Addressing Environmental Justice Issues and Assessing Economic Impacts of Drought on Agriculture for Underserved Communities

Drought prediction products could be critical in minimizing climate change impacts by optimizing smart agricultural management practices and improving Environmental Justice (EJ) tools to efficiently identify and address increasing environmental hazards (droughts, and wildfire) impacting underserved communities. The project builds on ongoing CIROH project that utilizes hydrologic model forecast to develop useful products and a decision support system to enhance agricultural applications for rural and limited resources farmers. Project goal is to utilize United States Geological Survey (USGS) Integrated Water Prediction (IWP) drought duration metrics based the variable threshold approach to; (1) develop a granular EJ Index that depicts vulnerability to drought, flood, water use, and helps address critical water related adverse issues impacting farmers in underserved communities; (2) assess the economic impacts of droughts on small-scaled disadvantaged farmers’ productivity and on their adoption of irrigation systems and other agricultural management practices; and (3) educate small scale farmers and underserved communities on the use of USGS drought prediction and EJ products for increased agricultural productivity, profitability and environmental management. Project products and results will allow for better assessment of the economic and socioeconomic impacts of drought and related issues within underserved communities, and to help stakeholders make informed decisions related to EJ to make underserved communities more resilient and improve agricultural productivity. The project’s tools and decision support systems will enhance the outreach and extension capabilities for underserved communities and farmers, within the Alabama Black Belt Regions.