An industry body representative has said the Californian drought is unlikely to affect table grape supply this year, but warned swift action had to be taken to ensure the future sustainability of the state's groundwater reserves. 

California Grape & Tree Fruit League (CGTRL) president Barry Bedwell told www.freshfruitportal.com there was sufficient groundwater to irrigate the crops for this summer despite the lack of rainfall.

"There shouldn't be any major disruptions to the supply. The drought is very serious, but impact this year will be minimal - we'll get by 2014 okay," Bedwell said.

He also said quality was expected to be excellent this year.

The state relies on pumping up groundwater more heavily during times of drought, but Bedwell said there was an industry consensus that the water's withdrawal rate was far too high.

"The question is how to best regulate so that we can maintain or build groundwater levels," he said.

"Groundwater regulation must be in concert with ways to increase the amount of surface water - that's supplied by federal and state systems through a network of dams and canals - so that we have a means to recharge groundwater during wet years.

"This is termed a conjunctive use policy and is vitally important for the future."

Bedwell also said he believed California's hundreds of groundwater basins should not be managed solely by the state government.

"Local input and control would seem to be more efficient rather than an overall state policy," he said.

The severity of the drought varies throughout California, with the central areas of the state looking set to be the worst hit.

"The area that may have the most potential for impact would be for citrus grown along the east side of the San Joaquin Valley in Tulare and Kern counties," Bedwell said.

"In that area, estimates have been made for up to 50,000 acres to be impacted."

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