This week, the University of California, Davis Center for Watershed Sciences released a Report titled Economic Analysis of the 2015 Drought for California Agriculture. The Report states that just as the economic impacts of the drought have grown modestly since 2014, continuation of the drought to 2016 or beyond with similar intensity is likely to slowly erode the state’s agricultural production and employment.
Some of the major conclusions from the Report include:
- Surface water shortages of nearly 8.7 million acre-feet will be largely offset by increased groundwater pumping of 6 million acre-feet. Groundwater offsets almost 70 percent of the drought water shortage.
- Roughly 542,000 acres are expected to be idled due to water shortages, which is 114,000 more acres than the 2014 drought estimate. Most idled land is in the Tulare Basin.
- Direct agricultural costs of drought will be about $1.84 billion and 10,100 direct seasonal jobs. When multiplier effects are considered, losses to all economic sectors will be as high as $2.74 billion and nearly 21,000 total jobs.
The full Report can be accessed here.