California Climate Hub Provides Essential Information to Farmers Threatened by Climate Change

August 16, 2021

Lake Oroville on July 22, 2021. Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In California, the past two years have been the driest on record since 1976-77, threatening the state’s farms. The ongoing drought is made worse by climate change.
USDA Climate Hubs, established in 2013, connect USDA research, information, and training to agricultural professionals across the nation to help states build resilience to climate change.
Though there are 10 Hubs, each is small, and are unable to keep up with every request. Expanding this program will enable the Hubs, especially the California Climate Hub, to adequately respond to a changing climate.

Lake Oroville, California’s second-largest reservoir, is drying up.

The reservoir, which provides water to over 27 million people, 750,000 acres of farmland, and spans 10 miles, is now filled to only 23 percent of its total capacity due to the extreme heat and drought fueled by the climate crisis.

This spells trouble for California's farmers, whose livelihoods rely on the water for their cropland. Understanding how drought and other climate impacts affect farmland, and ultimately the nation’s food system, is critical. So in an effort to help synthesize national and state-level climate data, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) established 10 regional Climate Hubs across the country to support and assist farmers through the process.

“Essentially, our mission is to develop and deliver region-specific information and technologies with USDA agencies and partners, to agricultural natural resource managers to enable climate-informed decision making while also providing assistance to implement those decisions,” National Climate Hub Coordinator Julian Reyes said. “These activities can range from both adaptation and mitigation, but also overall support in climate resilience.”

From the Caribbean to the Northwest United States, these Hubs are working to create tools and resources best suited for the region they represent. At the California Hub, the team is working with farmers on how to best respond to the ongoing drought, which is difficult in a state that is large, ecologically diverse, and at varying degrees of need. But the adaptability of the Hub allows for individualized solutions. Dr. Steven Ostoja, director of the California Climate Hub, believes the Hub’s ability to deliver region-specific information is one its biggest strengths.

“Our main purpose is to assist those making decisions on the ground in the face of climate change,” Ostoja said. “But there's no one size fits all solution and it's important to be cognizant of the fact that each region in California is entirely different. So the key is getting [climate information] applied at that scale, maintaining the bottom line, maintaining our ecological integrity, but also ensuring that it meets multiple interests and stakeholder needs at the same time.”

Map of the drought in California as of August 12, 2021.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the drought in California is the most severe it has been since 2015, with more than 46 percent of the state classified as in an “Exceptional Drought,” the most severe classification on the scale. But drought isn’t the only climate impact hitting the American West. Record-setting wildfires--exacerbated by the drought--are tearing through the region and heat waves are smothering communities.

The compounding crises have forced the California State Water Board to enact an emergency order in an effort to preserve water through the remainder of the year.

The ‘emergency curtailment’ bans thousands of farmers from their main irrigation sources, straining the food systems the nation relies on. Though drastic, it isn’t the first time farmers have had to adapt to drought conditions. Since the 1990s, the state’s almond growers have reduced their water use by one-third.

But as the severity and frequency of droughts increase, farmers are urging for action.

"We've had two horrible droughts here in a short period of time and we have to realize they are unprecedented, and we need projects to help address groundwater, but we also need projects to help address surface water,” San Joaquin County Farm Bureau Federation Executive Director Bruce Blodgett said.

With the Climate Hubs’ ability to tackle multiple issues at once, California farmers may see some of their concerns addressed.

The Climate Hubs work directly with agricultural professionals in each region to develop materials and sustainable agricultural practices that farmers actually need. For example, as the drought worsens in California, Ostoja and his team facilitated a listening session with California coffee producers where they presented climate change projections and discussed the potential solutions with the growers, addressing their most pressing drought- and climate-related concerns.

Recently, the team also participated in a webinar for growers in Monterey County, California to address how the drought affects leafy green growers. During the discussion, the Monterey County Farm Bureau, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and Ostoja’s team discussed how the drought links to soil erosion and food safety.

“We're always going somewhere to interact or to engage,” Ostoja said. “We've been sitting down with farmers, with ranchers, with dairymen and women, with county officials, farm bureau officials, and really talking about these issues.”

But the Hubs’ work is more than just delivering information to farmers. It’s also about fostering an open dialogue. During every discussion, Ostoja and his team listen to farmers about what sustainable agriculture techniques are working, what’s not, and what farmers need next.

“It's truly an exchange because part of what we want to do is listen to what the lessons learned are from the early adopters and bring them to those who may be a little bit more reluctant for the consideration of different applications,” Ostoja said.

However, though there are 10 regional Hubs, each office is small, with only two to four staff members.

“Requests for climate resources and information far exceed our current capacity,” Reyes said. “But staff at the regional Hubs are rising to the occasion, and continue to proactively address the climate crisis on the ground.”

Yet, despite their size, the Hubs continue to provide climate information to those who need it most. And in California, where water is running low and smoke is filling the air, these nimble programs are helping to move the dial for building climate resilience. By listening to what farmers need, synthesizing national data, and working with community members, more and more climate-smart agricultural techniques are being deployed, protecting farmers and the nation’s food system.

“I think the Climate Hubs are great,” Ostoja said. “You get to simultaneously track leadership direction, look out to where the future is going, meet and listen to the people on the ground, and back to the lessons learned. We are small, but I think we are having an impact.”

Author: Sydney O’Shaughnessy