California Water Resource Specialist

Location: San Joaquin

Who We Are
American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 6.5 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres, and helped thousands of farm families make a go of it (primarily through programs that increase farm viability and/or enhance farmland access).

Long a pioneering leader, AFT is now riding a new wave of growth, driven by agriculture's most pressing needs and opportunities.

The Position
Reporting to the Senior Agricultural Specialist, the California Agricultural Water Resource Specialist, works as part of multi-disciplinary team to successfully deliver AFT's outreach, research, policy, and technical assistance programs supporting regenerative agriculture, groundwater recharge, and farmland protection in agricultural regions in California.

This is a temporary position anticipated to continue through September 30, 2026. Continuation beyond this date is dependent upon the availability of additional funding.

What You'll Be Working On
As an integral part of the CA regional programs team, the California Agricultural Water Resources Specialist works with the California team, national initiative staff and external partners to lead the development and execution of water resources efforts in California including implementation of AFT's San Joaquin Land and Water Strategy and advancing holistic approaches to create more resilient water and land systems across the state.

Specific duties include:

• Managing multiple projects to help achieve AFT's San Joaquin Land and Water Strategy goals include collaborating with other AFT staff and partners to track progress on project deliverables
• Providing technical expertise on a broad range of regenerative agricultural projects including groundwater recharge and infiltration practices, soil health management, and other related conservation practices.
• Providing technical assistance to farmers and ranchers through outreach, creation of farm conservation plans and implementation of regenerative agriculture practices including aiding in the layout & installation of practices and evaluation of completed practices
• Coordinating and linking research with different partners to leverage soil and water research projects, including methods development as well as translation and bridging outcomes relevant to farmers and water managers so projects simultaneously inform and drive high-impact conservation practice implementation on the ground.
• Analyzing farm conservation practice data to evaluate achievement of goals, track project/on-the-ground progress, and to aid in adaptive management.
• Contributing to AFT's policy support related to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and other state water policy
• Fostering collaborations among NGOs, agencies, academic institutions, water districts, and agricultural partners
• Representing AFT externally with stakeholders through presentations at conferences.
• Coordinating with AFT's communications team to actively promote work, identifying and assisting with storytelling opportunities through social media, blog posts, profiles, fact sheets, videos and other mediums.
• Coordinating with other AFT program and development staff to develop annual program and budget goals and provide input on funding proposals, reporting and budget management.

The ideal candidate has working knowledge of California agriculture and water resource-related issues, management, and stakeholders (previous on-farm experience or related agricultural sectors is preferred) and possesses:

• Previous experience or willingness to learn agricultural conservation planning and implementation issues and techniques
• Interest in developing partnerships with the scientific community, farmers and ranchers, non-profits, corporations, agricultural retailers and industry, and government agencies
• Familiarity with environmental outcomes quantification tools and methodologies preferred with prior research experience; experience analyzing conservation practice or water data to generate descriptive statistics to present information to project partners a plus
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to facilitate discussions among technical and lay audiences and translate technical information into plain language to various stakeholders
• Direct professional experience working with farmers, farmland owners, water quality monitoring and/or modeling experts, state and federal agencies, soil and water conservation districts, and others is preferred
• Dedication to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice within AFT and across agriculture and the food system
• A collaborative, professional, and innovative approach
• Must be highly motivated with strong interpersonal skills
• A desire to participate in a…