--- description: California is a big producer of high-end cotton title: Will California's Drought Mean More Expensive Jeans? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Environment](/tag/environment/) ## Environment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Will California's Drought Mean More Expensive Jeans? by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 17, 2015 7:22 PM CUT by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 17, 2015 7:22 PM CUT Drought and water shortages could push California’s cotton acreage to its lowest levels since the early 1930s, and that could become a problem for yet another industry that the state currently dominates—high-end apparel manufacturing. [California](http://www.cnbc.com/id/10000551 "undefined") accounts for most of the U.S. production of an economically important, high-end type of cotton called Pima. A reduction in the crop could spell trouble for the local apparel makers—many of them in [Los Angeles](http://www.cnbc.com/id/10000572 "undefined")—that are already bracing for the state’s first mandatory water reductions. “There’s going to be some major impacts into our company, primarily as a result of the water problems that… [_Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/will-californias-drought-mean-more-expensive-jeans-n343611?cid=par-time-article%5F20141002 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3827102/california-drought-expensive-jeans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3827102/california-drought-expensive-jeans/"},"headline":"Will California's Drought Mean More Expensive Jeans?","datePublished":"2015-04-17T19:22:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:29:33.215Z","description":"California is a big producer of high-end cotton","url":"https://time.com/3827102/california-drought-expensive-jeans/","keywords":["Environment","California","Drought"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"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/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3827102/california-drought-expensive-jeans/","name":"Will California's Drought Mean More Expensive Jeans?"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"#theBrief: Who is Using Up California's Water?","description":"There are three major consumers of the state’s water supply: urban consumers, big agriculture, and the environment.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/1x3DeuzL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-04-10T13:08:41.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1x3DeuzL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3827102/california-drought-expensive-jeans/","duration":"PT2M56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3827102/california-drought-expensive-jeans/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```