The San Joaquin Valley Regional Report includes climate science, impacts, and adaptation information for west Fresno, west Kern, Kings, west Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and west Tulare counties.
The San Joaquin Valley (SJV) is California’s most productive agricultural region. It is one of the state’s most dramatically transformed landscapes, where diverse ecosystems (such as wetlands, grasslands, and riparian forest) once inhabited and stewarded by dozens of tribes have been displaced by agriculture, engineered waterways, energy development, and urbanization. Today, its fertile soils and Mediterranean climate underpin a thriving agricultural economy that accounts for half of California’s agricultural production value and produces a majority of several high-value crops grown in the US, including almonds, pistachios, and table grapes.
The SJV is home to a growing population of over 4.4 million residents. The sociodemographic context of the region is as diverse as the history of the region, with dozens of tribes, a predominantly Latino farmworker population (many self-identifying as undocumented), Hmong smallholder farmers, and Black-settled towns. Longstanding social and environmental inequities have resulted in a majority of Valley residents living in disadvantaged communities.
Increasing water scarcity in the SJV has contributed to land subsidence and water shortages, and pre-existing chronically hot summer temperatures and poor air quality pose health risks for residents, particularly the region’s large outdoor labor force. Successful climate adaptation in the SJV goes hand in hand with protecting public health and reducing long-standing inequalities.
San Joaquin Valley Regional Report
Coordinating Lead Author
John Abatzoglou, UC Merced