California citrus farmers pull up trees, dig reservoirs to survive drought

At the Gless family’s sprawling citrus ranch north of Los Angeles, a massive excavator twists and bends, digging a private reservoir on drought-parched land that just a few months ago contained 400 orange trees. As California confronts its fourth year of scorching drought, growers like John Gless are spending millions to protect themselves against future water shortages, digging reservoirs, sinking deep wells and installing computerized drip irrigation systems.

This is a very big, very expensive reservoir, which we certainly wouldn’t have done before.

John Gless

The past year has been particularly hard on San Joaquin Valley citrus farmers like Gless, many of whom were somewhat insulated against those reductions until last year, when water supplies from a federal project that distributes water from the large but ecologically fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta were cut off. Since then, citrus farmers statewide have pulled out about 20,000 acres of trees, losing investments that will take decades to recoup and costing consumers higher prices for oranges, lemons and limes.

In the last three years, we have put in more agricultural reservoirs than we have in the previous 20.

Ray Ogden, who builds reservoirs for farmers in California’s Coachella Valley

California drought Americas