Disadvantaged Communities

By state definition, a disadvantaged community (DAC) is a community whose median household income (MHI) is less than 80% than that of the statewide MHI.  In 2017, the most recent data available, California’s state MHI was $61,818, meaning that communities with an MHI of less than $49,454 are considered disadvantaged.  A severely disadvantaged community (SDAC) has less than 60% of the statewide MHI, or less than $37,091.

The Inyo-Mono IRWM Program has been engaging with and involving DACs since its inception in 2008.  We have learned that consistent, long-term engagement is crucial to helping these communities with their water-related issues.

The Inyo-Mono IRWM Program has been the recipient of two grants focused on DAC involvement and engagement:

  1.  In 2011, the Inyo-Mono Regional Water Management Group was awarded  $496,000 in grant funds from the California Department of Water Resources to identify and engage economically disadvantaged communities (DACs) in the Inyo-Mono region. Although the Inyo-Mono RWMG has already successfully engaged several DACs, including Native American Tribes, in the IRWM planning and implementation processes, there is a recognition that many more DACs exist and may be facing critical water supply, water quality, and/or environmental health issues. This grant allowed the RWMG to seek out and reach out to additional DACs in order to learn about relevant water issues and to encourage involvement in the Inyo-Mono IRWM program. The work performed through the grant included outreach meetings throughout the region, workshops to provide instruction on proposal development, data management, and climate change, and dissemination of findings back out to the affected communities as well as other interested parties.  This work was completed in 2014.  See the DAC Grant Findings page to learn about the outcomes of the grant work.
  2. In 2017, the Inyo-Mono IRWM Program was awarded $466,822 to continue much of the work started through the first DAC grant and to provide project development assistance to high-priority DAC water projects.  Since then, many projects have been funded benefiting DAC’s.
  • Most current list of DACs in the Inyo-Mono IRWM region based on 2010-2014 American Community Survey Median Household Income data.

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