California Water and Farm Information
Learn more about California’s water supply and the state’s farms that turn water into the food and fibers we rely on every day!
Water Supply
- In an average year, California receives approximately 198 million acre-feet, or 64.55 trillion gallons worth of precipitation.
Water Management
- In a typical year, California controls approximately 41.2% of the precipitation it receives, or 26.59 trillion gallons of water for defined purposes.
- In a typical year, California receives approximately 37.96 trillion gallons of water, or 58.8% that go uncontrolled.
- Of the 26.59 trillion gallons of water controlled in the state, water use in a typical year breaks down as follows:
- Environmental Uses
- 50.4%
- Human Uses
- Agricultural Purposes – 37.7%
- Municipal and Industrial Purposes – 8.8%
- Environmental Uses
Water Uses
- In a typical year, California’s farms utilize approximately 8.2 trillion gallons of water to grow food and fiber.
- On average, it requires approximately 9.9 trillion gallons of water to produce the food needed to sustain California’s population every year.
- In a typical year, California’s cities and other industries use approximately 2.34 trillion gallons of water.
- In a typical year California dedicates approximately 13.42 trillion gallons of water to environmental purposes.
- There are 14 crops grown exclusively in California. They are almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, grapes (raisins), kiwis, olives, peaches (clingstone), pistachios, plums (dried/prunes), pomegranates, rice (sweet), seed (ladino clover) & walnuts!
- Farmers in Bakersfield pioneered the ready-to-eat “baby” carrots and now the average American eats 11.5 pounds of them each year.
- California provides approximately 88 percent of the nation’s strawberries.
- Approximately 67,500 acres in California grow berries. (2022)
- Yuba and Sutter counties are known as the “Prune Capital of the World.”
- Three counties, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties represent approximately 85% of all land dedicated to growing avocados! (2022)
- California is home to 63,134 farms, about 3.3% of the farms in the U.S. (2022)
- Approximately 2.7% of U.S. farmland is in California. (2022)
- California’s farm production represents approximately 11% of the value of all U.S. farm products.
- Approximately 94% of farms in California are family farms. (2022)
- The average farm size in California is 383 acres- approximately18% smaller than the national average. (2022)
- California’s irrigated farms represent more than 16% of U.S. irrigated farms. (2022)
- Farmers use less water today than the amount evaporated from the Klamath Basin prior to 1905 reclamation.
- Since 2003 farmers in the San Joaquin Valley have invested more than $2.1 billion on 1.8 million acres to upgrade their irrigation systems.
- California rice fields provide a home to over 141 species of birds, 28 species of mammals and 24 species of amphibians and reptiles

Central Valley Project Water South of Delta Allocation Rises to 55%
This week, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced an increase in the Central Valley Project (CVP) water allocation for south-of-Delta agricultural contractors, raising it from 50% to 55% for the 2025 water year. While this modest increase offers some relief to farmers, farm workers, and rural communities in the San Joaquin Valley, it underscores the ongoing challenges of California’s unreliable water supply system. Insufficient water allocations have far-reaching consequences, not only for agriculture but also for the nation’s food supply.

Adapting California Agriculture: Water Shortages, Solar, and Food Production
California’s agricultural landscape is transforming due to water supply challenges and the push for renewable energy. With projections of 500,000 to 1 million acres fallowed in the San Joaquin Valley by 2040, driven by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and decades of environmental water policies curtailing water supplies, farmers face tough choices: grow crops, convert land to solar, or try to do both.

Water Scarcity’s Economic Toll on California Agriculture: Why We Must Act Now
Water Scarcity’s Economic Toll on California Agriculture: Why We Must Act Now If egg prices are any indication of what happens when a disruption occurs