Subtropical orchard crops in these regions include olives and kiwifruit. Farm Impacts Estimated changes in farm revenue for selected crops in the eight study counties are shown in Table 1. Across all counties and for most crops, the study shows that reductions in agricultural revenue are expected. There is substantial variation in the amount of loss, depending on crop and location. Much of the variation across counties reflects differences in the relative importance of groundwater in the county water supply.
Rice stands out among crops.
Rice takes the largest proportional cuts in per acre water use, incurs the highest irrigation system costs, and suffers the largest acreage losses. Rice tends to be particularly dependent on surface water supplies. Rice revenues are relatively important in Colusa, Glenn, Sutter, Butte and Yuba counties. Overall, as expected, our results show that crops with more return per acre and per unit of water have less reduction in acreage. Pasture has the largest acreage cuts in all counties, while vegetable and orchard crops exhibit only small changes.