The Office of Water Use Efficiency works to disseminate and transfer information on improved irrigation technologies and to identify and help develop technologies and farming methods that improve water use efficiency.

California's Irrigated Agriculture:

California's unique geography and Mediterranean climate have allowed the State to become one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. The Sierra Nevada Mountain range that lines the eastern edge of the State capture and store winter precipitation that can be then used for summer irrigation in the Central Valley. This water, combined with the Mediterranean climate permits the growing of a great number of crops. California produces over 250 different crops and leads the nation in production of 75 commodities. California is the sole producer of 12 different commodities including almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, raisins, kiwifruit, olives, persimmons, pistachios, prunes and walnuts.

Most of this production would not be possible without irrigation. California agriculture uses roughly 30 million acre-feet of water a year on 9.6 million acres. California's vast water infrastructure was developed to provide water for irrigation with agriculture using 80% of California's developed water supply.

California's population growth and greater awareness of environmental water requirements has increased the pressure on California agriculture to use water more efficiently and to make more water available for urban and environmental uses. Decreasing agricultural water use is difficult for several reasons. First, California agricultural water use when considered on a broad regional scale, for the most part, is very efficient. Individual fields and farms in some regions may have low efficiencies, but water that is not used on one farm or field is often used on a nearby farm or field. Secondly, for most crops, production and yield is directly related to crop water use. A decrease in applied water will often directly decrease yield. The key is management strategies that improve water use efficiency without decreasing yield.

There are technologies and management strategies available that conserve water while maintaining yield and production standards. These technologies and management strategies like improved irrigation scheduling and crop specific irrigation management often not only conserve water, but also save energy and decrease growers costs.