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SACRAMENTO -- The
amount of agricultural land continued to
decrease while urbanized land increased
in the greater Los Angeles area,
according to new maps released by the
California Department of Conservation.
Since a 1998-2000
study, nearly 6,800 acres of farmland
and grazing land have been removed from
agricultural categories in Los Angeles,
Ventura and Orange counties, while 5,339
acres were added to the urban total.
In the Inland Empire,
the numbers are more eye-opening. More
than 36,000 acres of farmland and
grazing land were reclassified and more
than 20,000 acres were added to the
urban totals in Riverside and San
Bernardino counties.
These are the most
accurate portrayals of land-use change
in the area ever offered thanks to the
use of higher-resolution imagery. For
example, development in desert areas of
San Bernardino County were much more
evident in this mapping cycle.
The Farmland Mapping
and Monitoring Program (FMMP), part of
DOC's Division of Land Resource
Protection, documents land-use
conversion on 45.8 million acres of
California’s private and public land
every two years. The maps and statistics
are designed to help local governments
evaluate land-use planning decisions.
The 2002 analysis is nearly complete
statewide, while 2004 mapping is getting
underway.
“This information
helps counties and cities see the
patterns and make informed choices about
how they want to direct growth in the
future,” Department of Conservation
Director Darryl Young said. “The
population of California will continue
to grow, and it’s vital that we ensure
there’s enough room for both people and
agriculture.”
Since the 1990
survey, more than 130,000 acres have
been removed from agricultural uses in
the five-county area while urbanization
claimed more than 144,000 acres. Over
the 1990-2002 period, new urbanization
in the greater Los Angeles area was
equivalent to the size of all 16 Orange
County cities from the Los Angeles
County line south to Costa Mesa and east
to Anaheim/Yorba Linda. Annually, this
equates to new urban land acreage larger
than the city of Thousand Oaks.
The Farmland Mapping
and Monitoring Program classifies land
as either farmland (prime being the best
of four types of farmland), grazing
land, urban land, other land or water.
The “other” category includes
low-density "ranchettes," wetlands, and
brush or timberlands unsuitable for
grazing.
A closer look at each
county:
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In Orange
County, 4,609 acres of new urban land
were developed on a mixture of
irrigated farmland and
non-agricultural land. Urbanization
accounted for almost all the net
decrease of 3,348 acres in
agricultural categories. Since 1990,
Orange County gained just over 25,000
urban acres as it lost 9,400 farmland
acres. Orange County cities reported
that 9,920 acres have been committed
to non-agricultural uses due to the
approval of subdivision maps, the sale
of bonds for infrastructure, or other
permanent commitments.
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Ventura County
mapping resulted in the
reclassification of 2,011 acres of
agricultural land, mostly to urban
uses. Urban acreage increased by 2,557
acres. Data from the 1990-2002 period
indicates a net increase of more than
11,800 acres in urban and a decline of
almost 8,700 farmland acres. City
reports showed that an additional
7,500 acres are committed to future
nonagricultural use.
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The most surprising
land use trend has been the resurgence
of irrigated agriculture in the
Antelope Valley of Los Angeles County.
Baby carrots, alfalfa, and other
vegetables planted on land that had
been long idled caused an increase of
nearly 3,600 acres in prime farmland
in the county, the highest level of
active use since the mapping program
began in 1984. Combined with
urbanization and other changes,
however, total agriculture declined by
more than 1,400 acres.
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Los Angeles County
was also an unusual case in that the
improvements to mapping urban
boundaries in 2002 virtually negated
actual urbanization in the statistics.
Over the 1990 to 2002 period, however,
the county gained just under 12,000
urban acres — mostly from
non-agricultural hillsides and grazing
areas. Urbanization trends are
expected to continue, as cities in the
county reported 10,570 acres committed
to nonagricultural use in the future.
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In Riverside
County, 13,166 acres of agricultural
land – including almost 9,300 acres of
prime farmland -- were reclassified to
non-agricultural use, while 8,050
acres of new urbanized land were
noted. Over the 1990-2002 timeframe,
Riverside County posted the largest
increase in urbanization among the
five Southland counties – nearly
66,000 acres – accompanied by a loss
of more than 50,000 acres of prime
farmland (78% of the total loss in
agricultural land). Additionally, the
county reports almost 44,000 acres as
committed to future nonagricultural
use.
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San Bernardino
County had a net loss of 23,418
agricultural acres – mainly grazing
land, but also 3,300 acres of prime
farmland – and 12,133 acres of new
urban land. These figures were larger
than average due to the availability
of high-resolution photography in the
area north of the San Bernardino
Mountains. Between 1990 and 2002, San
Bernardino County’s urban land
increased by nearly 40,000 acres and
farmland losses were pegged at more
than 47,000 acres. Jurisdictions in
the county reported 15,047 acres
committed to future nonagricultural
use.
The agricultural land
in these Southern California counties
will continue to face development
pressure in the foreseeable future. The
California Department of Finance
projects that the population of the five
counties will grow by nearly 5 million
between 2000 and 2020.
Enrollment in the
Williamson Act – a voluntary program
that gives landowners potential property
tax breaks in exchange for a 10-year
commitment to maintain agricultural or
open-space uses – dropped by 33 percent
between 1991 and 2002 in the five-county
area. Removing land from a Williamson
Act contract is often a precursor to
development.
According to the
California Department of Food and
Agriculture, Ventura County remained in
the top 10 counties for gross
agricultural value at more than $1.16
billion in 2002, while Riverside County
was in the number 11 position at $1.06
billion. San Bernardino, Orange and Los
Angeles counties had a combined 2002
production value of $1.25 billion.
The maps have been
sent to county planning officials and
organizations such as county Farm
Bureaus, Local Agency Formation
Commissions, city planners, irrigation
districts and county Resource
Conservation Districts. Printed copies,
enlargements, or digital versions of the
maps are available to the public. Call
(916) 324-0859 or email
fmmp@consrv.ca.gov for more
information.
The latest statewide
study by the FMMP, Farmland Conversion
Report 1998-2000, was released last
June. More than 91,000 acres were
urbanized throughout the state – a
30-percent increase from the 1996-98
mapping cycle – and 27 percent of that
total came from irrigated farmland.
Through the
Department of Conservation, the state
offers programs that provide financial
incentives to keep land in agricultural
use. The California Farmland Conservancy
Program makes grants available to local
governments, land trusts or resource
conservation districts to purchase
permanent agricultural conservation
easements from willing landowners. These
easements prohibit future development.
Farmland Security Zone and Williamson
Act contracts provide potential tax
benefits to landowners who commit to
keeping their land in agricultural use
for periods of 20 or 10 years,
respectively.
In addition to
administering agricultural and
open-space land conservation programs,
the Department of Conservation ensures
the reclamation of land used for mining;
promotes beverage container recycling;
regulates oil, gas and geothermal wells;
and studies and maps earthquakes and
other geologic phenomena.
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