Reliable access to water remained a dominant factor in agricultural land valleys in Kern County over 2025, according to data compiled by brokerage and appraisal company Alliance Ag. Sales data from the past 21 years clearly show a “SGMA effect” that has driven prices down overall since the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act was passed in 2014. The good news is that it appears land values dropped less steeply in 2025 and may even have bottomed out in some water category districts. … So-called “white lands,” meaning land outside of water district boundaries that rely almost exclusively on groundwater, have lingered at between $2,000 and $3,000 an acre for the past three years.

Other SGMA news: 

• Bakersfield Californian: New data details Kern’s declining farmland values