Climate Action Plan Blog Series: Climate Impacts

Learn about impacts from wildfires, climate adaptation planning efforts around wildfire protection, and sea level rise

Each month, the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) Ad Hoc Committee will delve into various topics related to the S/CAP Update — the City’s roadmap of strategies needed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 80% by 2030 and other community-wide sustainability goals. Read on in this blog to learn more about the January 13 S/CAP Ad Hoc meeting, which focused on climate impacts from wildfires and sea level rise.

JANUARY S/CAP AD HOC COMMITTEE MEETING

At the January 13 Ad Hoc meeting, Committee members, S/CAP Working group members, experts from Stanford and the San Francisco Estuary Institute, staff, and the public discussed impacts from wildfires, climate adaptation planning efforts for wildfire protection, and sea level rise — including a preview of Palo Alto’s Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment.

WILDFIRES

While wildfires are a natural part of California’s landscape. Fire season in California and across the West is starting earlier and ending later each year, with estimates that it’s increased by 75 days across the Sierras. Climate change is considered a key driver of this trend and is expected to continue increasing the frequency, intensity, and duration of wildfire events.

How Wildfire Risk is Changing

Marshall Burke, Stanford University Associate Professor in the Department of Earth System Science, discussed how wildfire risk is changing. The highest risks from wildfires used to be exposure to flames, now it’s exposure to wildfire smoke. A dramatic increase in ambient smoke exposures over the last 15 years make up half of annual air pollution — up from 10–15% a decade ago.

As we learned in 2020 with the powerful and damaging wildfire season in Northern California, smoke infiltration into residential environments is a huge concern. Sophisticated options to test indoor air quality are becoming more commonplace. PurpleAir Monitors, for example, have been validated against EPA monitors and are proven high quality monitors.

To learn more about the effects of smoke infiltration on indoor air quality and how wildfire risk is changing, view Burke’s full presentation here.

Wildfire Challenges

Michael Wara, Director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, discussed wildfire challenges. Historically, wildfires have been framed around how many acres of land were burned. But as we’ve seen in recent wildfires, the number of acres burned does not always correlate with the negative impacts on people, like smoke, effects on vulnerable populations, and loss of housing and businesses. Another challenge is that traditional priorities focus on timber and timber loss, when focus should be on people.

Wara suggested reframing how nature is embodied in environmental and resource management laws, a key step to resilience. Instead of viewing nature to maximize resource extraction, we should embrace active management of nature and treat it with reciprocity — giving gifts to nature so we can receive gifts in return. Getting back to thinking about the forest as a place where we can invest, instead of a place where we can take from, and putting people back in the forest as stewards will help change the paradigm.

View Wara’s full presentation here.

Wildfire Protection

There are several programs in Palo Alto and in the region that can help the community prepare for wildfires.

Prepare for Wildfires: Whether you live in the Palo Alto foothills or the flatlands closer to the Bay, preparing for wildfires makes sense. The City has a multi-functional team that works on wildfire risk reduction programs. Learn more about steps you can take to prepare for wildfires here.

Wildfire Safety: The California wildfire season usually takes place between spring and late fall. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District) monitors general air quality in the Bay Area and notifies the public when wildfire smoke appears to be causing elevated levels of particulate pollution in the region. Find more helpful resources during wildfire incidents here.

Install Home Air Filtration Units: The Air District is embarking on several new projects that provide home air filtration units to individuals most vulnerable to wildfire smoke and air pollution. Projects focus on low-income individuals on Medi-Cal who have been diagnosed with severe asthma or other respiratory conditions. Additional information on new programs and eligibility requirements will be available soon. Learn more about the Air District’s Home Air Filtration Program and Projects here.

SEA LEVEL RISE

One focus of climate adaption is sea level rise (SLR). The State of California anticipates that relative sea level rise projections stemming from GHG emissions and related climate change pose significant economic, environmental, and social risks to communities along the San Francisco Bay Shoreline, including the City of Palo Alto. Sea level rise in San Francisco Bay is anticipated to range between three feet to more than ten feet by 2100, with rising tides likely thereafter.

