Planning » Land Use » Rural-Urban Connections Strategy
RUCS Case Studies
An Exploration of Groundwater Recharge Opportunities
SACOG’s Sustainable Water Management Strategies for Specialty Crop Expansion in the Sacramento Valley examined scenarios to consider optimal locations for strategic flooding of cropland to maximize groundwater infiltration and improve water supply reliability for continued specialty crop production and related economic activities.
The project also examined ways these flooding scenarios may provide habitat benefits. The project included a contractual study component to complement RUCS staff work and build upon in-kind services from industry stakeholders, including specialty crop stakeholders, and water resource managers. The contractual work provided technical support and subject-area expertise in groundwater recharge science. This included the collection of environmental data to underpin scenario analysis and enhance the RUCS toolkit; including regional water balances and other factors that impact recharge (e.g. soil type permeability).
The work completed has identified attributes in our region’s open space and agricultural lands that facilitate infiltration and those that limit groundwater recharge potential. Project data have been integrated into the RUCS spatial analysis platform. Drawing on this work and stakeholder input, SACOG staff examined scenarios that strategically choose locations with good crop-soil combinations for winter flooding to provide habitat and maximize potential for recharge to maintain adequate groundwater supplies for specialty crop production.
See Specialty Crop Expansion in the Sacramento Valley- An Exploration of Groundwater Recharge Opportunities to scroll through an interactive version of this study and its findings.
Please contact RUCS staff for data request related to this study.
Food System Multipliers for Specialty Crops in the Sacramento Region
The purpose of this study is to develop a suite of tools that can be used to analyze the economic value of specialty crop producers, processors, and distributors in the greater Sacramento region. The Sacramento region includes the six counties that comprise the Sacramento Area Council of Governments: El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba. The annual economic value that specialty crop agriculture provides to the Sacramento region is significantly greater than the $1.47 billion in gross farm-gate revenues. Growers purchase materials and machinery from local suppliers, farm workers purchase goods and services in the community, restaurants purchase local produce, and businesses in all of these related industries pay local, state, and federal taxes. In other words, each dollar of economic value generated by a specialty crop business generates multiplier effects in other industries.
Food System Multipliers - Summary
Food System Multipliers for Specialty Crops - Full Report
In a growing body of work, researchers and trade organizations have studied the relationship between wildlife habitat and a range of land cover types, including the potential for various types of agricultural lands to double as habitat for different wildlife species. However, there is little understanding of the economic impact of these potential land use changes on a system-wide scale.
SACOG conducted this pilot working landscapes analysis to explore these linkages between cultivated cropland that can double as wildlife habitat in the Delta, and the economic and environmental trade-offs associated with these potential land-use changes. This report highlights a new application of the RUCS toolkit and a new lens to evaluate the spectrum of interconnected outcomes associated with this sort of multipurpose working landscape.
This analysis is a companion study to the Local Food Systems Assessment for Yolo and Sacramento Delta Communities, also referred to as the “Delta Case Study,” which SACOG prepared for the Delta Protection Commission in 2016 as part of the Rural-Urban Connections Strategy program. This analysis applies RUCS analytical toolkit in the same study area as the Delta case study- the portions of Sacramento and Yolo Counties that fall within the legally defined Delta- to better understand trade-offs associated with habitat-oriented cropping patterns.
The full Delta Case Study provides an assessment of the agricultural systems in Delta communities of Yolo and Sacramento Counties, evaluating how the current agricultural system is affected by internal and external changes, and envisioning strategies to preserve and enhance the long-term viability of agriculture in the Delta. To learn more, see Delta Case Study.
In SACOG’s Local Food System Assessment for Yolo and Sacramento County Delta Communities, also referred to as the “Delta Case Study”, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) and The Hatamiya Group have partnered with the Delta Protection Commission in deploying SACOG’s Rural-Urban Connections Strategy (RUCS) modeling and analysis tools to help answer questions about how to stimulate agricultural-based economic development in the Delta’s rural communities in a manner that aligns with a shared vision of the Delta: “the ideal synthesis of cultural, ecological, and agricultural values in a sustainable, healthy, and celebrated way of life.” This project provides an assessment of the agricultural systems in Delta communities of Yolo and Sacramento Counties, evaluating how the current agricultural system is affected by internal and external changes, and envisioning strategies to preserve and enhance the long-term viability of agriculture in the Delta.
