$1.6M from NSF to Study Water, Land Use in Disadvantaged Communities

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The National Science Foundation has awarded $1.6M to UC Davis to analyze the complex relationships between surface water and groundwater supply, agricultural land use and the economic well-being of rural, disadvantaged communities.

The project is led by principal investigator Helen Dahlke, an associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources. The team will develop models to help guide decision-making regarding water management and land use in the state.

Helen Dahlke studies how groundwater is used and replenished in California. (Tiffany Kocis/UC Davis)

While the newly funded project focuses on the Tulare Basin in California's Central Valley, it is expected to provide new insights for other regions of the United States facing similar issues involving economic and water security.

The broader impacts of the project focus on helping local disadvantaged communities participate in the governance of water resources. This includes forming “water schools” and engaging K-12 students from under-represented groups in science and policy issues.

The project will also provide interdisciplinary research education and training for graduate and undergraduate students, who will be involved in all aspects of the research and community engagement activities.

The project is supported by the NSF Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human (CNH) Systems Program. The award is one of nine the program awarded across the nation this week, totaling $13 million.

“These awards demonstrate the importance of understanding the connectedness of nature and society in studying the effects of environmental change and socioeconomic stress,” said CNH program director Liz Blood of NSF.

Co-PIs on the research team include Jon Herman in the UC Davis Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Anne Visser and Clare Gupta in the UC Davis Department of Human Ecology; Rebecca Teasley from the University of Minnesota, Duluth; and Laurel Firestone from the nonprofit Community Water Center.