Silicon Valley Reboots on Adaptation Work
With the aid of a $150,000 grant from the National Fish Wildlife Foundation, Santa Clara County embarked on a substantial new resilience planning effort this summer. In June the county’s Office of Sustainability convened the first meeting of the County Climate Collaborative, bringing together cities, CBOs and other key partners to identify adaptation and resilience priorities.
“Climate change is not a local problem,” says project lead Magdalena Sta Maria. “The collaborative is meant to help us figure out how to move as a region, and give cities a chance to chime in on what they think should be a priority based on their communities.”
The collaborative will help develop the Santa Clara County Resiliency Strategy for sea level rise and flooding, which will prioritize protecting ecosystems as well as communities. In August the county contracted with Blue Point Planning to develop the strategy, together with the Farallon Strategies and San Francisco Estuary institute. The strategy is due by the end of 2022; after that, says Sta Maria, the hope is to continue the collaborative, with working groups tackling different priority areas such as wildfire and transportation.
Both the climate collaborative and the resilience strategy will be aided by an updated version of Silicon Valley 2.0, a climate change preparedness decision-support tool that models future climate change impacts on county assets and the resulting financial costs. “Originally the tool was focused just on hard assets, not people assets,” says Sta Maria. “Now we are adding community vulnerabilities and health impacts,” as well as updating the underlying data to reflect more recent climate change projections. The update is expected to be complete in early 2022.
MORE
Other Recent Posts
New Study Shows Rain Gardens Filter Chemicals Out of Stormwater
Scientists found rain gardens dramatically reduce toxic chemicals in stormwater while providing biodiversity and cooling.
The Tricky Art of Growing Oysters in the Lab So They Can Survive in the Field
The Nature Conservancy, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, and others are growing oysters in the lab and planting them in the wild in estuaries around San Francisco Bay.
Printing Without Plastic: The Vintage Machine Winning Over Eco-Conscious Artists
This comic guide to risograph printing explains how the 1980s Japanese machine cuts energy use and avoids plastic toner.
East Bay Kids Fight Extreme Heat in their Schoolyards
Many California schools are ill-equipped to tackle heat, with many campuses lacking sufficient tree coverage. These students are fighting to change that.
How a North Bay Regional Park Helped Me Reconnect With Nature — and Myself
A young Fairfield resident reflects on how hiking during the pandemic became a refuge from digital overload and the growing realities of climate change.
Wild Pigs Rough Up Bay Area Greens
They tear up landscapes in search of food, prey on native wildlife, and damage streams, and warming could bring them closer to urban areas.
Residents Chose Different Ways to Respond to Contra Costa Flood Challenges
Graduates of a shoreline leadership program in Contra Costa County recently pitched their ideas for sea level rise education and adaptation.
Strong Leader, Light Touch: Caitlin Sweeney
Ahead of her retirement earlier this month, the Estuary Partnership director sat down with KneeDeep to discuss her achievements and the future of the Bay.
