How will an extreme drought financially impact the State of California?

Scott Stine

August 19, 2010 5:00am

Water Resources Research journal published new research from Geography and Environmental Studies Professor Scott Stine.

In, “Economic consequences of optimized water management for a prolonged, severe drought in California,” Stine and colleagues used historical data to synthesize a 72 year drought with half of mean historical inflows using random sampling of historical dry years. The model considers how California could respond to such an extreme drought using water trading to provide best-case estimates of economic costs and effects on water operations and demands. The study shows that the drought would be expensive for California but not catastrophic for the overall economy. Scarce water resources would especially impose severe burdens on the agricultural sector and environmental water uses.