The City is finalizing a Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment to help understand potential hazards we face from sea level rise, what we need to protect, when we need to act, and how we can prioritize resources. There are several sea level rise protection efforts already in place or in development, including:

San Francisquito Creek “Downstream Project”. Completed in 2019, this project provides protection from 100-year creek flood and three feet of sea level rise. It resulted in more than 22 acres of new or improved marsh habitat.

Shoreline II Levee Improvements. The South San Francisco Bay Shoreline II study, with expected completion Fall 2024, looks at improvements needed for the levee system surrounding Palo Alto. Considering sea level rise, the existing levee system will be unable to prevent actual flooding during high tides.

Palo Alto Flood Basin Tide Gate Structure Replacement Project. Valley Water, our flood protection agency, in partnership with the City, is reconstructing Palo Alto’s Flood Basin Tide Gate. The tide gate regulates the water level between the Bay and the Palo Alto flood basin, which holds downstream water levels for Matadero, Adobe, and Barron Creeks during large storm events. The new tide gate will continue to provide protection against flooding due to tidal flows accommodating for SLR and provide necessary storage capacity for flows from Matadero, Adobe, and Barron Creeks. The tide gate is being designed to accommodate about two feet of SLR. Construction is expected to start in 2023 and completed in 2027.

Palo Alto Horizontal Levee Pilot Project. A pilot project to construct a horizontal levee, sometimes referred to as “living levees”. This pilot project is a novel and innovative initiative that links nature-based solutions to achieve habitat improvement, public access, flood protection and water quality improvement. Once constructed, it will be the first of its kind in the Bay Area.

Sign up to receive the Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment when its published, as well as future sea level rise meeting information at cityofpaloalto.org/sealevelrise.

Learn more about the latest sea level rise science by visiting here.

For more information on climate adaptation and sea level rise, go here.

Watch the full January 13 meeting on YouTube here; the presentation can be found here. All Ad Hoc Committee meeting materials are posted here.

PARTICIPATE IN THE NEXT S/CAP AD HOC MEETING ON FEBRUARY 10, 2022

The Ad Hoc meetings are open to the public and a good way for staff to hear from the community on specific sustainability related goals and actions.

The next Ad Hoc meeting is scheduled for February 10, 2022 from 9–11:30 a.m., with a focus on funding and resources. Provide input by taking the S/CAP survey or submitting comments/questions to sustainability@cityofpaloalto.org.

Registration is required in advance of the meeting. Register here. View past meetings and materials by visiting www.cityofpaloalto.org/climateaction.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION AND GET MORE ONLINE RESOURCES

• Sign up to receive the monthly Sustainability Newsletter here.
• Share input through the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan Update Survey.
• Read the first blog to learn more about the S/CAP Ad Hoc Committee and other sustainability programs available to the community today
• Read the second blog in the series to learn about electrifying appliances in single-family residential buildings
• Read the third blog in the series to learn about non-residential building electrification
• Read the fourth blog in the series to learn about electric vehicles (EVs) and EV Chargers
• Read the fifth blog in the series to learn about mobility and land use
• A summary of the questions and answers from the November S/CAP Ad Hoc Committee Meeting can be found here
• For details on the City’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan process go to: www.cityofpaloalto.org/climateaction
• The City’s Sea Level Rise Website can be found here: www.cityofpaloalto.org/sealevelrise
• For more on the City’s Electrification programs, go here: www.cityofpaloalto.org/electrification
• For more on the City’s Green Building Program including Trainings, go here.
• For more on programs focused on Electric Vehicles and Chargers: www.cityofpaloalto.org/electricvehicle
• For the City’s Safe Routes to School programs, go here.
• For more on Zero Waste programs, including tools to avoid food waste, go here.