Shrinking Colorado River will take a toll on the nation's food supply
The shelves and prices at your local grocery store could look a little different soon.
The shelves and prices at your local grocery store could look a little different soon. The Colorado River, which provides water for about 15% of our country’s agriculture, is shrinking, and the current agreement that divvies up the water usage ends in 2026.
The Imperial Valley in Southern California relies 100% on the Colorado River for its water. This valley receives less than three inches of rain a year, yet still produces about two-thirds of the country’s winter produce.
A worker on the farm carries boxes across a broccoli field. (Sunny Tsai / FOXBusiness)
Farmers in the valley say the shrinking water levels and competing interests over river usage will badly impact the nation’s food supply.
«A lot of people say that the Colorado River and the diminishing water supply is an issue that affects 40 million people, because that's who rely on it. I think that number is too low. I think 100 million people rely on the water from the Colorado,» said fourth-generation farmer Andrew Leimgruber.
«When you're in between November and March, a large majority of your lettuce, broccoli, carrots, all of your winter greens are coming from either the Imperial Valley or just across the Colorado River from us, Yuma, Arizona,» said Leimgruber.
Leimgruber checks the sprinklers on his irrigation system. (Sunny Tsai / FOXBusiness)
The Colorado River is split between seven states and Mexico. Farmers in the Imperial Valley are the biggest users of the river's water.
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If the valley cannot produce enough crops, it can lead tolong-term problems.
«So, the big issue for us in California is our rising labor cost, but then
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