--- description: California's three years of low rainfall is the region's worst drought in 1,200 years, according to a new study. title: California Drought Worst In 1,200 Years image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e793175d77d77d2/69876d202dce01ef349dc425/465639743-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Environment](/tag/environment/) ## Environment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # California's Drought Is Now the Worst in 1,200 Years  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Dec 5, 2014 11:14 PM CUT  A car sits in dried and cracked earth of what was the bottom of the Almaden Reservoir on Jan. 28, 2014 in San Jose, Calif. A car sits in dried and cracked earth of what was the bottom of the Almaden Reservoir on Jan. 28, 2014 in San Jose, Calif.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Dec 5, 2014 11:14 PM CUT California’s three years of low rainfall is the region’s worst drought in 1,200 years, according to a new [study](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014GL062433/abstract "undefined"). Record high temperatures combined with unusually low levels of precipitation have been the primary causes of the dry conditions, according to the study in the journal _Geophysical Research Letters._ “It was a surprise,” study author Kevin Anchukaitis told the Los Angeles [_Times_ ](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-california-drought-worst-20141205-story.html "undefined")of the findings. “I don’t think we expected to see that at all.” The drought has led to tremendous economic costs in the state, including an expected $2.2 billion and 17,000 farming jobs this year alone, according to a [report](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/economic%5Fimpact%5Fof%5Fthe%5F2014%5Fcalifornia%5Fwater%5Fdrought%5F1.pdf "undefined") from the University of California, Davis. It’s also expected to [increase](https://time.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=3393608&action=edit "undefined") food prices across the country. And the problem may not be going away soon. About 44% of three-year droughts last continue past their third year, according to the _Times._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3621246/california-drought-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3621246/california-drought-study/"},"headline":"California's Drought Is Now the Worst in 1,200 Years","datePublished":"2014-12-05T23:14:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:37:53.905Z","description":"And it might not be ending anytime soon","url":"https://time.com/3621246/california-drought-study/","keywords":["Environment","weather","California","Drought","Farming","us"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e793175d77d77d2/69876d202dce01ef349dc425/465639743-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e793175d77d77d2/69876d202dce01ef349dc425/465639743-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"California Drought Dries Up Bay Area Reservoirs","caption":"California Drought Dries Up Bay Area Reservoirs","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/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3621246/california-drought-study/","name":"California's Drought Is Now the Worst in 1,200 Years"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How California’s Drought Will Affect Your Wallet","description":"A drought in California means higher grocery prices for Americans","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/e4k4jpdG/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-09-17T15:11:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/e4k4jpdG.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3621246/california-drought-study/","duration":"PT1M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3621246/california-drought-study/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```