Drought conditions are forecasted to persist into 2021 for California. Although almonds are relatively tolerant to drought from a survival standpoint, yields are impacted when water applications are reduced. To minimize this impact, the water use strategy that accounts for available water resources must be developed and applied to the orchard operation. These resources include contributions from stored soil moisture, rainfall, wells, and surface water resources.  Impact of water stress on almonds. Reduced water applications affect both in-season and future yields. In-season water stress reduces gas exchange, affecting the amount of energy that can be directed into kernel development. This often leads to reduced kernel size and weight, an increase in shriveled kernels, and minimal growth. Typically, nut set is unaffected. Although not exactly clear, the relationship between in-season crop loss and water stress is around 1 to 0.7-1.0, meaning that for every percent of reduced water application leads to the same percentage of crop loss (i.e. a 10% water deficit leads to 7-10% crop loss). Please note that this relationship isn’t exactly defined, and these numbers are estimates. Moderate to severe deficits will also affect next season’s crop. This crop loss is due to the reduced spur positions from the lack of growth and the reduced carbohydrate reserves going into floral bud development. This leads to reduced nut set. Nut weight and size will only be affected if in-season curtailments continue. . Field observations suggest that water shortage in a given year will have a greater impact on crop yields the following year, where the relationship of water stress (from the previous season) and crop loss approaches 1:2. This means that for every percent of reduced water application in year one, year two’s crop will be reduced by about 2% (i.e. a 10% water deficit leads to 20% crop