August 19, 2014: Surfers' Point at the California Adaptation Forum in Sacramento.
This conference attracted over 800 participants from around the state including "elected officials, public- and private-sector leaders, nonprofits and researchers addressing public health, energy, water, emergency management, agriculture, biodiversity conservation and coastal management issues associated with climate change and adaptation."
This presentation was given in a session titled "From Watershed to Coast," which profiled “No regrets” adaptation projects which increase climate change resilience and enhance existing conditions. What makes these projects truly adaptive and not just a repackaging of existing programs? This session looks at four no-regrets projects to address this question: (1) Water L.A. uses “urban acupuncture” to capture rainfall and infiltrate it into the aquifer. The project promotes retrofitting residential properties through education and permit streamlining. (2) Surfer‘s Point Managed Retreat (Ventura) relocated roads and parking lots threatened with wave erosion. Moving from a highly engineered solution to managed retreat was transformative. (3) The Marin Carbon Project utilizes a simple rangeland management protocol to increase carbon sequestration and drought resilience. The protocol, now under review for inclusion in carbon markets, consists of a single addition of composted organic matter to rangeland, yielding benefits over decades. (4) The Coastal Streamflow Stewardship Project (Statewide) utilizes changes in water rights to promote a shift from year-round stream withdrawals to winter withdrawal and storage, reducing impacts to salmonids and increasing drought resilience.
It was clear in this forum that local actions are where positive change is happening. Ironies abound with government and industry responses. Case in point: a state sponsored energy conservation PR campaign is using the grizzly bear as mascot...
