From citrus groves to floodgates, Jake Severns’ journey has come full circle. Raised on a citrus farm in California’s Central Valley, he learned the value of water early in life. Today, he helps manage that vital resource as the operations project manager for Pine Flat Dam with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District. The Central Valley spans about 20,000 square miles and includes the Sacramento Valley, Delta and Eastside Streams, San Joaquin Basin, and Tulare Basin. For Jake and his family, one of more than 44,500 family farms in the state, according to the USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture, life on the farm taught resilience.