Overcoming Organizational Barriers to Implementing Local Government Adaptation Strategies

California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) | August 27th, 2018

Local governments across California have taken immense strides to combat climate change. However, many local governments still face organizational barriers to comprehensi

Local governments across California have taken immense strides to combat climate change. However, many local governments still face organizational barriers to comprehensively implement climate change adaptation measures. Organizational barriers can delay and even prevent local governments from moving from adaptation planning to implementation due to the wide-reaching scope of climate change impacts. This study aims to further the understanding of the diversity of organizational barriers that California local governments experience and to develop a resource to assist local governments in their efforts to overcome these barriers to more effectively implement climate change adaptation strategies.  The research team conducted a broad literature review, an online survey, multiple regional stakeholder workshops, and focus groups to deepen the understanding of organizational barriers to adaptation in California local governments. These research inputs produced findings on organizational barriers experienced by California local government adaptation practitioners, and enabled the development and testing of the Adaptation Capability Advancement Toolkit. The Toolkit aims to help local governments rapidly assess their current capabilities to overcome organizational barriers and identify key actions and resources for increasing their organizational capability for undertaking climate change adaptation. The Toolkit is based on the Capability Maturity Model process improvement framework, and focuses on developing capabilities within four key process areas which were identified as common sources of organizational barriers: leadership and organizational culture, staffing and technical capacity, stakeholder engagement and partnerships, and operations and institutional processes. The Toolkit was tested by California local government adaptation practitioners in order to ground-truth recommendations and assess the utility of suggested actions and resources. Participants indicated that they view the resource as valuable, particularly if continuously supported. 

Owens River Water Trail

Inyo County | September 1st, 2015

The Owens River Water Trail is a signature recreation project—the first dedicated water trail on a river in California. The project creates a 6.3 mile water trail on th

The Owens River Water Trail is a signature recreation project—the first dedicated water trail on a river in California. The project creates a 6.3 mile water trail on the newly re-watered Lower Owens River in the scenic Owens Valley that is solely dedicated to kayaks, canoes, and other paddlecraft. Recreationists will find well designed parking areas, accessible paths to the river, and formal paddlecraft entry and exit points.  The Owens River Water Trail is also improves aquatic habitat; opening up the river and improving transport of organic sediments. The Lower Owens River is a component of the Lower Owens River Project (LORP) which, in addition to ecosystem recovery promotes sustainable recreation. The area of the proposed water trail has a moderately wide channel characterized by large areas of open water separated by relatively short lengths of channel that are obstructed or bridged by bulrush and cattail (collectively referred to as tules). Tules and coyote willow line the margins of the open water channel; ponds open to salt grass meadow.  Tree willow is the dominate overstory. The river has a sustained 40 cfs flow and a yearly seasonal habitat flow of up to 200 cfs. The project is expected to improve water quality. Years of low flows prior to 2006 allowed tules to colonize the channel. In places, thick beds of tule roots completely cover the river bottom and vegetation blocks the channel. The seasonal habitat flows meant to move muck out the system are diminished in the vegetation and the buildup of organic material, derived from decaying tules, cannot be effectively flushed by the habitat flow. The project improves water quality by opening these blockages. The newly established channel will better fit the river’s hydrograph and is expected to improve flushing of organic sediment and protect the fishery. Inyo County and LADWP jointly manage the LORP. A preferred Recreation use plan for the LORP, which has at its core a river trail, has the support of LADWP and parties to the MOU, and was developed by a diverse range of stakeholders including the LADWP, conservation organizations, ranchers, anglers, students, area Indian Tribes, local, state, and federal agencies, local businesses, and the general public. A water trail on the Lower Owens River has popular support, and now area businesses, local agencies and NGOs are meeting to discuss forming a Lower Owens River stewardship group. The entire project area is owned by the City of Los Angeles and is open to daytime use by the public. The Owens River Water Trail is 2.5 miles from the center of Lone Pine, easily accessible by bike or car. Lone Pine aspires to be identified as a River Town; this project establishes that connection. The Lone Pine economic plan associated with the project includes a concessionaire running regularly scheduled drop-offs and pick-ups of boaters between the river and the many local hotels.

Patterns and controlling factors of residential water use in Los Angeles, California

International Water Association (IWA) Publishing | May 19th, 2014

The current study evaluates residential water use patterns and driving factors across Los Angeles, California. Ten years of monthly residential water data were obtained f

The current study evaluates residential water use patterns and driving factors across Los Angeles, California. Ten years of monthly residential water data were obtained from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Socio-economic, vegetation characteristics, climate, and water pricing data were utilized to develop a statistical model to determine controlling factors of single-family residential water use. Key drivers were found to be household income, landscape greenness, water pricing, household volume allocation, precipitation and temperature. Results show that low water users are less sensitive to climate variability than high water users, likely because these customers have reduced outdoor water use. In the lower income group, average household size is a predictor for household water consumption, which increases with more residents. Lower water users are also more sensitive to changes in their first level household water allocation (Tier 1). However, low, medium and high water users all respond more to changes in the Tier 1 rate than the Tier 2 rate, and generally reduce consumption if this block rate is increased.

