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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by NPR on Sept. 25, 2024.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As climate change contributes to longer wildfire seasons and increases the likelihood of destructive fires, more people in Western states find themselves searching for local wildfire information. But finding accurate, specific and timely information can be challenging, especially in the middle of an emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The world has now expected twitters and TikToks and push notifications, and the world of technology has passed over this community of first responders and firefighters and emergency managers,” says John Mills, co-founder and CEO of \u003ca href=\"https://app.watchduty.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Watch Duty\u003c/a>, an app launched in 2021 that has taken off in popularity as more and more people look to their phones for wildfires information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really starting to blow up as the fires explode,” says Mills, whose app saw a \u003ca href=\"https://app.sensortower.com/overview/org.watchduty.app?country=US&tab=category_rankings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">spike in downloads\u003c/a> in early September while three major fires raged in the mountains surrounding Los Angeles. “The sad part is it means that things are really getting extraordinarily bad when this happens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12020872 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/GettyImages-2193000280-1020x653.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"edTag\">A firehose of information\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>During a wildfire, this information can come from many sources: emergency push notifications from county emergency managers, texts and emails from the sheriff’s department, social media posts from local, state, and federal firefighting agencies, and websites like \u003ca href=\"https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Inciweb\u003c/a>, which map firelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mills, a Silicon Valley tech guy who lives off-the-grid in the woods of Sonoma County, experienced this jumble of information after a close brush with 2020’s Wallbridge Fire — part of a particularly bad wildfire summer across the West Coast, in which \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/californias-2020-wildfire-season-numbers#:~:text=Key%202020%20wildfire%20statistics&text=The%20fires%20killed%2033%20people,firefighting%20costs%20approaching%20%242.1%20billion.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">33 people\u003c/a> were killed just in California. Mills realized, “You know, it’s only a matter of time before it comes back for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He realized he could do something about it—by building an app that would integrate all these sources of wildfire information and make it easily accessible on smartphones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hey, I live in the woods, I’m gonna die, this has to get launched tomorrow,” Mills remembers thinking during that wildfire. “So we built Watch Duty in 80 days and got it live and had 50,000 users in a week.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The app started relatively small, tracking fires across just three Northern California counties, but in four years, it has grown to include the whole American West, Texas and Oklahoma.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"edTag\">New technology, old techniques\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Watch Duty doesn’t collect or sell user data. The basic version is free to download, and the non-profit that makes it is funded through donations and subscriptions to advanced and pro versions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The app draws from various official sources of wildfire information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020985\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020985\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22.jpg\" alt=\"A smartphone that shows an app with a map and a persons hands operating it inside a house.\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1157\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-800x579.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-1020x738.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-1536x1111.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Watch Duty organizes information on a map of the US, which is dotted with flame icons representing active wildfires. Click a flame, and details like evacuation zones, fire lines, containment percentage, and acres burned pop up. Choose to track a fire, and you’ll get push notifications for the most urgent updates, like new evacuation orders. \u003ccite>(Mhari Shaw/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, its strength comes from a small army of volunteer contributors and staff reporters with firefighting, emergency dispatch, and journalism experience who watch wilderness camera live streams and listen in on firefighter radio communications in the field.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Silvester is one of these contributors — a staff reporter who started out as a volunteer. He often takes the Watch Duty night shift, posting live updates on active fires from his home across the Pacific, where he got his start as a radio scanner at a young age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My dad was a volunteer firefighter here in New Zealand,” he says. “I used that as a way of keeping track of him on calls and stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Silvester says one day, he became curious to see how much he could learn about wildfires in California, an entire hemisphere away, just by listening to live-streamed firefighter radio channels online. It turns out a lot — and his Twitter handle \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/cafirescanner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@CAFireScanner\u003c/a> was born.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Someone said I saved their life one day,” Silvester quietly recounts. “They didn’t know a fire was coming over the hill until they saw the message on Twitter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, he performs the same service on Watch Duty, which he says is a better platform to get the right information into the right hands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you follow people like me on Twitter, you kind of have to get everything that I post. Will it be a fire in Southern California? Will it be a fire in Siskiyou County all the way at the other end of the state?” he describes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With Watch Duty, you can subscribe by county. It’s targeted information — it’s delivered to you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a real-time operation, 24 hours a day,” says CEO Mills. “We talk to you through an app; we talk to you through your phones. But really we listen to radios, a 100-year-old technology,” he explains. “That’s really where you find out the most up-to-date, real-time intelligence. Because it actually is the firefighters doing the job in that moment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"edTag\">An ‘amazing tool,’ as part of a toolbox\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“Watch Duty has definitely filled a gap,” says Karen Hancock, Public Information Officer and Community Outreach Specialist for the Sonoma County Fire District, one of the first counties covered by the app when it launched in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020986\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020986\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-23.jpg\" alt=\"A firefighter talks into a wireless with flames and other firefighters in the background.\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1079\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-23.