“What area? Most of the coastal plains of in S.CA are now concrete. So I’m not sure where all these agricultural areas are in S.CA.”
In the past. Not a desert. Semi arid, not arid.
SoCal coastal plain is around 14” inches of annual rainfall. That amount also charges a nice aquafir, for well water sources.
Desert in less than 9.75” annual rainfall.
Citrus Fruits 2017 Summary (August 2017), USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service;
Citrus utilized production for the 2016-17 season totaled 7.77 million tons, down 11 percent from the 2015-16 season and 56 percent lower than the record high production of 17.8 million tons for the 1997-98 season. California totaled 51 percent of total United States citrus production; Florida accounted for 45 percent, while Texas and Arizona produced the remaining 4 percent.
2016-2017 Stats:
California: 268,500 bearing acres of citrus, 3,948,000 tons, value $2.26 Billion
Florida: 410,700 bearing acres of citrus, 3,501,000 tons, value $1.03 Billion
BUT, Oranges rank only seventh among commodities in California (top 3 are milk, grapes, and almonds).
You wouldn't believe the miles and miles and miles of orange groves in Tulare County south of Sequoia National Park!
Just look at pictures of the area before 1945, but you do have to open your eyes and MIND to see it.
I grew up in the Montebello area in the late 40’s up to the early 60’s.
Everything that wasn’t citrus, was vegetable fields, Avocados, or dairy farms.
Firestone Blvd. was a two lane semi-country road where Cal Worthington used to hawk, bait, and switch his used cars.
We used to catch trout in the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo rivers and hunt pheasant and quail in the cut over fields.