Perceptions and responses to climate policy risks among California farmers

Global Environmental Change (Elsevier) | December 3rd, 2013

This paper considers how farmers perceive and respond to climate change policy risks, and suggests that understanding these risk responses is as important as understandin

This paper considers how farmers perceive and respond to climate change policy risks, and suggests that understanding these risk responses is as important as understanding responses to biophysical climate change impacts. Based on a survey of 162 farmers in California, we test three hypotheses regarding climate policy risk: (1) that perceived climate change risks will have a direct impact on farmer's responses to climate policy risks, (2) that previous climate change experiences will influence farmer's climate change perceptions and climate policy risk responses, and (3) that past experiences with environmental policies will more strongly affect a farmer's climate change beliefs, risks, and climate policy risk responses. Using a structural equation model we find support for all three hypotheses and furthermore show that farmers’ negative past policy experiences do not make them less likely to respond to climate policy risks through participation in a government incentive program. We discuss how future research and climate policies can be structured to garner greater agricultural participation. This work highlights that understanding climate policy risk responses and other social, economic and policy perspectives is a vital component of understanding climate change beliefs, risks and behaviors and should be more thoroughly considered in future work.

Plumbing the Depths: Californians Without Toilets and Running Water

Pacific Institute | July 15th, 2019

California’s Human Right to Water law states that “every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption

California’s Human Right to Water law states that “every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes.” To date, the policy discussion on meeting California’s Human Right to Water has focused largely on expanding and improving drinking water utility services in the state, and improving the quality and reliability of drinking water for rural households using domestic wells. Sanitation and wastewater have received less attention. There also has been less attention paid to individuals and households in communities served by functional water and wastewater utilities but lacking the plumbing necessary to access those services. To partially remedy these gaps, we set out to better understand the number of Californians with inadequate access to toilets and hot and cold running water.

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and the Environment

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) | July 28th, 2022

With California facing a severe drought and wildfire season, public awareness has risen of the impact of climate change as well as state policies to reduce greenhouse gas

With California facing a severe drought and wildfire season, public awareness has risen of the impact of climate change as well as state policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A sharp increase in petroleum prices has led to discussions about expanding oil production and renewable energy sources. These are among the key findings of a statewide survey on environmental issues conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California from July 8 to 15, 2022.

Programmatic Agreement among the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the California State Historic Preservation Officer and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians regarding Compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act for the Salton Sea Management Program

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) | April 12th, 2024

Projected 21st Century Coastal Flooding in the Southern California Bight. Part 2: Tools for Assessing Climate Change-Driven Coastal Hazards and Socio-Economic Impacts

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (MDPI) | July 2nd, 2018

This paper is the second of two that describes the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) approach for quantifying physical hazards and socio-economic hazard exposure in

This paper is the second of two that describes the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) approach for quantifying physical hazards and socio-economic hazard exposure in coastal zones affected by sea-level rise and changing coastal storms. The modelling approach, presented in Part 1, downscales atmospheric global-scale projections to local scale coastal flood impacts by deterministically computing the combined hazards of sea-level rise, waves, storm surges, astronomic tides, fluvial discharges, and changes in shoreline positions. The method is demonstrated through an application to Southern California, United States, where the shoreline is a mix of bluffs, beaches, highly managed coastal communities, and infrastructure of high economic value. Results show that inclusion of 100-year projected coastal storms will increase flooding by 9–350% (an additional average 53.0 16.0 km2) in addition to a 25–500 cm sea-level rise. The greater flooding extents translate to a 55–110% increase in residential impact and a 40–90% increase in building replacement costs. To communicate hazards and ranges in socio-economic exposures to these hazards, a set of tools were collaboratively designed and tested with stakeholders and policy-makers; these tools consist of two web-based mapping and analytic applications as well as virtual reality visualizations. To reach a larger audience and enhance usability of the data, outreach and engagement included workshop-style trainings for targeted end-users and innovative applications of the virtual reality visualizations.

Residential Water Conservation and the Rebound Effect: A Temporal Decomposition and Investigation

American Geophysical Union (AGU) | April 25th, 2023

Salton Sea Management Program and Community Needs

California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) | January 31st, 2024

In the Southeastern corner of the state, straddling Imperial and Riverside counties, the Salton Sea (the Sea) is California’s largest inland lake and home to many Calif

In the Southeastern corner of the state, straddling Imperial and Riverside counties, the Salton Sea (the Sea) is California’s largest inland lake and home to many California Native American tribes and communities. Once a resort destination, the Sea has since become a growing environmental issue. The Sea has been shrinking, largely due to water transfers out of Imperial Valley that reduce inflows to the Sea. Drought and changes to Colorado River water availability exacerbate this trend. Although it continues to provide a vital stop along the Pacific Flyway for migratory birds, the water has become increasingly saline. As the Sea shrinks, it exposes the lakebed that has the potential to release dust, contributing to worsening air quality in a region already struggling with poor air quality from high wind events, idling vehicles, high off-road activity, commercial truck traffic, and agricultural burning. Compounding this, communities in the Eastern Coachella Valley and Imperial Valley have for decades also faced social and economic challenges. While these vibrant communities have rich cultural and natural resources, they suffer from decades of underinvestment. Residents have highlighted that local communities struggle with poor air quality, health issues, low broadband access, unreliable electricity, limited access to recreational opportunities, inadequate transportation systems, and underfunded public health infrastructure and services. These challenges make it difficult to overcome the growing environmental challenges related to the Sea.