Delta agricultural producers are well positioned to capitalize on the rapidly expanding demand for locally grown food, with strategic proximity to growing markets in the Sacramento region, as well as key consumer markets in the neighboring San Francisco Bay area. This case study examines the potential for Delta farmers to take advantage of this burgeoning market for locally grown food, evaluating the feasibility of expanding or creating new agricultural infrastructure for distribution, aggregation, processing, and storage; identifying barriers to growing for local markets in the Delta’s unique regulatory environment; and exploring market opportunities for farmers to augment their operation by tapping into a growing public interest in agritourism activities and experiences.
See also: As a companion analysis to this project, SACOG also performed a pilot study exploring linkages between cultivated cropland that can double as wildlife habitat in the Delta, and the economic and environmental trade-offs associated with these potential land-use changes on a system-wide scale. To learn more, see Agriculture & Habitat.
The Yolo Case Study project explores rural economic development opportunities within the “West of 505” portion of the county, with analyses examining context-sensitive development strategies for the areas around Winters, Esparto, and Woodland in western Yolo County. SACOG prepared the Yolo Case Study upon request of local elected officials and staff in Yolo County, with the objective of assisting western Yolo County and its communities in devising economic development strategies that leverage their existing assets of land uses, infrastructure, agriculture lands, and natural resources. This included analyzing potential crop scenarios, potential sites for a food hub (for aggregation, processing and distribution), agritourism and ecotourism opportunities, and the usage and condition of the rural transportation network. The methodology and lessons learned through these analyses are transferrable to other rural communities within the SACOG region and throughout the state.
By building out the synergy between rural main street and surrounding agricultural production, the study provides a holistic look at how rural communities can preserve and leverage their unique character for authentic growth that aligns with the existing quality of life. While the data, analyses and tools contained in the study are focused on the rural communities in western Yolo County, the themes of placed-based strategies enhancing established communities are applicable across the full region.
RUCS stakeholders have identified the need for expanded regional agricultural infrastructure to increase the amount of locally grown food reaching local markets. Agricultural infrastructure encompasses aspects of aggregation, packing, processing, storage, marketing and distribution capacity and facilities, forming what many are calling “food hubs.” Food hubs help connect locally produced and source-identified foods to local markets by creating new market channels between growers and consumers. As the food hub and local food system scale expands, it can serve larger markets, such as institutional and wholesale buyers, and even markets outside of the SACOG region.
SACOG’s Sacramento Region Food Hub Feasibility Analysis provides a series of analytical and business planning tools for entrepreneurs, jurisdictions, developers, investors and other stakeholders to advance the development of regional agricultural infrastructure. These tools include research analyses of food hub characteristics; detailed capital cost estimates of a prototypical food hub enterprise; a project food hub business plan and model; and, a pro forma toolkit to test the business model’s financial feasibility as well as customizable applications.
Contact
Garett Ballard-Rosa
Senior Analyst
(916) 319-5183
SACOG’s Yuba County Case Study responded to requests from Yuba County Supervisors to employ tools developed as part of the Rural-Urban Connections Strategy on the existing agriculture industry. In working with the supervisors, farmers, county staff and other stakeholders, SACOG analyzed a range of agriculture scenarios to examine existing and potential future agriculture value in the county associated with production and food processing. These modeling tools provide data and comparisons to help county staff and elected officials to collaborate with farmers and food processors on strategies for capitalizing on Yuba County’s unique assets while responding to new market trends. The work shows a range of possibilities for how the county can successfully leverage economic development opportunities both in development and agriculture.
RUCS Booklet
This booklet provides an overview of the primary topic areas at the center of the Rural-Urban Connections Strategy, highlighting key principles and findings of recent RUCS work.
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