Climate Change in the San Joaquin Valley

The document examines how climate change exacerbates water scarcity, poor water and air quality, and economic instability in the San Joaquin Valley, offering specific adaptation strategies for households and communities.

• Climate change in California is characterized by higher temperatures, longer and more severe droughts, declining snowpack, more intense rain storms, and more frequent wildfires.
• The San Joaquin Valley (SJV) faces severe water quality issues, with more than half of California's public water systems that fail to meet quality standards located in the valley, despite only 10% of the state's population living there.
• Climate-driven droughts and increased groundwater pumping concentrate contaminants in the water supply, specifically increasing levels of arsenic and chromium VI (Cr(VI)).
• Water stress in the SJV is exacerbated by a reliance on groundwater during droughts; for instance, during the 2012–2016 drought, groundwater provided 60% of the water used, compared to 40% from surface water.
• Aggressive overpumping of groundwater has led to significant land subsidence in the San Joaquin Valley, with some areas sinking 8.6 feet between 1965 and 2018, damaging infrastructure like roads.
• Climate change increases flooding risks in the SJV through more extreme winter rainstorms and rapid snowmelt, which is particularly disruptive in communities lacking basic drainage and sanitation infrastructure.
• The SJV economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, which is threatened by climate change through reduced chill hours for high-value crops, sea level rise salinizing the Delta, and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act limiting pumping.
• Agricultural automation and climate-related declines in farming may reduce traditional job opportunities, but the region has potential for growth in solar energy installation and ecological services.
• Air quality in the SJV is among the worst in the US, with climate change expected to worsen ozone formation due to higher temperatures and increase dust storms by reducing soil moisture.
• There is a concerning increase in cases of Valley fever, and some evidence suggests the shifts between high humidity and dry periods in climate projections mirror the conditions needed for the disease's spores to germinate and disperse.

APA

Ortiz-Partida, J. P., Weintraub, C., Fernandez-Bou, A. S., & Maskey, M. L. (2020). Climate Change in the San Joaquin Valley. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/UCS_CA_water_adapt_toolkit_Eng_201023a_web.pdf

Chicago

Ortiz-Partida, J. Pablo, Coreen Weintraub, Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou, and Mahesh Lal Maskey. Climate Change in the San Joaquin Valley. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2020. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/UCS_CA_water_adapt_toolkit_Eng_201023a_web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ortiz-Partida |first1=J. Pablo |last2=Weintraub |first2=Coreen |last3=Fernandez-Bou |first3=Angel Santiago |last4=Maskey |first4=Mahesh Lal |title=Climate Change in the San Joaquin Valley |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=October 2020 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/UCS_CA_water_adapt_toolkit_Eng_201023a_web.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ortizpartida2020climate, author = {Ortiz-Partida, J. Pablo and Weintraub, Coreen and Fernandez-Bou, Angel Santiago and Maskey, Mahesh Lal}, title = {{Climate Change in the San Joaquin Valley}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2020}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/UCS_CA_water_adapt_toolkit_Eng_201023a_web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }