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. The economic impacts of irrigation water cuts on counties depend on the magnitude of farm income lost and also on the crops involved in the adjustment process. For each crop in each county, a specific economic multiplier was used, taking into account off-farm handling and processing, as well as the scale of other local economic activities.