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-23-800x540.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-23-1020x688.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-23-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-23-1536x1036.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Watch Duty gets close-to-real-time information by listening in to the radio communications of firefighters on the front lines. In remote areas where radio signals are weak, Watch Duty has started setting up its own transmission towers to help with firefighting efforts and to give its staff reporters a way of listening for updates. \u003ccite>(J. Emilio Flores/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It has been an amazing tool for not only our public but for our firefighters and crews as well,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hancock’s community is no stranger to wildfires. In 2017, the fast-moving Tubbs Fire swept through the Coffey Park neighborhood in the middle of the night with no warning, killing 22 people and burning over 5,000 structures. At the time, it was the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/10/16/656532029/getting-back-what-you-lost-rebuilding-in-a-wildfire-zone\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">most destructive fire\u003c/a> in California history, but it soon became the second-most destructive after the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/11/13/667315613/californias-camp-fire-becomes-the-deadliest-in-state-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Camp Fire\u003c/a> raged through the town of Paradise one year later.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_12020988,news_12020918,news_12020835\"]“We’ve learned that redundancy is really important,” says Hancock., whose job is to help community members stay prepared with the latest information. “But a lot of times we’re in the field, and we just can’t get it out fast enough because our hands are just so busy in that moment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalFire, the California state wildfire agency, cautions that there are “potential risks associated with sharing inaccurate information inadvertently.” In a statement to NPR, CalFire said that they prefer people \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">visit their website\u003c/a> for information and that platforms like Watch Duty “should not be regarded as official sources of information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hancock says she always recommends Watch Duty alongside more traditional information sources like local emergency notifications.”It’s just another tool, another way to get the information out,” she points out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s not that many of us first responders, and even a smaller handful of us that have the ability to put out those communications, you know, through social media or just those critical alerts that go out,” Hancock explains. “Having another resource that is reaching so many in the community — it’s lifesaving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"edTag\">A firehose of information\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>During a wildfire, this information can come from many sources: emergency push notifications from county emergency managers, texts and emails from the sheriff’s department, social media posts from local, state, and federal firefighting agencies, and websites like \u003ca href=\"https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Inciweb\u003c/a>, which map firelines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mills, a Silicon Valley tech guy who lives off-the-grid in the woods of Sonoma County, experienced this jumble of information after a close brush with 2020’s Wallbridge Fire — part of a particularly bad wildfire summer across the West Coast, in which \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/californias-2020-wildfire-season-numbers#:~:text=Key%202020%20wildfire%20statistics&text=The%20fires%20killed%2033%20people,firefighting%20costs%20approaching%20%242.1%20billion.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">33 people\u003c/a> were killed just in California. Mills realized, “You know, it’s only a matter of time before it comes back for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He realized he could do something about it—by building an app that would integrate all these sources of wildfire information and make it easily accessible on smartphones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hey, I live in the woods, I’m gonna die, this has to get launched tomorrow,” Mills remembers thinking during that wildfire. “So we built Watch Duty in 80 days and got it live and had 50,000 users in a week.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The app started relatively small, tracking fires across just three Northern California counties, but in four years, it has grown to include the whole American West, Texas and Oklahoma.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"edTag\">New technology, old techniques\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Watch Duty doesn’t collect or sell user data. The basic version is free to download, and the non-profit that makes it is funded through donations and subscriptions to advanced and pro versions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The app draws from various official sources of wildfire information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020985\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020985\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22.jpg\" alt=\"A smartphone that shows an app with a map and a persons hands operating it inside a house.\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1157\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-800x579.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-1020x738.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-22-1536x1111.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Watch Duty organizes information on a map of the US, which is dotted with flame icons representing active wildfires. Click a flame, and details like evacuation zones, fire lines, containment percentage, and acres burned pop up. Choose to track a fire, and you’ll get push notifications for the most urgent updates, like new evacuation orders. \u003ccite>(Mhari Shaw/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, its strength comes from a small army of volunteer contributors and staff reporters with firefighting, emergency dispatch, and journalism experience who watch wilderness camera live streams and listen in on firefighter radio communications in the field.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Silvester is one of these contributors — a staff reporter who started out as a volunteer. He often takes the Watch Duty night shift, posting live updates on active fires from his home across the Pacific, where he got his start as a radio scanner at a young age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My dad was a volunteer firefighter here in New Zealand,” he says. “I used that as a way of keeping track of him on calls and stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Silvester says one day, he became curious to see how much he could learn about wildfires in California, an entire hemisphere away, just by listening to live-streamed firefighter radio channels online. It turns out a lot — and his Twitter handle \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/cafirescanner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@CAFireScanner\u003c/a> was born.