What’s more, for the past 13 years, the California Farm Bureau has been pushing the State Water Resources Control Board to allow farmers to use their land to recharge aquifers. Last year, their efforts finally bore fruit as Newsom signed executive orders easing permit requirements to allow farmers to use floodwater diversions to recharge groundwater, resulting in significantly greater farm-targeted water resources in the San Joaquin Valley during the spring and summer. California Climate & Agricultural Network (CalCAN). No state in the country has a more organic focus or crop output than California. CalCAN is a statewide coalition that advances state and federal policy to optimize climate solutions offered by sustainable and organic agriculture practices. The network uses governmental policy to help move California agriculture towards a system that it calls “increasingly resilient and just.” In addition to its governmental focus, CalCAN actively promotes healthy soils, water stewardship, farmland conservation, livestock (manure) methane mitigation, renewable energy, on-farm resilience, climate equity, wildfire mitigation practices, and research and planning. American Farmland Trust (AFT). Another important farming innovator, AFT was chartered in the early 1980s, when it pioneered the use of various land conservation tools that previously were used to preserve wilderness or create parks. Today, those same tools are being enlisted in the fight to protect working farmland. In that effort, AFT has brought together two divergent communities—farmers and environmentalists—to, as their website describes, “catalyze transformational public policy that has dramatically reduced soil erosion and improved water quality and soil health.” Doing so has, in turn, laid the groundwork for farming to play its most important environmental role yet, helping combat climate change. Ironclad commitment Because California is home to the largest and most diverse agricultural industry in the country, comprising more than 76,000 farms and ranches, there’s no question that the state is critically reliant on the weather and water availability, and has much to lose if the worst impacts of climate
A focus on climate P erhaps more than any other threat, changes in our worldwide climate are already having a notable impact on California’s farming and crop outputs. That’s why climate scientists, water conservationists and other professionals throughout the state are allying themselves with farmers to develop and employ increasingly inventive measures to diminish the impact of climate on farms. California Climate & Agricultural Network (CalCAN) is a coalition of sustainable and organic farming organizations that advocate for state and federal policies to help ensure the resilience of California farms and ranches in the face of climate change. It has marshaled significant statewide resources to combat the climatological crises increasingly threatening California’s steady food supplies. In several categories—flood, heat, wildfire preparedness and wildfire recovery—CalCAN offers a network of resources and referrals to address the threats. Likewise, the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) has a wide network of active groups dedicated to fighting climate change and helping to ensure the sustainability of farms. The agency is engaged in everything from building climate resilience and adaptation to prioritizing zero-emission vehicles. It has also built in an active response to wildfires, drought and other conditions of weather and climate, and developed a comprehensive California “climate dashboard” to keep track of state climate action and gauge its progress toward key targets.
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