{"id":1965,"date":"2026-07-22T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bkbc.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/22\/redesigning-farmland-through-community-collaboration-in-california\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T12:00:00","slug":"redesigning-farmland-through-community-collaboration-in-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bkbc.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/22\/redesigning-farmland-through-community-collaboration-in-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Redesigning Farmland Through Community Collaboration in California"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/eos.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FCF-Photo_2025CSJ000167-final-1024x576.png\" class=\"attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image\" alt=\"Photo of a group of people.\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure>\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-white-color has-secondary-variation-background-color has-text-color has-background\"><a href=\"https:\/\/eos.org\/editor-highlights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Editors\u2019 Highlights are summaries of recent papers by AGU\u2019s journal editors.<\/a><\/h5>\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Source: <em><em>Community Science<\/em><\/em><\/h5>\n<p>California is experiencing major changes in how farmland is used as recent policies seek to protect groundwater resources. These changes are reshaping both the landscape and the lives of rural residents, especially in communities like Fairmead in Madera County, which is surrounded by water-intensive almond orchards.<\/p>\n<p>In <em><a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/journal\/26929430\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Community Science<\/a>\u2019s<\/em> special collection on <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/toc\/10.1002\/(ISSN)2692-9430.COLLABSUSTAINAG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Transdisciplinary Collaboration for Sustainable Agriculture<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1029\/2025CSJ000167\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Katrak-Adefowora et al. [2026]<\/a> describe a project that engaged Fairmead residents and farmers in redesigning a small almond farm into a landscape that reflects multiple community priorities. The new landscape includes a basin that captures stormwater to reduce flooding and help replenish groundwater, native plants that improve habitat, and a walking path for community recreational use. Community members and farmers were engaged through workshops, outreach, and educational activities, with the project team remaining flexible and responsive to local input.<\/p>\n<p>This paper shows how involving communities in landscape decisions from the beginning can lead to solutions that are both environmentally beneficial and responsive to local priorities. It also offers a practical collaborative model for other regions facing similar land-use and water challenges, demonstrating how partnerships among residents, farmers, nonprofits, businesses, local governments, and scientists can support more resilient communities.<\/p>\n<p><em>Citation: Katrak-Adefowora, R., Massell, A., Ortiz, V., Vizcarra, A., Nelson, B., &amp; Fernandez-Bou, A. S. (2026). Community-driven solutions for groundwater resilience in California. <\/em>Community Science,<em>5, e2025CSJ000167. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1029\/2025CSJ000167\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1029\/2025CSJ000167<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u2014Claire F. Beveridge, Editor, <em>Community Science Exchange<\/em><\/p>\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Text \u00a9 2026. The authors.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/3.0\/us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CC BY-NC-ND 3.0<\/a><br \/>Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.<\/h6>\n<p class=\"bkbc-source\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/eos.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Eos<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Editors\u2019 Highlights are summaries of recent papers by AGU\u2019s journal editors. Source: Community Science California is experiencing major changes in how farmland is used as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":1966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bkbc.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bkbc.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bkbc.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bkbc.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bkbc.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bkbc.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bkbc.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bkbc.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bkbc.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bkbc.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}