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Someone said I saved their life one day,” Silvester quietly recounts. “They didn’t know a fire was coming over the hill until they saw the message on Twitter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, he performs the same service on Watch Duty, which he says is a better platform to get the right information into the right hands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you follow people like me on Twitter, you kind of have to get everything that I post. Will it be a fire in Southern California? Will it be a fire in Siskiyou County all the way at the other end of the state?” he describes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With Watch Duty, you can subscribe by county. It’s targeted information — it’s delivered to you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a real-time operation, 24 hours a day,” says CEO Mills. “We talk to you through an app; we talk to you through your phones. But really we listen to radios, a 100-year-old technology,” he explains. “That’s really where you find out the most up-to-date, real-time intelligence. Because it actually is the firefighters doing the job in that moment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"edTag\">An ‘amazing tool,’ as part of a toolbox\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“Watch Duty has definitely filled a gap,” says Karen Hancock, Public Information Officer and Community Outreach Specialist for the Sonoma County Fire District, one of the first counties covered by the app when it launched in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020986\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020986\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-23.jpg\" alt=\"A firefighter talks into a wireless with flames and other firefighters in the background.\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1079\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-23.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-23-800x540.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-23-1020x688.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-23-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-23-1536x1036.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Watch Duty gets close-to-real-time information by listening in to the radio communications of firefighters on the front lines. In remote areas where radio signals are weak, Watch Duty has started setting up its own transmission towers to help with firefighting efforts and to give its staff reporters a way of listening for updates. \u003ccite>(J. Emilio Flores/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It has been an amazing tool for not only our public but for our firefighters and crews as well,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hancock’s community is no stranger to wildfires. In 2017, the fast-moving Tubbs Fire swept through the Coffey Park neighborhood in the middle of the night with no warning, killing 22 people and burning over 5,000 structures. At the time, it was the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/10/16/656532029/getting-back-what-you-lost-rebuilding-in-a-wildfire-zone\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">most destructive fire\u003c/a> in California history, but it soon became the second-most destructive after the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2018/11/13/667315613/californias-camp-fire-becomes-the-deadliest-in-state-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Camp Fire\u003c/a> raged through the town of Paradise one year later.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We’ve learned that redundancy is really important,” says Hancock., whose job is to help community members stay prepared with the latest information. “But a lot of times we’re in the field, and we just can’t get it out fast enough because our hands are just so busy in that moment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalFire, the California state wildfire agency, cautions that there are “potential risks associated with sharing inaccurate information inadvertently.” In a statement to NPR, CalFire said that they prefer people \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">visit their website\u003c/a> for information and that platforms like Watch Duty “should not be regarded as official sources of information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hancock says she always recommends Watch Duty alongside more traditional information sources like local emergency notifications.”It’s just another tool, another way to get the information out,” she points out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s not that many of us first responders, and even a smaller handful of us that have the ability to put out those communications, you know, through social media or just those critical alerts that go out,” Hancock explains. “Having another resource that is reaching so many in the community — it’s lifesaving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "photos-thousands-in-la-evacuate-amid-exploding-wind-fueled-wildfires",
"title": "Photos: Thousands Flee the Wind-Fueled Fires Ravaging LA",
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"headTitle": "Photos: Thousands Flee the Wind-Fueled Fires Ravaging LA | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/01/08/nx-s1-5252370/california-wildfires-los-angeles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">More than 30,000 people in Los Angeles County have been ordered to evacuate\u003c/a> as the Palisades Fire, one of several wildfires that broke out on Tuesday morning, blazed through the Pacific Palisades community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fueled by intense Santa Ana winds, the fire has spread over more than 2,900 acres and threatened 13,000 structures; California Gov. Gavin Newsom said during an afternoon press conference that he’s already seen many of them destroyed. The fire remains uncontained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hundreds of firefighters have been battling the blaze on foot in the hillsides of the Santa Monica Mountains, where the fire originally broke out, as well as by plane, dropping water and flame retardant. In the Pacific Palisades community, thousands of people have scrambled to escape the flames. \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/brief/news/climate-environment/fires-southern-california-gusty-winds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">According to LAist\u003c/a>, video footage showed drivers on the Pacific Coast Highway fleeing their cars to the ocean at the behest of officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, a second major wind-driven fire was burning Tuesday night in Los Angeles County as fierce Santa Ana winds roared across the region. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/eaton-fire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Eaton Fire\u003c/a> had destroyed 400 acres in Altadena, north of Pasadena — an area bordering the Angeles National Forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evacuations \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/Angeles_NF/status/1876832615484858622\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">have been ordered\u003c/a>. “High winds were driving rapid fire growth, posing a significant threat to nearby communities and making containment efforts challenging,” CalFire \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/eaton-fire/updates/50a2ae08-439c-4864-bd5f-fbede1bc7e59\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said\u003c/a>. “Firefighters are working aggressively to slow the spread and protect critical infrastructure under extreme conditions. The combination of low humidity, dry fuels, and shifting winds has heightened the potential for spot fires and rapid expansion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conditions were changing quickly Tuesday night as evacuation areas shifted alongside the fire. Officials warned that the Santa Ana winds were only going to get worse on Tuesday night through Wednesday morning, reaching 100 mph or more. The National Weather Service warned of a “particularly dangerous situation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Very strong gusts and low relative humidity will allow any fires that develop to spread VERY rapidly,” the agency added. On Wednesday, that’s predicted to affect Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can find the latest information about the fire’s reach and damage \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/brief/news/climate-environment/fires-southern-california-gusty-winds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">from member station LAist\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020920\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A lone woman on a beach looks over her shoulder at a massive plume of smoke in the near distance.