Grantee Research Project Results
Participation of Marginalized Communities in Watershed Management: An Analysis of the CALFED Watershed Program
EPA Grant Number: FP916379Title: 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: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2006
Project Amount: $72,616
RFA: STAR Graduate Fellowships (2004) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Academic Fellowships , Environmental Justice , Fellowship - Urban Planning
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,, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Economic, Social, & Behavioral Science Research Program, environmental justice, Urban and Regional Planning, urban planning, watershed management, community outreach, environmental justice assessment, land use planning, socioeconomically disadvantaged, community based interventionProgress and Final Reports:
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.