According to Dave Puglia, President and CEO of Western Growers Association, severe restriction on water for irrigation is leading to fallowing of orchards and cropland over 5.2 million acres in the San Joaquin Valley.  Drought has severely reduced the water levels in the Shasta and Oroville dams as previously reported.  In addition, the Sustainable Ground Water Management Act comes into effect this year.  This legislation halts overdraft usage of water in order to balance abstraction and the restoration of groundwater over the proximal 20 years.

Over and above the problems faced by row crop farmers and those operating orchards, both large dairies and egg operations will be impacted.  It is estimated that a two-million hen in-line complex requires in excess of 250,000 gallons of water per day for flocks, evaporative cooling and operation of a packing plant.  Availability of water from depleted aquifers will represent a restraint to future egg production in the Central Valley and certainly the erection of new operations.