2015 Conference

Full Presentation Panel

Open Houses on the Open Range: Rangeland Conversion in San Luis Obispo County

Kyle Walsh

Rangelands are the dominant ecosystem type in San Luis Obispo County, California. They provide a diverse array of ecosystem services to society, including forage production for livestock, water regulation, and carbon sequestration, among others. The conversion of rangeland ecosystems to urban development and intensive agriculture influences the degree to which these landscapes can provide ecosystem services. However, rangeland conversion is not well documented at the county level in California. This study examined (1) the extent of rangeland conversion in the county during the past twenty years, (2) the drivers of conversion, and (3) the perceptions of ecosystem service provision held by ranchers and land managers in the region. We used a mixed-methods approach including geographic information systems analysis, surveys, and semi-structured interviews in order to address these three questions. Rangeland conversion in San Luis Obispo County during the last twenty years has been concentrated around urban centers and in the northern part of the county. Further rangeland conversion in the county may be slowed by severe drought, groundwater use restrictions, and increasing interest among landowners in long-term estate planning and conservation easements. The provision of rangeland ecosystem services in the county is largely contingent on both individual range management practices and an influx of more intensive agriculture. Our findings provide insight from ranchers and land managers into the nature of rangeland conversion in San Luis Obispo County and the influence of land use decisions on the provision of ecosystem services in the region.

From Degeneration to Regeneration? Inquiry into the Environmental, Social and Economic Viability of California’s Salad Bowl and Central Valley

Kyle D. Brown, Ph.D.

The counties of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Coast of California comprise the most prolific agricultural region in the United States.  In 2012, these counties combined for over $35 Billion in gross revenue from agricultural production, much of it contributing to transnational exports (CAS Review, 2014).  At the same time, this region faces significant environmental challenges in the form of disproportionately high pollution burdens, significant social challenges associated with poverty, educational attainment, housing and political marginalization, as well as long-term economic challenges about the continued viability of production consistent with historical levels, particularly given persistent droughts and other implications of climate change.  In this paper we analyze this region through the three-part lens of sustainability, examining environmental, social and economic indicators to assess the long-term prospect for the region as a continued leader in agricultural production, and the implications for the environment and its people.  The results prompt numerous relevant questions about the continued subsidizing of agricultural exports in the face of declining water resources, the environmental consequences of such an economy, and the formation of inequalities across socio-economic categories resulting from the distribution of environmental burdens and economic opportunity.  This analysis contributes to the growing literature on cases of decline and collapse in the face of changing environmental, social, and economic conditions, and poses thoughtful discussion about regenerative futures for such communities.

The Spoils of Trans-Water Footprint Forgetfulness

Tershia d'Elgin

This presentation explores the perceived boundary between urbanized and agricultural America as seen through water, perhaps the biggest boundary issue there is. At an alarming rate, predatory cities and their agencies are shutting down our nation’s food growers by purchasing or shanghaiing agricultural water.

Multinationals, water brokers and water districts are on a tear. Consumers are unwitting collaborators. For example, Colorado’s ag-to-urban water transfers dried up 400,000 acres between 2002 and 2005. In 2006, groundwater well curtailments there hit 100,000 additional acres. Dry-ups have international environmental ramifications because Big Ag then exploits other countries’ water, land and labor.  The average American water footprint is 2000 gallons daily per person. Of these 2000 gallons, only 150 gallons-per-day are fresh water consumption. Those additional 1850 gallons come from agriculture and industry, either within or without the U.S. Purloining resources across international boundaries and with avoidable environmental impacts, food importation doubled 2003-2013. 

Industrial agriculture has many downsides, but ag-to-urban transfers remove water forever, so that farmland cannot correct its practices.  Particularly in the arid West, transfers desertify vast swaths of open space, increase global warming by subverting carbon sequestration and green-water storage, pollute water, raise sea-level, and increase flooding. These effects manifest the lack of coordination between disciplines in the face of catastrophic water scarcity and greenhouse gasses. My paper uses Imperial Valley and Colorado examples, demonstrating environmental costs. The specter of groundwater regulation  in the nation’s “fruit and vegetable basket,” the California delta, looms.