It takes less water today than ever to grow our food

Crop production per acre-foot of water has risen 43 percent in California between 1967 and 2010.

Image: Young bell peppers in the Coachella Valley surrounded by water-saving plastic “mulch”

Comparing Changes in Applied Water Use and the Real Gross Value of Output for California Agriculture: 1967 to 2010 http://www.waterplan.water.ca.gov/docs/cwpu2013/Final/vol4/economics/01Comparing_Changes_Applied_Water.pdf

USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/California/index.asp