California’s agricultural regions face interconnected challenges, including unsustainable water use, extreme heat, flooding, air pollution, subsidence, and economic instability. Traditional infrastructure is often too expensive and siloed to solve these complex problems.

Nature-based solutions offer a powerful and transdisciplinary approach that works with natural systems to tackle multiple challenges simultaneously while creating economic opportunities, supporting communities and farmers, and reducing impacts on the environment and public health. Nature-based solutions projects span multiple applications, including managed aquifer recharge that improves local water supplies, native habitat restoration for wildlife and educational opportunities, ecovoltaic systems that combine solar energy with environmental enhancement, and floodplain restoration for flood protection and green areas.

Leveraging available public funding, nature-based solutions can help agricultural regions balance water use and bring multiple benefits on repurposed land. California has the resources, expertise, and financial mechanisms to implement these transformative approaches to addressing climate and water issues while benefiting communities, farmers, landowners, Native Americans, the environment, and public health.