Many Latino farmers and workers whose lives revolve around California's agriculture industry have been forced to make difficult decisions due to the ongoing water crisis.
FIREBAUGH -- Joe Del Bosque roamed the 2,000 acres of his California farm knowing he couldn't touch nearly half of the land he's owned for decades.
Years of low rainfall and snowpack in the state have now led to rapidly draining reservoirs. Last month, the state's two largest reservoirs reached"critically low levels"just as extreme drought conditions expanded from covering 40% to 60% of the state, according to the US Drought Monitor. Researchers at the University of California, Merced estimate the drought had a $1.1 billion impact in the state's agriculture industry last year.
Because there is less farmland being harvested or grown, some farmers are opting to hire larger crews than usual. While they are doing it to keep more people employed, Hernandez says, the work is getting done faster and farmworkers end up hunting for their next job sooner than anticipated. "In the daytime, some will be at a farming operation and in the nighttime, they'll be at packing houses. Some are now entering restaurant and retail businesses. We've heard of some being Uber drivers after work. There's less work and they got to find a way to make ends meet. They're now doing various things just to pretty much continue to live in the state," Hernandez said.
California employs the most agricultural workers in the US, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says. An estimated 77% of all farmworkers are Hispanic, according to the latest National Agricultural Worker Survey.