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A lone sunbather sits and watches a large plume of smoke from a wildfire rise over the Pacific Palisades in Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Richard Vogel/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020922\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020922\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Firefighter points hose at flames, surrounded by orange glowing smoke.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A firefighter battles the advancing Palisades Fire around a structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Etienne Laurent/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020924\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020924\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Man pushes an older woman sitting in a shopping cart away from a plume of smoke along the sidewalk of a beach.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jerome Krausse pushes his mother-in-law in a shopping cart as they evacuate from their home in the Pacific Palisades after a wildfire swept through their neighborhood in Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Richard Vogel/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020925\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020925\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Flames engulf a wooded area.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Palisades Fire burns a property in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Etienne Laurent/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020926\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020926\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">More than 200 acres were burning in Pacific Palisades, an upscale spot with multimillion-dollar homes in the Santa Monica Mountains, shuttering a key highway and blanketing the area with thick smoke. \u003ccite>(David Swanson/AFP/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020929\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020929\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"People fleeing among cars with a tree and orange smoky haze and flames in the background.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People flee from the advancing Palisades Fire, by car and on foot, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Etienne Laurent/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020933\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020933\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A young man runs with a worries face past cars on a city street with smoke in the distance.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A person flees from an advancing wildfire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Ethan Swope/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020935\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020935\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Flames engulfing a wooded area and structures with a tree in the foreground.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighters stage in front of the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Etienne Laurent/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020936\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020936\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A plume of smoke covers the sun glowing orange above firefighters working with tools to contain the fire.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighters work as a brush fire burns in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles County. \u003ccite>(David Swanson/AFP/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020938\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020938\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The wreckage of the foyer of a house with the second floor completely collapsed and a stairway still on fire.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Palisades Fire burns a residence in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Etienne Laurent/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020942\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020942\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A firefighter passes a house with its roof on fire in a suburban street.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A residence burns as a firefighter battles the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Eugene Garcia/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020945\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020945\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The inside of a home with furniture all ablaze and more flames seen on the street out of the living room window.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Palisades Fire burns a residence in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Etienne Laurent/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020947\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020947\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A firefighter jumps over a low wall and toward a burning house.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A firefighter jumps over a fence while fighting the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Ethan Swope/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020949\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020949\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Flames in foreground with untouched houses behind and and pristine lawns.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flames rise as the Palisades Fire advances on homes in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Ethan Swope/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020950\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020950\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighters protect structures from the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Etienne Laurent/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020951\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020951\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Flames and smoke on hilltops on the outskirts of Los Angeles, seen from downtown.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plumes of smoke are seen as a brush fire burns in Pacific Palisades, as seen from Santa Monica, Los Angeles County. \u003ccite>(Agustin Paullier/AFP/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020955\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020955\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A luxurious swimming pool and manicured lawns with high flames and plumes of smoke only a few hundred yards away.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A fast-moving brushfire in a Los Angeles suburb burned buildings and sparked evacuations Tuesday as ‘life threatening’ winds whipped the region. \u003ccite>(David Swanson/AFP/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020958\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020958\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A city street with houses and a church, flames rising behind them, and a person walking in the street in the foreground.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A passerby walks across the street in Sierra Madre as fire burns in the background. \u003ccite>(Josie Huang/KPCC)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020960\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020960\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A suburban street with strong flames encroaching.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fire is seen in Altadena. \u003ccite>(Josie Huang/KPCC)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Fueled by intense Santa Ana winds, the Palisades fire has spread over more than 2,900 acres and threatened 13,000 structures. It remains uncontained.",
