UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences Director Jay Lund told KXTL News 10 (ABC, Sacramento) Thursday that if California faced a 100-year drought, it could lose up to half of its agriculture.

"But most of the urban economy, while it would be painful, would get through pretty well," Lund said. "We'd certainly use a lot less water on our lawns, pay more for water, do a lot more water conservation, do a lot more waste water re-use."

Lund was responding to a new NASA-led study warning that the Pacific Southwest and Central Plains are in for a drought of epic proportions in the second half of this century. Researchers said there is a 20 to 50 percent chance California could experience a decades-long drought.