. (2016). Economic and Water
Supply Effects of Ending Groundwater Overdraft in California’s Central Valley. San Francisco Estuary and
Watershed Science, 14(1).

Zommers, Z. and Alverson, K.D. (2018). Resilience: the science of adaptation to climate change.
Amsterdam, Netherlands; Oxford, United Kingdom; Cambridge, Ma: Elsevier, pp.127–142.