California Institute for Rural Studies (CIRS): On Tap

A two-part Pause to engage a conversation about new water management practices as climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies in the San Joaquin Valley. The first phase of the Pause will be a two-day retreat giving the collaborators time to develop the most thoughtful & strategic approach for addressing the potentially polarizing issues of water & climate change. The second pause will expand the conversation to include 10-30 other Valley community members.

Janaki Jagannath is launching a new collaborative in the San Joaquin Valley that brings together environmental justice groups to chart a vision of sustainable agriculture in the region. Shifting farming practices towards sustainability will involve water management practice changes. The Cal Ag Roots project, led by Ildi Carlisle-Cummins, is focusing its 2016 story series on farming innovations within immigrant communities in the Valley; we expect water to play a key role in those stories. Nikiko Masumoto has been watching the water table drop and the wells become unreliable on her family farm. The drought has hastened her search—along with other small farmers in the region—for even more sustainable water practices. At the Community Water Center, Jenny Rempel is organizing rural, low-income, predominantly Latino farmworker communities to advocate for access to dwindling supplies of safe water. The partners in this grant are poised to spark dialogue about equity in Valley water systems and raise critical questions about sustainable farming practices. Support from Invoking the Pause will give the group time together to be intentional in design and open to creative ideas that emerge from the collaboration.