California's Coming Agriculture Water Crisis

California agriculture isn't just about wine grapes -- far from it. The state is the fifth largest ag producer in the world. They are tops in the country in dairy along with crops like lemons, almonds and olives. Some of the more "exotic" crops are figs, prunes, kiwis, raisins, and walnuts. The state also grows a lot of thirsty cotton and rice.

What scientists do know is the earth's wet regions are getting wetter, the drier regions (like California) are getting drier.

Central Valley farmers complaining about having to help
save water during the state's drought

Most of the state has been losing groundwater for a long time, especially in the Central Valley ag areas. The problem was made worse by the drought years of 2011-15 (though some believe the drought hasn't actually ended). It's estimated it would take 50 years to replace the groundwater lost to ag and personal usage if we completely stopped using it and had average rain and snowfalls. So, no, it's not goring to happen.

Cities have done a decent job of reducing use in the past few years, but we still require changes like more water recycling, capturing storm runoffs, maybe more reservoirs. The state's farms use way more water than its people so that seems to be where the most savings will come from. Hard decisions are ahead. It seems the West has always been about water wars.

The good news is grapevines can get along with not a lot of water (and are better if they don't get too much during the growing season). A lot of vineyard management is now focused on reducing water waste. The possible bad news is that premium wine grapes are quite sensitive to the micro-climate they are grown in and climate change would have a major impact on where wine grapes can be grown.