Working with Nature to Protect California's Agricultural Regions:

This is a condensed, online version of the guide. For all figures, references, and the full text, please download the full guide PDF.

What Are Nature-Based Solutions?

Traditional infrastructure is insufficient to address the interconnected challenges in California’s agricultural regions: unsustainable water use, extreme heat, flooding, air pollution, and economic instability. Nature-based solutions work with natural systems offering powerful, transdisciplinary approaches to tackle these issues, creating economic opportunities and reducing negative impacts on the environment and public health.

Cropland repurposing projects can use nature-based solutions to improve agricultural landscapes benefiting farmers, communities, Indigenous peoples, and the environment (Fernandez-Bou et al. 2025; Penny et al. 2025). For example, restored wetlands can filter pollutants, recharge groundwater supplies, reduce flood risk, provide habitat for native species, and offer green spaces for recreation.

Leveraging available public funding, nature-based solutions can help California agricultural regions balance water use and create multiple benefits on repurposed cropland.