Project 1 (Year 2023): The urban impacts on Kern County's agriculture

(postponed to 2024)

 

Kern County’s agriculture operates in the shadow of urbanization. Over the last four decades the county’s population has grown from ~400,000 in 1980 to ~900,000 in 2019. The agriculture-urban edge problem has economic, land use, life style and health dimensions. Farmers operating close to urban neighbors are prone to reduced productivity and income. They also face regulation constraints, vandalism and legal liability. Residents living close to farms face issues relating to dust, noise, odor, and health effects due to exposure to chemicals, heavy machinery. While the farmland conversion rate currently averages about 50,000 acres statewide annually, edge tensions continually affect many times as many agricultural acres.

 

 

 

Project 2 (Year 2025): An empirical analysis investigating the water-energy nexus in the Central Valley

 

The severe drought and groundwater drawdown has affected agricultural operations in the Valley. Kern County is a top agricultural county in the Valley. Also, Kern County is the largest oil-producing county in California, which results in the production of significant amounts of oilfield produced water each year. Some of this water, if meets water quality criteria and permit conditions, is of relatively good quality and could be used to offset water cutbacks caused by severe drought conditions in California. A preliminary analysis of currently produced and disposed water volumes, available produced water chemistry, and current beneficial reuse projects in Kern County indicates that a total of 92,950 acre-feet of water may be immediately available for potential treatment and reclamation. Hence, a comprehensive and empirical analysis of the potential impacts of using treated water on Kern County’s economy is needed.

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