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"title": "Photos: Thousands Flee the Wind-Fueled Fires Ravaging LA | KQED",
"description": "Fueled by intense Santa Ana winds, the Palisades fire has spread over more than 2,900 acres and threatened 13,000 structures. It remains uncontained.",
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"headline": "Photos: Thousands Flee the Wind-Fueled Fires Ravaging LA",
"datePublished": "2025-01-08T15:30:05-08:00",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/01/08/nx-s1-5252370/california-wildfires-los-angeles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">More than 30,000 people in Los Angeles County have been ordered to evacuate\u003c/a> as the Palisades Fire, one of several wildfires that broke out on Tuesday morning, blazed through the Pacific Palisades community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fueled by intense Santa Ana winds, the fire has spread over more than 2,900 acres and threatened 13,000 structures; California Gov. Gavin Newsom said during an afternoon press conference that he’s already seen many of them destroyed. The fire remains uncontained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hundreds of firefighters have been battling the blaze on foot in the hillsides of the Santa Monica Mountains, where the fire originally broke out, as well as by plane, dropping water and flame retardant. In the Pacific Palisades community, thousands of people have scrambled to escape the flames. \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/brief/news/climate-environment/fires-southern-california-gusty-winds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">According to LAist\u003c/a>, video footage showed drivers on the Pacific Coast Highway fleeing their cars to the ocean at the behest of officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, a second major wind-driven fire was burning Tuesday night in Los Angeles County as fierce Santa Ana winds roared across the region. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/eaton-fire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Eaton Fire\u003c/a> had destroyed 400 acres in Altadena, north of Pasadena — an area bordering the Angeles National Forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evacuations \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/Angeles_NF/status/1876832615484858622\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">have been ordered\u003c/a>. “High winds were driving rapid fire growth, posing a significant threat to nearby communities and making containment efforts challenging,” CalFire \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/eaton-fire/updates/50a2ae08-439c-4864-bd5f-fbede1bc7e59\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said\u003c/a>. “Firefighters are working aggressively to slow the spread and protect critical infrastructure under extreme conditions. The combination of low humidity, dry fuels, and shifting winds has heightened the potential for spot fires and rapid expansion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conditions were changing quickly Tuesday night as evacuation areas shifted alongside the fire. Officials warned that the Santa Ana winds were only going to get worse on Tuesday night through Wednesday morning, reaching 100 mph or more. The National Weather Service warned of a “particularly dangerous situation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Very strong gusts and low relative humidity will allow any fires that develop to spread VERY rapidly,” the agency added. On Wednesday, that’s predicted to affect Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can find the latest information about the fire’s reach and damage \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/brief/news/climate-environment/fires-southern-california-gusty-winds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">from member station LAist\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020920\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A lone woman on a beach looks over her shoulder at a massive plume of smoke in the near distance.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A lone sunbather sits and watches a large plume of smoke from a wildfire rise over the Pacific Palisades in Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Richard Vogel/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020922\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020922\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Firefighter points hose at flames, surrounded by orange glowing smoke.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A firefighter battles the advancing Palisades Fire around a structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Etienne Laurent/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020924\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020924\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Man pushes an older woman sitting in a shopping cart away from a plume of smoke along the sidewalk of a beach.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jerome Krausse pushes his mother-in-law in a shopping cart as they evacuate from their home in the Pacific Palisades after a wildfire swept through their neighborhood in Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Richard Vogel/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020925\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020925\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Flames engulf a wooded area.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-5-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Palisades Fire burns a property in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Etienne Laurent/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020926\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020926\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-6-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">More than 200 acres were burning in Pacific Palisades, an upscale spot with multimillion-dollar homes in the Santa Monica Mountains, shuttering a key highway and blanketing the area with thick smoke. \u003ccite>(David Swanson/AFP/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020929\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020929\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"People fleeing among cars with a tree and orange smoky haze and flames in the background.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-7-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People flee from the advancing Palisades Fire, by car and on foot, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Etienne Laurent/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020933\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020933\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A young man runs with a worries face past cars on a city street with smoke in the distance.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-8-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A person flees from an advancing wildfire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Ethan Swope/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020935\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020935\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Flames engulfing a wooded area and structures with a tree in the foreground.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-9-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighters stage in front of the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Etienne Laurent/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020936\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020936\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A plume of smoke covers the sun glowing orange above firefighters working with tools to contain the fire.