Why California’s Water Problem Affects Growers Across the Country

Posted by Brian Sparks|January 18, 2020

Photo by David Kosling/USDA/Flickr.

A new report posted on GlobalAgInvesting.com, which provides market intelligence to agriculture investors, highlights how the debate over water supplies in California will have long-term implications for growers across the U.S.

California comprises 14% of the U.S. economy, much of which is fueled by agriculture. The state’s agriculture industry produced $50 billion in output last year. California supplies approximately 50% of the country’s fruits, nuts, and vegetables across almonds, apricots, avocadoes, and many more grown foods.

However, a law crafted in 2014 dubbed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), a product of the severe seven-year drought, stands to jeopardize ag production in the state, which has far reaching implications nationally and around the world.

“California will start to see the crumbling of the infrastructure that we need to get our crops from the field to your plate before they spoil,” says Jeanette Lombardo, National President of American Agri-Women and Chief Strategy Officer at Global Water Innovations. “To me, a domestic food supply is a matter of national security and what is happening to California farmers will have repercussions across our nation.”