The value of farmland in parts of the San Joaquin Valley, California’s agricultural heartland, has fallen rapidly this year as commodity prices lag and implementation of the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act casts a shadow on the future of farming in the region. In 2014, when SGMA was adopted, the value of farmland without reliable surface water access began to decline. But within the past several months, those values have plummeted, according to appraisers, realtors and county assessors. “It’s very dramatic,” said Janie Gatzman, owner of Gatzman Appraisal in Stanislaus County, who until last month served as president of the California chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. …  The sharp drop in land values this year—a decade after SGMA was adopted—came as implementation of the law ramped up. This year, state regulators intervened for the first time.

Other groundwater and agriculture articles:​

• SJV Water: Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority gets SGMA update as detractors question, chide board members
• Illinois Tech news release: A mathematical approach to California’s water woes
• pv Magazine: California farmers developing 20 GW solar-plus-storage plan