The Chairperson of the California State Water Resources Control Board recently warned that the ongoing drought in California will result in severe restriction on the availability of water for agricultural, industrial and domestic use.  As an alternative, farmers, operators of CAFOs and municipalities are relying on groundwater.  Without replenishment of aquifers, extensive abstraction will lead to depletion and dry wells.  In some areas of the San Joaquin Valley, tankers are delivering water for domestic consumption to home-cisterns.

Large poultry complexes in California rely extensively on groundwater.  In many cases additional wells have had to be drilled to considerable depth to tap new aquifers suggesting that water will be a limiting factor to future expansion and even current operations.  High temperatures in California during summer months predicate the operation of evaporative cooling that represents an additional demand on available water.  It is estimated that a 1.5 million hen complex with pullet rearing requires in excess of 150,000 gallons of water daily for flock consumption, operation of a packing plant and evaporative cooling during summer months. The quality of groundwater in many areas of Western states is frequently unsuitable for consumption by livestock and poultry and requires treatment prior to use to adjust pH and remove mineral contaminants