The Economic Impact of the Westlands Water District on the Local and Regional Economy

To anyone who visits the Westlands Water District (the District), the one reality that is most obvious to the observer is that agriculture IS the economy in the communities within and immediately surrounding the Westlands Water District. It is an area characterized by wide open fields-often populated with crops and occasional small pockets of residential and (rarer) retail-usually at the intersections of roads. Not only is agriculture the primary employer, but government, agricultural support industries and the limited general retail sector comprise the full course of jobs within the district and its immediate environs. Nearly every business in the district is related to agriculture or supporting the needs of the workers who support those working in agriculture.

Westlands Water District is perched on the eastern side of Interstate 5 in the Central Valley covering the geography between roughly Kettleman City in the south and Firebaugh in the north. As the largest agricultural water district in the nation, it plays a central role in the economies of both Fresno and Kings Counties. This analysis unravels the story of Westlands’ contributions to the local economy, exploring the demographics and economy of the region, agriculture’s major role in that economy, estimating the economic contributions of growers within the District’s boundaries, and providing a preliminary assessment of the consequences of current water policies on crop production, and giving a preview of what some of the implications of those changes may be.