Conserving Agricultural Resources

Plants and animals need water to survive and thrive. Lack of water is causing stress on agriculture in many regions. Too much water can cause soil erosion.

Agriculture & Water in California

California and neighboring states in the U.S. Southwest have grown rapidly despite limited supplies of water. California farmers produce one-third of U.S. vegetables and two-thirds of fruits and nuts. It takes a lot of water to grow these fruits and vegetables.

Much of the land used for agriculture in California does not get enough rainfall even in normal times to grow crops. An extended drought in recent years has stressed California’s agriculture as well as its residents. California’s limited water supply comes from two main sources:

Surface water, which is water that travels or gathers on the ground, such as in rivers, streams, and lakes.

Groundwater, which is water that is pumped out from the ground.

After several years of drought, the volume of water in California’s rivers, streams, and lakes has been severely reduced. In normal years 70 percent of California’s water comes from surface water, but after several years of drought the share dropped to 40 percent.

Pause & Reflect 9.4.6

According to what is the predominant form of agriculture in California? What are the advantages and disadvantages of California’s climate for agriculture?

California Agriculture & Water

California’s extended drought has called into question the region’s ability to sustain the entire country’s current system of food production. Agriculture consumes 80 percent of the state’s distributed water. The counties with the highest per capita use of water are the major agricultural counties. The table has examples of the amounts of California water that go into growing some fruits and vegetables. Through consumption of fruits and vegetables, the average American consumes around 40 gallons of California water per day.

California Per Capita Water Use by County

The lowest per capita water use is in the major cities along the Pacific Coast. The highest demand is in the agricultural counties of the Central Valley.

Amount of Water Needed to Grow Selected Fruits and Vegetables in California

In order to protect California’s agriculture as much as possible, homeowners and businesses have been required to make substantial cuts in their water usage. For example, homeowners and municipalities are replacing grass lawns and annual flowers with native landscapes of rocks and desert plants.

Government Policies

In many countries, government policies have aggravated food supply, cost, and distribution problems. To make food affordable for urban residents, some governments keep agricultural prices low. Constrained by price controls, farmers are unable to sell their commodities at a profit and therefore have little incentive to increase production.

The U.S. government has three agriculture policies designed to improve the financial position of farmers:

Farmers are encouraged to avoid crops that are in excess supply. Because soil erosion is a constant threat, the government encourages planting fallow crops, such as clover, to restore nutrients to the soil and to help hold the soil in place. These crops can be used for hay or forage for pigs, or to produce seeds for sale.

The government pays farmers when certain commodity prices are low. The government sets a target price for a commodity and pays farmers the difference between the price they receive in the market and the target price set by the government as a fair level for the commodity. The target prices are calculated to give farmers the same price for the commodity today as in the past, when compared to other consumer goods and services.

The government buys surplus production and sells or donates it to foreign governments. In addition, low-income Americans receive food stamps in part to stimulate their purchase of additional food.

The United States has averaged about $20 billion a year on farm subsidies in recent years. Subsidy payments are lower in years when market prices rise and production is down, typically as a result of poor weather conditions in the United States or political problems in other countries.

More farmers receive subsidies in Europe, and they receive more than American farmers. The high subsidies are a legacy of a long-standing commitment by the European Union to maintain agriculture in its member states, especially in France. Supporters point to the preservation of rural village life in parts of Europe, while critics charge that the subsidies create needlessly high food prices.

Government policies in developed countries point out a fundamental irony in worldwide agricultural patterns: In developed regions such as North America and Europe, farmers are encouraged to grow less food, whereas developing countries struggle to increase food production to match the rate of growth in the population.