Jump to main content.

Research Project Search
 Enter Search Term:
   
 NCER Advanced Search

Participation of Marginalized Communities in Watershed Management: An Analysis of the CALFED Watershed Program

EPA Grant Number: FP916379
Title: Participation of Marginalized Communities in Watershed Management: An Analysis of the CALFED Watershed Program
Investigators: Levine, Jessica M.
Institution: University of California - Berkeley
EPA Project Officer: Willett, Stephanie H.
Project Period: January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2006
Project Amount: $72,616
RFA: STAR Graduate Fellowships (2004)
Research Category: Academic Fellowships , Economics and Decision Sciences , Fellowship - Urban and Regional Planning

Description:

Objective:

The CALFED Bay-Delta Program, a collaborative interagency water management program of more than 20 state and federal agencies, is one of a growing number of public environmental programs with official commitments to environmental justice and local participation . The CALFED Watershed Program, one of 11 CALFED program areas, was created to improve watershed management by working with communities to help build local capacity. The combination of explicit commitments to incorporate environmental justice and broad community participation along with a specific emphasis on watershed management at the local scale, make the CALFED Watershed Program an ideal case study for analyzing the participation of historically underrepresented communities in environmental planning and management. The objective of my research is to identify factors that have encouraged and impeded the participation of low-income communities and communities of color in watershed management in the Bay-Delta region of California.

Approach:

The research is motivated by the desire to further environmental justice by improving the participation of marginalized communities in the environmental planning processes. Through interviews, GIS mapping, and statistical analysis , the project will identify strategies used by the Watershed Program that have contributed to success in involving marginalized communities in watershed planning and management. In addition, the project will ascertain potential organizational, institutional, economic, and sociocultural barriers that have limited the participation of low-income communities and communities of color in CALFED-supported watershed planning and management. By providing specific recommendations for increasing the involvement of marginalized communities in environmental planning and management, t hese findings will have practical significance for the CALFED Program as well as other environmental agencies.

Supplemental Keywords:

fellowship, watershed management, CALFED, marginalized communities, California, CA, environmental planning, community participation, environmental justice, low-income communities, minority communities, environmental management, , Economic, Social, & Behavioral Science Research Program, Scientific Discipline, RFA, environmental justice, Ecology and Ecosystems, Urban and Regional Planning, urban planning, socioeconomically disadvantaged, watershed management, community based intervention, marginalized communities, land use planning, environmental justice assessment

Top of page

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.

Local Navigation

Jump to main content.