Impact of SGMA on California's Citrus Industry
Project ID:
5400-158
Principal Investigator:
Bruce Babcock
Principal Investigator Affiliation:
University of California, Riverside
Co-Investigators:
N/A
Collaborators:
- Mehdi Nemati
Start Date:
2019
Estimated Duration:
2 year(s)
Completed Date:
N/A
Annual Funding:
$76,141.00
Many California citrus groves overlie critically overdrafted groundwater basins. Groundwater pumping in these basins will be reduced to sustainable levels to meet requirements of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The impacts of adjustments in crop acreages in response to decreased groundwater availability will be felt by growers, upstream and downstream supply chain participants, and local economies. Yet no projections of the likely impacts on total acreage and the crop mix of acreage exist in the public domain. This project aims to fill this knowledge gap by estimating the impact of moving to sustainable groundwater pumping levels on citrus acreage and production. Growers will benefit by using this knowledge to guide investment decisions and to react to proposed SGMA sustainability plans.