The Project Prioritization Tool (PPT) is a conservation decision-making tool to increase the adoption of water infiltration practices, improve groundwater recharge, and protect agricultural land in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV). This PPT manual was developed by AFT and the Conservation Biology Institute (CBI) based on the data analysis of the San Joaquin Land and Water Strategy report. 

SJV stakeholders can use the PPT to select and support projects that have the greatest potential to effectively infiltrate and conserve water. It allows SJV stakeholders to identify and prepare priority agricultural land acquisition and technical assistance projects, while supporting land use planning decision making. The PPT consolidates relevant and public information to identify and protect the most productive, resilient, and versatile farmland in California. The interactive and modular mapping platform provides users with a default “start-up map” that has layers dedicated to farmland quality, development threat level, crops, and water resources among other data.  

The tool can be used at a high level to evaluate regional trends or can be zoomed in to see characteristics of an individual parcel of land. The PPT is well suited for a first level of review for farmland protection and stewardship practices, as well as other valuable functions.