--- description: California’s drought means higher food prices for Americans. title: Watch: how California's drought will affect your pocket image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7112bcbc6a934b24/6986a3dc55a8591655a829e7/calofornia-drought.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Economy](/tag/economy/) ## Economy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch How California's Drought Will Affect Your Wallet by [Adam Perez](/author/adam-perez/) ## Adam Perez Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 17, 2014 5:05 PM CUT  The Enterprise Bridge passes over a section of Lake Oroville that is nearly dry on Aug. 19, 2014 in Oroville, Calif. The Enterprise Bridge passes over a section of Lake Oroville that is nearly dry on Aug. 19, 2014 in Oroville, Calif.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [Adam Perez](/author/adam-perez/) ## Adam Perez Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 17, 2014 5:05 PM CUT The West Coast has been in a persistent drought for the past 15 years. California, which grows more than 200 different crops, is being hit the hardest. This year, about 500 million of acres of California’s land is expected to be taken out of production. The consequence: higher produce prices for all Americans. Timothy Richards, a professor of agribusiness at Arizona State University, conducted research that predicted that 10 to 20 percent of California’s crops could be lost. On top of that, the threat of a megadrought, which can span over two decades, could result in a major economic crisis. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3393608/california-drought/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3393608/california-drought/"},"headline":"Watch How California's Drought Will Affect Your Wallet","datePublished":"2014-09-17T17:05:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:14:24.207Z","description":"California’s drought means higher food prices for Americans.","url":"https://time.com/3393608/california-drought/","keywords":["Economy","California","Money","Drought"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7112bcbc6a934b24/6986a3dc55a8591655a829e7/calofornia-drought.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Adam Perez","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/adam-perez/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7112bcbc6a934b24/6986a3dc55a8591655a829e7/calofornia-drought.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Statewide Drought Takes Toll On California's Lake Oroville Water Level","caption":"Statewide Drought Takes Toll On California's Lake Oroville Water Level","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/economy/","name":"Economy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3393608/california-drought/","name":"Watch How California's Drought Will Affect Your Wallet"}}]}] ```