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-10-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighters work as a brush fire burns in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles County. \u003ccite>(David Swanson/AFP/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020938\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020938\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The wreckage of the foyer of a house with the second floor completely collapsed and a stairway still on fire.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-11-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Palisades Fire burns a residence in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Etienne Laurent/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020942\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020942\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A firefighter passes a house with its roof on fire in a suburban street.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-12-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A residence burns as a firefighter battles the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. \u003ccite>(Eugene Garcia/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020945\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020945\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The inside of a home with furniture all ablaze and more flames seen on the street out of the living room window.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-13-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Palisades Fire burns a residence in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Etienne Laurent/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020947\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020947\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A firefighter jumps over a low wall and toward a burning house.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-14-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A firefighter jumps over a fence while fighting the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Ethan Swope/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020949\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020949\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Flames in foreground with untouched houses behind and and pristine lawns.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-15-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flames rise as the Palisades Fire advances on homes in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Ethan Swope/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020950\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020950\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-16-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighters protect structures from the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Etienne Laurent/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020951\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020951\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Flames and smoke on hilltops on the outskirts of Los Angeles, seen from downtown.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-17-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plumes of smoke are seen as a brush fire burns in Pacific Palisades, as seen from Santa Monica, Los Angeles County. \u003ccite>(Agustin Paullier/AFP/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020955\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020955\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A luxurious swimming pool and manicured lawns with high flames and plumes of smoke only a few hundred yards away.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-18-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A fast-moving brushfire in a Los Angeles suburb burned buildings and sparked evacuations Tuesday as ‘life threatening’ winds whipped the region. \u003ccite>(David Swanson/AFP/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020958\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020958\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A city street with houses and a church, flames rising behind them, and a person walking in the street in the foreground.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-19-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A passerby walks across the street in Sierra Madre as fire burns in the background. \u003ccite>(Josie Huang/KPCC)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020960\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020960\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A suburban street with strong flames encroaching.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-20-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fire is seen in Altadena. \u003ccite>(Josie Huang/KPCC)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "how-the-north-south-disparity-in-californias-rain-is-good-for-the-water-supply",
"title": "How the North-South Disparity in California's Rain Is Good for the Water Supply",
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"headTitle": "How the North-South Disparity in California’s Rain Is Good for the Water Supply | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>A remarkably wet kickoff to Northern California’s rainy season has coincided with a desperately dry fall in Southern California — a huge disparity, perhaps \u003ca href=\"https://weatherwest.com/archives/43171\">unprecedented\u003c/a>, between the haves and have-nots of rainfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles usually gets several inches of rain by now, halfway into the rainy season, but it’s only recorded a fifth of an inch downtown since July, its second driest period in almost \u003ca href=\"https://www.laalmanac.com/weather/we131b.php\">150 years of record-keeping\u003c/a>. The rest of Southern California is just as bone-dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, much of the northern third of the state has weathered nearly two months of storms, flooding and even tornadoes. Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco, has received more rain than nearly any other city in California — nearly two times its average rainfall to date. At the city’s airport, almost 7 inches fell on Nov. 20 alone, an all-time daily record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Northern California is always wetter than the semi-arid southern half. But the scale of the north-south gap that has persisted for several months has stunned experts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There have been few if any years since 1895 … that have been so much above-normal in the northern part of the state while simultaneously so dry in the south,” Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist, wrote in his blog \u003ca href=\"https://weatherwest.com/\">Weather West\u003c/a>. He added, in an email exchange with CalMatters, that “it is likely that the current north-south disparity is record-breaking in magnitude by at least some metrics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This season’s stark imbalance isn’t bad in terms of water supply. That’s because Northern California’s rain and snow feed major reservoirs, which provide much of the water used by Californians. If this occurred in reverse — a wet south and a dry north — most of the water would remain uncaptured, providing little benefit for supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/reportapp/javareports?name=swccond.pdf\">Snowfall to date (PDF)\u003c/a> has followed a similar pattern, with relatively heavy snowpack accumulating in the northern Sierra Nevada and substantially below-average levels in the southern Sierra.