Cropland repurposing as a tool for water sustainability and a just socioenvironmental transition in California: Review and Best Practices Authors

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou^1,2,3*Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Flores⁴Jose Pablo Ortiz-Partida¹Amanda Fencl¹Leticia Classen-Rodriguez^2,5Vivian Yang¹Emily Williams³Val Schull⁶Kristin Dobbin⁷Juliet Christian-Smith¹Gopal Penny⁴Nataly Garcia Escobedo⁸Sonia Sanchez⁹Adam Livingston¹⁰Aidee Guzman¹¹Angela Islas¹²Anna Gurevitz^2,5Arohi Sharma⁸Austin Stevenot^13,14Catherine Van Dyke¹⁵Chantelise Pells⁸Daniel O'Connell¹⁶Daniel Toews^17,18Elena Bischak¹⁹Eliseo Gamino²⁰Emily Waring⁸Felipe Perez²Francisco Benitez-Altuna⁸Gustavo Facincani Dourado²¹Humberto Flores-Landeros^17,5Jamie Fanous¹⁵Janaki Anagha²²Jessi Snyder⁹John T. Abatzoglou¹⁷Jose Armando Munguia²³Jose Luis Susa-Rincon⁵Sandro Jovany Barajas-Galindo^17,24Julie Kalansky²⁵Karina Mudd²⁶Kjia Rivers²²Lun Jiang⁸Minerva Uribe-Robles⁸Minkah Taharkah²⁷Omanjana Goswami¹Rebecca Ryals¹⁷Reyn Akiona²⁶Rosa Cuppari⁸Samuel Sandoval-Solis²⁸Shijia Pan²⁴Stefanie Helmrich⁸Tessa Salzman⁸Tom Corringham²⁵Vicky Espinoza⁸Yelenka Nuñes-Bolaño¹⁷

• ¹Union of Concerned Scientists, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
• ²SocioEnvironmental and Education Network, Merced, California, United States
• ³Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California Merced, Merced, CA, United States
• ⁴Environmental Defense Fund (United States), NW Washington, Washington, United States
• ⁵SocioEnvironmental and Economic Development Strategies, Merced, CA, United States
• ⁶GreenLatinos, Boulder, CO, United States
• ⁷University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States
• ⁸Independent researcher, California, United States
• ⁹Self-Help Enterprises, Visalia, California, United States
• ¹⁰Sequoia Riverlands Trust, Visalia, CA, United States
• ¹¹Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States
• ¹²Central California Environmental Justice Network, Fresno, CA, United States
• ¹³River Partners, Modesto, CA, United States
• ¹⁴Northern Sierra Mewuk, California, United States
• ¹⁵Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Davis, CA, United States
• ¹⁶Central Valley Partnership, Fresno, CA, United States
• ¹⁷Environmental Systems Graduate Group, University of California Merced, Merced, CA, United States
• ¹⁸The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia, United States
• ¹⁹California Association of Resource Conservation Districts, Sacramento, CA, United States
• ²⁰Central Valley Leadership Round Table, California, United States
• ²¹California Department of Water Resources, West Sacramento, California, United States
• ²²Community Water Center, Visalia, CA, United States
• ²³Allensworth Progressive Association, Allensworth, CA, United States
• ²⁴University of California, Merced, Merced, California, United States
• ²⁵Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
• ²⁶Valley Eco, Merced, CA, United States
• ²⁷California Farmer Justice Collaborative, Sacramento, CA, United States
• ²⁸University of California, Davis, Davis, California, United States

There is not enough water in California to support current water uses and preserve healthy environments. California aquifers have been systematically depleted over decades, causing household water insecurity, degrading groundwater-dependent ecosystems, affecting small and medium farmers, and inducing subsidence. The California government enacted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act a decade ago to prevent declining aquifer levels to continue causing undesirable results, which has driven the necessity to reduce irrigated agriculture by about half million hectares. If this change is left to market forces alone, cropland retirement could disrupt local economies and vulnerable communities, increasing the levels of injustice for local residents and threatening farmer and farmworker livelihoods. However, when cropland repurposing is strategically organized and managed in collaboration among all the involved groups, it can enhance quality of life in agricultural disadvantaged communities, diversify regional economies, generate local socioeconomic opportunities, and improve environmental health while simultaneously fostering food and nutrition security and advancing water sustainability. In this study, we present a systems-level, coproduced Framework of best practices in cropland repurposing to achieve socioenvironmental and economic benefits for all. The Framework is informed and supported by peer-reviewed science, authors’ first-hand experiences, and public engagement about the topic for several years. Our team includes scientists, community leaders, and other experts in cropland repurposing, socioenvironmental justice, agriculture, climate change, land trusts, disadvantaged communities, energy, nonprofit work, Indigenous knowledge, and ecosystems. The Framework includes guiding objectives and best practices to overcome co-occurring challenges. We conduct an extensive literature review of the current status quo to support the best practices identified in our Framework. This review and coproduced Framework aim to provide best practices for developing new solutions without causing new problems, while fully considering the impacts on all groups affected firsthand by cropland repurposing.