Water scarcity is driving California farmers to plant different crops. Growers are switching to more profitable, less-thirsty fruits, vegetables and nuts.
Water scarcity is driving California farmers to plant different crops. Growers are switching to more profitable, less-thirsty fruits, vegetables and nuts.
Nowhere is this truer than San Diego County, where water prices are some of the highest in the state.
Grapefruit trees shade the entrance to Triple B Ranches winery in northern San Diego County. The tasting room is a converted kitchen festooned with country knick knacks.
Debbie Broomell runs the boutique winery with her father, Gary. Their quaint vineyard is only a few years old. For three generations, the Broomells have grown citrus. But, it's been hard to stay in the black growing oranges.
"With the water problems and all the things that are going on, we're looking for something that takes a little less water, and grapes seem to be it," says Gary Broomell.
Adds Debbie, "It's all trying to just kind of keep farming. How do you keep farming?"
The price of water in the area has more than doubled in recent years. But vineyards require 25 percent less water than citrus. As a result, the number of wineries in San Diego County has tripled during the same time period.
But the savings might not be enough to ensure survival for the Broomells.
Debbie points to a shallow well in the middle of some grapevines.
"Dad's been cranking it down," she says, "because the water table's been dropping. We're keeping our fingers crossed that [the wells] can kind of keep producing through the summer."
Gary throws up his hands to the sky.
"We still got July, August, September, October. You know?" he says.
If the drought doesn't end soon, Gary says they'll likely have to pull out of citrus altogether. He says he's looking into persimmons as another alternative.
Eric Larson from the San Diego County Farm Bureau takes me on a drive nearby through the San Pasqual Valley. Historically, citrus and avocados have been the two leading crops in north San Diego County. But several thousand acres of citrus and more than 10,000 acres of avocados have been taken out of production.
Continue reading at NPR.
Farm image via Shutterstock.
