Latino workers and farmers whose lives revolve around California's agricultural industry find themselves in a difficult situation due to the state's ongoing water crisis. According to the USDA's 2017 Census of Agriculture published in 2019 with data from a survey conducted in 2017, over 112,000 producers in the United States identify as Hispanic and 60% live in Texas, California, and New Mexico.

California employs the most farm workers in the US, says the Bureau of Labor Statistics. An estimated 77% of all farmworkers are Hispanic, according to the latest National Agricultural Worker Survey.

The California state has suffered from years of low rainfall and snow, and in May of this year, the state's two largest reservoirs reached critically low levels. Extreme drought conditions in the state have increased from 40 to 60%, according to the US Drought Monitor.

According to the CNN publication, “Federal officials dealt a large blow to farmers in the state's Central Valley when earlier this year, they significantly reduced allocations for irrigation. Many of these farmers rely on underground reservoirs for their operations and officials said only a limited number of agriculture customers would receive water deliveries. They are serviced by the Central Valley Project, a complex water system made of 19 dams and reservoirs as well as more than 500 miles of canals across the state”.

In this context, most farmers have been forced to make numerous changes in response to the drought, as this year's water limits have led them to leave more of their land idle and reduce the number of workers they hire.

Researchers at the University of California, Merced estimate the drought had a $1.1 billion impact in the state's agriculture industry last year.

Their report, released in February, says roughly 385,000 acres were drought idled in the Central Valley. They also linked the loss of nearly 8,750 full and part-time jobs across the state to the drought.

Thus, many rural workers, mostly Latinos, are looking for jobs outside the countryside to keep working year-round. With high inflation in the country, these workers suffer from the increase in the cost of living and urgently need to supplement their income.

The CNN story reports that California lawmakers are considering new legislation aimed at supporting farmworkers who have lost their jobs due to drought conditions.

“Senate Bill 1066, proposed by State Sen. Melissa Hurtado, a Democrat, aims to create a state-funded project that would provide a monthly $1,000 cash payment for three years to households with at least one farmworker”.

Sen. Hurtado considers that “SB 1066 will provide much needed help, and assistance to those struggling to feed their families, in an environment of increasingly rising food costs and uncertainty. Supporting our farmworkers is just the tip of the iceberg; we need to provide additional drought relief and ensure water is available for homes, and for health, and that it is truly available to all".