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/W7BDQ/3/\" width=\"800\" height=\"750\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of Southern California, between Kern County and the borders with Arizona and Mexico, is experiencing \u003ca href=\"https://www.drought.gov/states/california\">moderate to extreme drought\u003c/a> so far this season. The dryness, along with fierce Santa Ana winds, ignited two major fast-moving wildfires in Los Angeles County on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But while the latest forecasts predict dry weather for at least the next 12 days, water suppliers aren’t panicking. They say thanks to ample precipitation two years in a row, their reservoirs and groundwater basins are brimming with water to supply Southern Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In terms of water reliability and water supply at this moment in Southern California, things are looking pretty solid,” said Mike McNutt of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, which serves 75,000 people in northwest Los Angeles County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, demand in the district has declined since the 2020 drought year by 23%, McNutt said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Statewide, average per capita water use has declined sharply \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/water-use-in-california/\">since the 1990s\u003c/a> in spite of a growing population. Last July, state officials approved controversial and costly \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2024/07/california-water-conservation-rules-adopted/\">mandatory conservation rules\u003c/a> that force 405 cities and other urban suppliers serving about 95% of Californians to meet individualized water budgets that decline over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Orange County Water District Chief Hydrogeologist Roy Herndon said his agency, which supplies groundwater to the north half of the county, has enough supply to carry its 2.5 million customers through the worst of any potential droughts — multiple years in a row with minimal rainfall. “Three years, no problem. I’d say even five years,” Herndon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — which serves 19 million people mostly with imported water — also has an abundance, “with a record 3.8 million acre-feet of water in storage,” according to Interim General Manager Deven Upadhyay, who issued a statement last week. That’s enough water to supply 40 million people for a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year was the \u003ca href=\"https://ca.water.usgs.gov/california-drought/california-drought-runoff.html\">eighth wettest year\u003c/a> statewide in a century, and 2024 was about average. Now, the state’s largest reservoirs are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-drought-monitor/\">well above their average levels \u003c/a>for this time of year. Lake Oroville, the State Water Project’s largest, contained 128% of its average to-date storage as of Jan. 6. Lake Shasta was at 130%. Casitas and Diamond Valley reservoirs, key holding facilities for Southern California’s supply, are both almost full.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moreover, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12020122/northern-california-snowpack-much-stronger-start-than-last-year\">snowpack conditions\u003c/a> in the Sierra Nevada are promising.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Monday, the Sierra Nevada contained a \u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/reportapp/javareports?name=swccond.pdf\">snow water equivalent (PDF)\u003c/a> of 103% of average. The northern end of the mountain range is at 150% — a reassuring status since it’s the source of the bulk of the reservoirs. The southern end, however, now holds just two-thirds of its average for early January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020772\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020772\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/010225-Snow-Survey-DWR-CM-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/010225-Snow-Survey-DWR-CM-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/010225-Snow-Survey-DWR-CM-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/010225-Snow-Survey-DWR-CM-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/010225-Snow-Survey-DWR-CM-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/010225-Snow-Survey-DWR-CM-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At right, California Department of Water Resources staff member Andy Reising conducts the first snow survey of the 2025 season at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada., on Jan. 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Nick Shockey/California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Off to a better start this water year than we were last year, but much remains to be seen in terms of how this water year actually ends up,” said David Rizzardo, hydrology section manager of the California Department of Water Resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency announced in early December that its State Water Project — which serves 750,000 acres of farmland and 27 million people — would be delivering 5% of requested water supplies to local agencies. Later in the month, after November’s atmospheric rivers pummeled Northern California, the department boosted the initial allocation to 15%. The allocation will likely jump again before the rainy season peters out — usually in April or May.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s in store for the next three months?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In California climatology, only one prediction is downright easy to make: Summers will be dry across most of the state. But California’s winters are extremely variable, and how the next three months — historically the wettest of most years — will unwind is anyone’s guess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Anderson, a climatologist with the California Department of Water Resources, said a single large storm could change the outlook for Southern California’s water year. But he also observed that most years that have started out so exceptionally dry have stayed dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the ten times on record when Southern California’s coastal region had received less than an inch of rain by New Year’s Day, only once did the water year’s precipitation tally come out above normal, he said. Three of those times, precipitation levels reached almost average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Abatzoglou, a climatologist at UC Merced, said an abrupt shift in precipitation patterns into a full-on drought statewide, though not necessarily probable, would not be surprising, either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is certainly the California story — bouts of very wet to bouts of very dry, flipping within a single season, flipping year to year, hoping that it evens out in the end,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though it’s essentially a tossup how the rest of the year shapes up, there is a caveat: the onset of \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.shtml\">La Niña\u003c/a>. The counterpart to the more prestigious El Niño, La Niña often features dry conditions in Southern California and wetter conditions farther north.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexander Gershunov, a research meteorologist at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said the precipitation patterns seen so far this year, while somewhat consistent with La Niña, are more the “outcome of natural variability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“La Niña signals typically don’t kick in until January,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A classic La Niña could draw out current patterns through the remainder of the winter, though Gershunov also leaned toward the possibility that the year would finish up a wet one. Citing 2011, 2017 and 2023, he said, “three of the wettest years this century were La Niña years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Southern California’s dry conditions primed the region to burn. The largest wildfire, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/palisades-fire\">Palisades Fire\u003c/a>, in Los Angeles County’s Pacific Palisades, grew to more than 3,000 acres within hours, forcing evacuation of tens of thousands of residences and destroying homes. