A Desert Sun analysis of 20 years of crop data — including preliminary 2020 data — from the Coachella Valley Water District shows that local farmland has been on the decline for most of this century. Total Coachella Valley acreage farmed has dropped by nearly 16% in the last two decades, according to the data, reflecting a net loss of more than 11,500 acres of farmland — an area larger than the city of Indian Wells.

The lion's share of this loss was borne by the local grape industry. Total Coachella Valley grape land shrank by more than 7,800 acres between 2000 and 2020, according to the CVWD data, representing a nearly 60% drop. Rising regulatory and labor costs, as well as growing international competition, appear to have played key roles in the local grape industry's precipitous decline.