The aquifer that once supplied water to the growers in California’s central valley, where farmers produce from ten to twenty percent of our fruits, vegetables, and nuts, has been depleted. To control flooding as the population of California boomed and farming dramatically increased, California built a massive system of water retention. Sadly, this means that the Central California valley aquifer is not being replenished.
Even now with much of the state experiencing floods, the water control infrastructure still prevents the aquifers from being recharged. In my home county of Calhoun, a heavily irrigated farming area, the aquifer is dropping, and many people are having to redrill their wells, so this is not just a west coast problem.
