Water is a very precious resource, it supports the lives of billions of people. However, due to a series of problems, water shortage becomes more prominent [1]. This shortage causes not only economic slowdown, but also mortal illnesses and regional conflicts. Water shortage is occurring more frequently around the world in both developing and developed countries and arouses interest in its causes. 

This report will study water shortage in California. According to the California Department of Water Resources, the water demand in California mainly comprises of three domains in which 50% is for environmental use, 40% is for agricultural use, and 10% is for urban use [2]. For environmental use, the water is mainly for preservation of the ecology in some protected regions under the federal and states laws, and for maintaining the water quality for agricultural and urban uses [2]. Although environmental use is related to the hydrology in California, it indirectly affects human activities and significantly consume the water as compared to other uses – mainly agriculture. 

In the last few decades, due to the increasing yield of crops, and the switch to perennial crops [2], water usage dropped slightly for the industry. However, agricultural industry still relies on stable water supply heavily in order to produce good-quality, profitable crops. Being one of the major industries in California, which contributes to approximately 2% of the GDP of the state, together with other derived production profits [3], the water supply plays an important role in sustaining the economy of the industry and California. 

By comparing climate and agricultural data to the drought level in California as defined by the United States Drought Monitor (USDM), this report will provide an analysis of the causes of water shortage in California and compare and suggest solutions to mitigate the issue.