Location: Sustainable Agricultural Water Systems Research
2024 Annual Report
Objectives
The USDA California Climate Hub program will enable climate-informed decision-making through the successful development of science-based, region-specific syntheses, information products, decision support tools and technologies for agricultural, forestry and natural resource managers, and where possible provide assistance to enhance adoption and implementation of the same. The aforementioned will be accomplished through investments via three primary pathways: (i) data and information syntheses; (ii) tool and technology development, curation and implementation support; and (iii) convening to support technical assistance, training and information exchange. The work will be conducted as the California USDA Climate Change Hub (CACH) and will be coordinated with ARS, NRCS, USFS broadly and locally, and other USDA and non-USDA organizations in accordance with guidance found in the USDA Climate Change Hubs Charter, and Terms of Reference. The focus of these activities will be the regions natural and working lands, inclusive of all farms, ranches, forests and other production and natural systems however with special attention to agro-climate applications in specialty crop and forestry contexts.
Objective 1: Enable climate-smart decision-making by developing science-based, region-specific information, tools and technologies for agricultural and natural resource managers, and provide assistance where possible to enhance adoption and implementation of the same.
Objective 2: Expand and enhance each Hub’s research and communication capacity and ensure integration of ARS research outcomes from across the region into Hub outreach assets.
Objective 3: Provide capacity to expand and enhance the hub’s climate-science, social-science, and economic-science resources and tools via enhanced collaboration with ARS research teams and other research partners to ensure impactful integration of ARS research outcomes from across the region into Hub outreach assets.
Approach
The CACH program will co-develop and produce science-based syntheses to elucidate expected climate impacts, stressors and/or disturbances using largely readily available climate and weather data. These outputs will lead to products to report and communication climate-linked impacts to natural and working land interests and assets that are place- and/or resource-based including climate scenarios (forecasts) and vulnerability assessments. Efforts will also include the translation of climate and weather data to communicate current conditions, extreme events and lookout forecasts. The program will also support and/or co-develop products resulting from novel frameworks, stakeholder need (or barrier) assessments, technologies or techniques leading to the advancement of practices founded in climate adaptation and mitigation science. Products may include but are not limited to peer reviewed, government, trade or technical assistance papers, reports, bulletins or articles.
Investments and products that result from synthesized information sets or tools leading to an improved interpretation of and/or new understanding of changing natural and working land management systems in context of climate change in the form of decision support tools, toolkits, dashboards, factsheets, agriculture or forestry alerts will remain a core program focus. Generally speaking, this can include outputs akin to agro-climate or other climate informed agriculture or forestry decision support systems or web-based applications. These products will provide a better understanding of climate change information (literacy), facilitating improved management practices to both adapt and mitigate the effects associated with climate change.
Designing, developing and organizing opportunities for information exchange, content appropriate/specific conferences, workshops, symposia, dialogs, field days, site demonstrations, trainings through convening of focused groups of managers, practitioners, scientists, technical assistance provider’s etc. Additionally, we will regularly produce, develop and disseminate information products in the form of newsletters, blogs, etc. using a variety of media including social, trade and popular outlets. CACH staff will contribute and serve on advisory and steering committees, give lectures, webinars, presentations to audiences that support the broader mission and function of the USDA Climate Hub program and needs and requests of stakeholders. We will also continually evaluate (assess) and communicate the needs of producers and managers to the science community as well as sharing science-based knowledge and applications to those that can act on that information.
Progress Report
This report documents progress for project 2032-12610-002-000D, titled, “The USDA Climate Hubs – Supporting Natural and Working Lands Resilience by Co-Developing and Communicating Research-Informed Agro-Climate Practices” that continues research and activities from 2032-12610-001-000D that expired in July 2023.
Research activities related to Objective 1 include science- and data-based outputs that have resulted in a better understanding of the perception of a changing climate and the information needs by farmers and ranchers in California; the effects of a changing climate on economically important specialty crops in California and the Southwest U.S.; the impacts of climate change to rangeland condition and forage availability; and how a changing climate is expected to influence pest pressure for important crops pests in California. Research output has improved the understanding of the role of climate change on the interaction of evapotranspiration, precipitation and soil moisture related to applied water (irrigation). Efforts will continue to support the science function of the State of California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force as well as participating as an author of the State of California's 5th Climate Assessment. Research will continue to better understand climate exposure in context of reforestation by disentangling the effects of climate change pressure on mature versus juvenile forest tree species. Research is initiating to understand the role of climate change, particularly increases in temperature and changes to precipitation type (rain vs. snow) and timing and ecohydrology related to large-scale and severe disturbances, particularly wildfire.
