A new study from UC Davis found that surface water costs triple during periods of drought.
The study found that drought causes the price of surface water to rise to $487 per acre-foot, which is more than triple the cost during an average wet year.
Driving the news: Researchers studied water transaction data ranging from 2010 to 2022, spanning both drought and wet years in California.
- Groundwater prices remained stable during that period, while surface water prices were volatile, reflecting the precipitation of the year.
- Specifically, the study revealed that a 50-inch decrease in annual precipitation increases the price by nearly $500 per acre-foot.
Go deeper: The study found that California groundwater basins can store eight to 12 times more water than every reservoir in the state combined. However, the state’s groundwater basins are not widely used to store surplus surface water.
What they’re saying: “The extreme volatility in prices surprised me,” said lead author Madeline Turland. “During dry years we have really high surface water prices and during wet years we have really low water prices, but we found that groundwater seems to have stable prices over time, despite precipitation swings.”
- Turland continued, “This study shows why coordinating both sources matters – it can lower costs now and help communities and farmers better weather future climate swings.”
What we’re watching: The study stated that increasing water storage in California would stabilize the surface water price moving forward.
