Dust Bowl a-comin’?

California’s water problems are so bad that agriculture may soon become a smaller part of the state’s economy.

The Golden State is set to have its driest year in 500 years, and because growing fruits and vegetables is so water-intensive (it takes, for instance, 4.9 gallons of water to grow one walnut), the ag business likely will begin moving its operations to the Midwest and the South, where water is cheaper, according to Mother Jones magazine.

Big Ag in California uses approximately 80 percent of the state’s “developed water”—water that is moved from the source to other places by aqueducts and pipes. Add to that the fact that a good deal of the state’s ag industry is located in the most drought-stricken areas, and one has a recipe for disaster.

Currently, California produces almost half of all the fruits, nuts and vegetables grown in the U.S.