By as soon as 2035, Yolo County may see over 100 days a year that are 90 degrees or higher; this is a 300% increase from the extreme heat days the county is currently experiencing.
During Tuesday's meeting, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors received an update on the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan and learned about the county's continued efforts to combat climate change.
"We need to be thinking ahead not just how we are reducing our emissions, but how we are preparing our community to be resilient in the face of these challenges," stressed Yolo County Sustainability Manager Kristen Wraithwall.
In September 2020, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors responded to the climate crisis by passing Resolution No. 20-114, titled "A Resolution Declaring a Climate Crisis Requiring Urgent and Inclusive Mobilization in Yolo County."
The resolution set forth a countywide goal to have a carbon-negative footprint by 2030. This also spurred the creation of the Yolo County Climate Action Commission and directed the development of the 2030 Countywide Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP), which was launched in January of this year.
"The CAAP is the planning document that is going to outline both our plan for meeting our emissions reduction goals but also for preparing for the climate impacts that our community is already facing," Wraithwall explained.
The Commission has worked with Community Outreach Partners to develop a comprehensive community outreach effort and has since hosted over 50 outreach events, including 24 community tabling events, 18 presentations at community meetings and 10 community workshops.
As of Dec. 5, the Sustainability Division has also received more than 1,000 completed surveys reflecting the climate impacts communities were experiencing, priorities for future program development and self-reported willingness to adopt practices that reduce individual carbon footprint.
All of this work has informed the strategy framework the Commission will use moving forward, serving the county's roadmap for reaching net-negative emissions by 2030.
Measures and actions are to be divided among 10 strategy areas including: decarbonizing transportation, reducing vehicle miles traveled, decarbonizing energy and buildings/increasing energy efficiency, optimizing water use, minimizing waste, reducing off-road equipment emissions, encouraging sustainable agriculture, sequestering and storing carbon in natural and working lands, reducing the carbon footprint of consumption and production and building resilient infrastructure and healthy communities.
According to Wraithwall, there are 225 potential projects they are considering across these 10 strategy areas to meet emission reduction targets.
"I think this gives you the scale of the problem that we are dealing with," Wraithwall said. "The goal that we've set, this net-negative by 2030, is incredibly ambitious but seeing how much the communities are asking for these projects to happen, the workshops we've done over the past three weeks, have been incredibly helpful and we've had amazing community turnout."
Cost implications are estimated to be $1.6 to 2 million annually internally and $1.5 to 2 million annually externally. Some components in the cost estimate include equipment acquisition, consulting and contracting fees, potential additional staffing and rebates and incentives.
While the costs are hefty, staff believe prioritizing climate resilience investments now will benefit the county in the long run. With the California Natural Resources Agency reporting that the cost of climate change to California will reach $113 billion annually by 2050, investing in climate initiatives now protects county residents, natural resources and saves the county critical resources down the line in mitigating future damages.
The board voted unanimously to prioritize programs and projects that support CAAP implementation in the 2024-25 budget principles.
Final CAAP adoption and implementation is expected to start in the summer of 2024.
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