The efforts and outputs that follow were conducted to achieve Objective 2. The USDA California Climate Hub (CACH) program in partnership with the USDA Forest Service region 5 located in the State of California have developed and delivered six (6) in person, hands on trainings for USDA Forest Service staff and partners to understand/apply data-based tools for general management objectives and applications with the aim to protect communities and increase broader landscape resilience in the face of wildfire in California. The CACH in partnership with the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service developed and delivered one (1) climate literacy and climate impact training module with lessons tailored for agency conservation planners to understand how climate change is expected to impact production systems in their service areas and better equip staff to communicate the benefits of agency programs to adapt and address the effects of a changing climate, as directed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The CACH in partnership with the Sierra Nevada Conservancy are developing an assessment and monitoring webinar and coupled workshops to support regional forest and fire capacity program recipients with the development of jurisdictional monitoring plans consistent with state and federal reporting systems. The CACH in partnership with the University of California at Merced and the University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources, designed and delivered a climate awareness training specifically for technical service providers working in the agricultural industry. In addition, the CACH program develops an electronic newsletter and updates the official program website regularly with information and content in support of the second objective.
The following activities and outputs were carried out and/or accomplished in the current reporting period in support of Objective 3 which have resulted in a web-based decision support compendium that highlights water adaptation practices across the western United States (Water Adaptation for Techniques Atlas or WATA). An additional accomplishment in support of this objective includes the development of climate informed reforestation guidance tailored for forest managers or reforestation practitioners that is regionally and ecotype- (forest community) specific. CACH program staff developed a two-day climate adaptation and mitigation workshop with ARS and academic scientists with the input from industry, designed to identify and synthesize currently available adaptation applications to that would otherwise maintain yield and or quality targets for winegrape production and curate technologies and or applications will accommodate production targets in the near term (10-30 years) In the face of a rapidly changing climate.
Accomplishments
1. Improving our understanding of the role a changing climate has in western natural and working lands. In the Southwest United States, climate change is threatening water resources, impacting food and fiber production, and compromising human health via longer and hotter droughts, large and severe wildfires, and intense precipitation and flooding events. ARS scientists in Davis, California, and Las Cruces, New Mexico, through a multiyear effort, improved our understanding of the role of a changing climate on agricultural production; both specialty crops and livestock operations, water resources, and wildfire events across the southwest region. Understanding the expected climate exposure is important for sectoral and industry preparation and response. This contribution is expected to be used to inform policy and investments to reduce the impact of climate disturbances as they relate to critical components across the region;s social systems and natural and working landscapes alike.
2. Supporting the California wine grape industry to cope and adjust to a changing climate. California leads the nation in wine production with over 85% of the domestic market. However, a changing climate, replete with heat waves, extended periods of drought and wildfire smoke have had significant impacts to the industry and these effects are expected to increase in the years and decades to come. ARS scientists in Davis, California, with support from academic scientists collectively assessed the various climate related stressors and impacts to vineyard components and have identified detailed approaches and practices to both adapt and mitigate to a changing climate. Part of this contribution includes a novel understanding as to the relative climate exposure for select winegrape varieties and growing regions in the state of California. Collectively, this work and data will allow those working in the wine grape industry to make better decisions to adapt to a changing climate.
3. Web based tools for climate-enabled decision making in an era of global change and water scarcity for the California agricultural industry. California is the most important subnational agricultural producing region on Earth. But a changing climate and water scarcity is critical concern not just for agricultural production across the region, which puts agricultural production at risk. Farmers and need crop- and location-specific resources to understand how changes factors like growing degree days or pest pressure, are influenced by climate conditions and what measures can be implemented that support water management. Research conducted by ARS scientist at Davis, California, was used to expand the CalAgroClimate decision support tool with high quality climate data for those in the agricultural industry. ARS scientists in Davis, California, and Las Cruces, New Mexico, developed a new geospatial browser, called water adaptation techniques atlas or WATA. These technologies bring together high quality, spatially specific data for producers to prepare and adjust to a changing climate and one with potentially less secure water to minimize risk and economic losses.
Review Publications
Jha, P., Zhang, N., Rijal, J.P., Parker, L.E., Ostoja, S.M., Pathak, T.B. 2024. Climate change impacts on insect pests for high value specialty crops in California. Science of the Total Environment. 906. Article 167605. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167605.
Silber-Coats, N., Elias, E.H., Steele, C., Fernald, K., Gagliardi, M., Hrozencik, A., Levers, L.R., Ostoja, S.M., Parker, L., Williamson, J.C., Yao, Y. 2024. The water adaptation techniques atlas: A new geospatial library of solutions to water scarcity in the U.S. Southwest. PLOS Water. 3(6). Article e0000246. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000246.
Ostoja, S.M., Choe, H., Thorne, J.H., Alvarez, P., Kerr, A., Balachowski, J.A., Reyes, J.T. 2023. The impacts of climate change on California rangelands and livestock management. Journal of Agriculture. 13(11). Article 2095. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13112095.
Parker, L.E., Zhang, N., Abatzoglou, J.T., Kisekka, I., McElrone, A.J., Ostoja, S.M. 2024. A variety-specific analysis of climate change effects on California winegrapes. International Journal of Biometeorology. 68:1559-1571. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-024-02684-8.
Ikendi, S., Pinzon, N.J., Koundinya, V., Taku-Forchu, N.C., Roche, L.M., Ostoja, S.M., Parker, L.E., Zaccaria, D., Cooper, M.H., Diaz-Ramirez, J.N., Brodt, S., Battany, M., Rijal, J.P., Pathak, T.B. 2024. Climate smart agriculture: Assessing needs and perceptions of California's farmers. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 8. Article 1395547. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1395547.