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Climate change may have a dual effect on irrigated agriculture. This may occur
through both higher water demand by agriculture and an expansion of the area irri-
gated to achieve historical yields. These developments are due to both general cli-
mate change (higher temperatures and lower precipitation) and climate variability
leading to an increase in extreme events, especially the frequency of droughts.
Rising energy prices are inevitable in the short and medium terms. Energy price
increases will affect rain-fed agriculture by raising the cost of transporting agricul-
tural goods to market and by increasing the cost of agricultural inputs, like fertilizers
and pesticides. Because water conveyance and irrigation systems require large
amounts of energy, irrigated agriculture faces the additional burden of rapidly in-
creasing pumping costs as energy costs increase. California’s water infrastructure
uses approximately 52,000 Gigawatthours (GWh) of energy or 20% of the state’s
total electricity consumption to treat water supply; treat wastewater; and to power
the pumps that move water from one place to another. Electricity used by the water
purveyors in the state amounts to 20,278 GWh, approximately 8% of the statewide
total electrical use. California end-users of water consume about 32,000 GWh of this
total energy use to heat, cool, and pump the water they use in their homes, busi-
nesses, and for agricultural irrigation purposes.
• Observed warming over several decades has been linked to changes in the large-
• Increased precipitation intensity and variability are projected to increase the risks
droughts, are projected to affect water quality and exacerbate many forms of
water pollution (high confidence).
• Globally, the negative impacts of future climate change on freshwater systems are
• Changes in water quantity and quality due to climate change are expected to af-
• Climate change affects the function and operation of existing water infrastructure
• Current water management practices may not be robust enough to cope with the
impacts of climate change on water supply reliability, flood risk, health, agricul-
ture, energy and aquatic ecosystems (very high confidence).
• Climate change challenges the traditional assumption that past hydrological expe-
• Adaptation options designed to ensure water supply during average and drought
• Water resources management clearly impacts on many other policy areas, e.g.,
The hydrologic cycle recycles annually the same, finite, net, 4/1000ths of 1 percent
of Earth’s total water. The water the dinosaurs drank millions of years ago is essen-
tially the same water that falls as rain today. This water has sustained every civiliza-
tion from the beginnings of history to today. But, today the global well is starting to
go dry.
Adapted from: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] (2010),
Sustainable Management of Water Resources in Agriculture; Lon W. House, “Water Supply
Related Electricity Demand in California,” (December 2006), California Energy Commission
Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program; International Panel on Climate Change
[IPCC] (2008), Climate change and water, IPCC Technical Paper VI, Geneva, Switzerland.