Farmer Participation and Institutional Capture in Common-Pool Resource Governance Reforms. The Case of Groundwater Management in California

Méndez-Barrientos, Linda Estelí; DeVincentis, Alyssa J.; Rudnick, Jessica; Dahlquist-Willard, Ruth M.; Lowry, Bridget; Gould, Kennedy

doi:10.1080/08941920.2020.1756548

Cited by 34 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Although Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (e.g., Latinx and Asian people; BIPOC) make up 38% of the US population, less than 16% of the boards and staff of environmental organizations identify as BIPOC ( Taylor, 2014 ). This lack of representation adversely impacts BIPOC communities and conservation science as a whole by translating inequity into research, management, policies and governance that ignore important ecocultural knowledge frameworks ( Hankins, 2018 ; Méndez-Barrientos et al, 2020 ). Five decades of diversity recruitment efforts have primarily benefited white women, though men still comprise the majority of executive leadership roles (e.g., 76.2% of presidents) in environmental organizations ( Taylor, 2014 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mentorship, equity, and research productivity: lessons from a pandemic

Nocco

McGill

MacKenzie

et al. 2021

Biological Conservation

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The coronavirus pandemic is more fully exposing ubiquitous economic and social inequities that pervade conservation science. In this time of prolonged stress on members of the research community, primary investigators or project leaders (PLs) have a unique opportunity to adapt their programs to jointly create more equitable and productive research environments for their teams. Institutional guidance for PLs pursuing field and laboratory work centers on the physical safety of individuals while in the lab or field, but largely ignores the vast differences in how team members may be experiencing the pandemic. Strains on mental, physical, and emotional health; racial trauma; familial responsibilities; and compulsory productivity resources, such as high-speed internet, quiet work spaces, and support are unequally distributed across team members. The goal of this paper is to summarize the shifting dynamics of leadership and mentorship during the coronavirus pandemic and highlight opportunities for increasing equity in conservation research at the scale of the project team. Here, we (1) describe how the pandemic differentially manifests inequity on project teams, particularly for groups that have been structurally excluded from conservation science, (2) consider equitable career advancement during the coronavirus pandemic, and (3) offer suggestions for PLs to provide mentorship that prioritizes equity and wellbeing during and beyond the pandemic. We aim to support PLs who have power and flexibility in how they manage research, teaching, mentoring, consulting, outreach, and extension activities so that individual team members' needs are met with compassion and attention to equity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mentorship, equity, and research productivity: lessons from a pandemic

Nocco

McGill

MacKenzie

et al. 2021

Biological Conservation

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“…Negotiated outcomes have often been at the expense of environmental uses and have favored large groundwater users over smaller ones and disadvantaged communities (Langridge, Brown, et al., 2016). GSAs are also at risk of such power imbalance (Méndez‐Barrientos et al., 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transitioning out of Open Access: A Closer Look at Institutions for Management of Groundwater Rights in France, California, and Spain

Rouillard

Babbitt

Pulido-Velázquez

et al. 2021

Water Resources Research

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Groundwater forms the invisible, subsurface part of the hydrological cycle, playing a vital role for maintaining base flows of rivers during the dry seasons. It is also a vital source of water for modern economies, accounting for 25% of total water extraction worldwide and a quarter of the irrigation water used to grow the world's food (Aquastat, 2016). Yet, aquifers are being over-exploited at an alarming rate in many regions around the world-a situation that is expected to worsen under climate change as recharge rates will be increasingly affected (Famiglietti, 2014;Taylor et al., 2013). Groundwater depletion contributes to the decisions by water managers to "close" access to water resources in aquifers and river basins (Molle et al., 2010). As societal and environmental needs cannot be met for at least part of the year, water managers must deal with complex trade-offs between economic interests, livelihoods, and environmental priorities.To tackle overexploitation, groundwater management is progressively shifting from an open-access regime of water resource extraction to one of regulated access all over the world (Giordano et al., 2009;Shah, 2009). Regulated access typically relies on setting a sustainable flow rate or volumetric cap on total water extraction, and reducing and maintaining extractions at or below that cap (Rinaudo et al., 2020). It can also rely on a pigouvian tax or restrictions imposed when sustainability limits are reached (for example, groundwater threshold levels). The core issue when closing access to water resources becomes how to best allocate limited water supplies between competing users, and between users and the environment. It involves setting up processes and mechanisms which enable social actors to share water according to a recognized set of values and priorities.Much academic debate has focused on the question of who should control or supervise allocation decision-making, with no conclusive outcome as to whether state or community approaches are preferable (Bruns et al., 2005;Rinaudo et al., 2019). On the one hand, state approaches appear more accountable, but they have usually failed to effectively reduce groundwater use to sustainable levels (Molle & Closas, 2020b). On the other hand, community approaches appear more legitimate, at least to the regulated. They have been most effective where the community had a social basis for collective action, for example a common

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“…Attendees shared enthusiasm for, and the potential capabilities of, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) to address several small system barriers, including physical and communication, trust, and shared vision in addition to the benefit of regional groundwater management solutions for drought resilience. Since its implementation, however, some question its success on these fronts (Dobbin 2020;Méndez-Barrientos et al 2020;Dobbin and Lubell 2019). Partly in response to this questioning, the Governor's State of Emergency Proclamation (Newsom 2021) called for the two state water agencies to develop principles for drought impacts response and proactive planning for communities reliant on groundwater.…”

Section: Pursuing Climate Adaptation and Drought Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting to extreme events: small drinking water system manager perspectives on the 2012–2016 California Drought

et al. 2022

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Under a changing climate, droughts are projected to increase in frequency and duration in the Southwestern USA. Between 2012 and 2016, California experienced one of the region’s worst droughts, with record high temperatures and low snowpack, runoff, and precipitation. This study documents small drinking water system managers’ experiences during the 2012–2016 Drought. We contribute to research on water system drought resilience by elevating small drinking water system manager perspectives and expertise. We are especially focused on small systems that are not reliant on imports from state or federal water projects. A mixed-method approach ensures each data collection period informs the next to gather statewide perspectives and experiences of managers.Based on an analysis of drinking water manager reflections, the types of impacts, responses, and barriers differed based on both system size and water source portfolio. Common disadvantages that hinder small drinking water systems’ drought resilience and, similarly, climate adaptation include staff and administrative capacity; the financial burden of promoting water conservation over revenue compounded by onerous reporting and funding support programs; consumer awareness challenges; and challenges to consolidation from both local political differences and physical limitations. Systems that built technical, managerial, or financial capacity prior to the Drought were at an advantage over systems that lacked this capacity. In the long term, we found a dearth of adaptation planning among small water systems. Documentation of experiences from the 2012–2016 Drought can inform future planning for droughts and more broadly highlight needs for climate adaptation.

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Farmer Participation and Institutional Capture in Common-Pool Resource Governance Reforms. The Case of Groundwater Management in California

Cited by 34 publications

References 61 publications

Mentorship, equity, and research productivity: lessons from a pandemic

Mentorship, equity, and research productivity: lessons from a pandemic

Transitioning out of Open Access: A Closer Look at Institutions for Management of Groundwater Rights in France, California, and Spain

Adapting to extreme events: small drinking water system manager perspectives on the 2012–2016 California Drought

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