In late April, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared the state the fourth-largest economy in the world at a nominal gross domestic product of $4.1 trillion. He additionally called it top in the nation for agriculture.
Indeed, California had $59.4 billion in receipts for agricultural products in 2023 (most recent complete data). The state also claimed over three-quarters of all cash receipts for fruits and nuts throughout the nation and almost half for vegetables and melons.
“California isn’t just keeping pace with the world — we’re setting the pace,” Newsom said in news release. “Our economy is thriving because we invest in people, prioritize sustainability, and believe in the power of innovation.”
But there is no agriculture in California without water, and water is a precious commodity in the mostly arid and frequently drought-parched state.
Scarcity enforces sustainability
“There has always been a shortage,” said Charles Hillyer, director of the Center for Irrigation Technology at California State University, Fresno, speaking to The Packer on water in California. “We have to be sustainable.”
Hillyer explained that California is deeply committed to permanent crops like fruit and nut orchards and vineyards.
“You can’t abandon that crop. If you have a drought and you can’t keep the crop alive, you’re not just losing this year’s crop, you’re losing the whole orchard,” he said. “So, we have to plan for, not necessarily less water, but using it in a more sustainable way.”
One way that California growers have done this in the past has been to rely on groundwater pumping for irrigation to mitigate the uncertainty of surface water supplies, Hillyer said. He also pointed to the state’s 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act as an example of California’s efforts to keep groundwater use sustainable.
“Were not the first place in the United States that has tried to strive for sustainability, but the way the law works is a bit different from other states,” he said. “It’s innovative in some ways, but that is how the state is putting sustainability first in terms of agricultural water use.”
He also pointed out that water scarcity in California contributed to growers in the state being early adopters of technology like drip irrigation so they could do more with less.
“California growers, because they don’t have enough water and are growing very high-value crops, they invest in more efficient technologies,” Hillyer said. “Because of the margins, this is a place where you can try new things and be innovative and take risks.”
Driving innovation investments
Meena Sankaran, founder and CEO of Ketos — a California- and Texas-based company offering a vertically integrated water quality monitoring platform for agricultural, commercial and metropolitan water users — also noted that California growers have been early adopters of smart water technologies. She pointed to several unique elements of California as potential reasons: anything from proximity to Silicon Valley to having grower co-op systems that other states lack that can help disseminate new technologies.
“The innovations across these farms has been significant over the years,” she said. Specifically regarding agriculture’s contribution to the state’s new economic status, she added that, “it’s a culmination of years and years being smart about how water is being used.”
The state also has invested in innovation, according to Hillyer, who points to his own organization as an example.
“The California Energy Commission invested several million dollars in technology incubators, and the Water, Energy and Technology Incubator at Fresno State is one of those centers,” he said. “What we do is basically help startup companies with innovative ideas go from an idea to making money.”
The Center for Irrigation Technology works with the public and private sectors to advance irrigation, water and energy technologies and management practices through testing.
Focused on a sustainable future
Newsom said California’s economy was growing faster at 6% in 2024 than the three larger economies: U.S. (5.3%), China (2.6%) and Germany (2.9%). For that to continue, California’s ag sector needs to stay strong. For that to happen, the innovations and dedication to sustainable water use must continue.
Hillyer said the state will need to keep sustainable groundwater use at the forefront.
“We can’t assume that the groundwater will always make up the difference with the surface water,” he said. “There’s going to have to be some sort of moderation in terms of planning and planting of orchards that takes into account that we can’t just pump as much as we need to out of the ground. We have to have some sort of balancing to make this system sustainable.”
Sankaran suggested that future efforts to spur innovation could come from the state’s economic plans. She gave the example of changes to state regulations to allow for subsidies for growers adopting water-wise technologies.
“Right now, the state revolving fund is only applicable to nonprofits, to tribal organizations or to city utilities. It does not apply to growers,” she said. “If there was some sort of SRF allocation to growers, especially growers who are going above and beyond in terms of being sustainable, it would be an incentive for more growers to be conscientious.”
In the spirit of sustainability, Sankaran added that California and society at large must not let farmer numbers dwindle given the essential role they play.
“It is critical that we support and incentivize farmers very intentionally in our economic plans.”
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