California Farmers Count Every Drop with Efficient Irrigation Technologies

Despite hopes for a drenching from El Niño, California farmers are facing another drought year in 2016.  Even after four years of the worst drought on record, California farm output was a record $54 billion in 2015, accounting for more than half of the nation’s fresh produce. Groundwater has helped compensate for California’s lack of rainfall, but groundwater overdraft cannot be continued indefinitely. California farmers have responded to the drought by fallowing land; switching to crops that yield higher value per unit of water; and switching irrigation technologies.