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/eaton-fire\">Eaton Fire \u003c/a>ignited in Altadena, near the San Gabriel Mountains, on Tuesday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Wetter wets and drier dries\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Increasingly pronounced weather extremes have been a growing area of interest among scientists and state officials, who frequently cite “weather whiplash” — “wetter wets” and “drier dries” — as one of the most pressing climate-related challenges facing California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mid-winter wildfires are just one potential outcome of this climate pattern. Increasingly erratic and unpredictable water cycles are another. California’s intricate system of reservoirs, canals and pumping stations was built to accommodate winter rainfall followed by a steady flow of snowmelt in the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our reservoir system was predicated on the notion that much of our water would stay frozen in the mountains for months,” said Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow and water supply expert at the Public Policy Institute of California.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_12020122,news_11986659,science_1935067\"]But the climate that has historically supported this pattern is changing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hots are getting hotter, dries are getting drier, the wets are getting a lot wetter,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom in a recent press briefing. “You have simultaneous droughts and simultaneous rain bombs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One trend frequently described is that of warmer and shorter winters, compressed from both ends. This causes more precipitation to fall in a shorter period of time, more of it to fall as rain, and more of the snow that does fall to melt earlier in the season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate models suggest that the state’s snowpack — a resource that on average has provided \u003ca href=\"https://oehha.ca.gov/climate-change/epic-2022/impacts-physical-systems/snow-water-content\">15 million acre-feet of water annually\u003c/a>, or nearly four times the capacity of the state’s largest reservoir — could mostly disappear by the end of the century, when winters may be too warm to support long-lasting snow on all but the highest peaks and ridges in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The outlooks for California are a warmer future, where we see that snow line … moving up the hill, towards the end of the century, really leaving that seasonal snowpack to the higher elevations,” Anderson, at the Department of Water Resources, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mount said the decline of snowpack is happening slowly on average, but with extreme snow drought periods increasingly falling into the bar charts of California history. Notable gaps are seen from 2012 to 2015 and 2020 to 2023 — low-snow periods that could reflect future norms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re facing a future without snowpack, and we’re not ready for that,” Mount said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This shifting hydrology has prompted calls from many water supply advocates for more reservoirs and enlargement of existing ones to capture more water at once. The long-delayed proposed \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/02/california-sites-reservoir/\">Sites Reservoir\u003c/a> — one of Newsom’s frequent rallying points — is well into planning stages, and other reservoirs are being enlarged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mount said relying on such concrete infrastructure enhancements will eventually prove much too costly. The solution, he says, lies underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our best hope is to aggressively start using groundwater for our main storage for the future,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Underground solutions\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>That’s not so easy in agricultural areas. Farms use such great volumes of water that it’s impossible to recharge many groundwater basins faster than growers pump it out, especially in the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2023/02/california-depleted-groundwater-storms/\">San Joaquin Valley\u003c/a>. Water agencies and state officials are seeking ways to channel floodwaters into gravelly basins where water can rapidly sink in, but logistical and regulatory barriers continue to stifle progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because urban areas use relatively little water compared to farmland, local stormwater capture has made more of a splash. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power captured more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.ladwpnews.com/record-snowpack-dramatically-improves-water-supply-outlook-for-los-angeles/\">108,000 acre-feet\u003c/a> of local stormwater in 2023 — about 20% of its annual demands — and diverted it into groundwater basins. Last year, the agency captured \u003ca href=\"https://www.ladwpnews.com/the-city-of-los-angeles-captures-5-billion-more-gallons-of-stormwater-in-february-2024-than-february-2023/\">41,000 acre-feet\u003c/a> of stormwater in February alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delon Kwan, the department’s assistant director of water resources, said city plans are afoot to increase stormwater capture to 150,000 acre-feet per year by 2035, in part by using urban parks as infiltration grounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water recycling systems are another way to help drought-proof California communities. In his 2022 \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/Initiatives/Water-Resilience/CA-Water-Supply-Strategy.pdf\">water supply strategy (PDF)\u003c/a>, Newsom set a target of 800,000 acre-feet of recycled water by 2030 and 1.8 million acre-feet by 2040. Some cities already reuse wastewater for irrigation or treat it after storing it in aquifers. Now, direct potable reuse — sometimes erroneously called toilet-to-tap — has been \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/12/california-rules-turn-sewage-into-drinking-water/#:~:text=Gavin%20Newsom%20called%20for%20increasing,streams%20and%20the%20deep%20ocean.\">approved \u003c/a>in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mount said Southern California has made great steps toward improving local water supplies, but climate change could limit the region’s potential for self-sufficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As you see increasing aridity in Southern California, with a climate more and more like the Southwest, you’re going to see increasing reliance on water from other areas,” he said. “If you haven’t got water to recycle, it becomes a real problem. If you haven’t got stormwater to capture, it’s a problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Some Northern California cities have been soaked with almost twice their average rainfall, while southern cities are bone-dry. This season’s huge — possibly unprecedented — disparity works in favor of the state’s water supplies.",
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"title": "How the North-South Disparity in California's Rain Is Good for the Water Supply | KQED",
"description": "Some Northern California cities have been soaked with almost twice their average rainfall, while southern cities are bone-dry. This season’s huge — possibly unprecedented — disparity works in favor of the state’s water supplies.",
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"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/alastair-bland/\">Alastair Bland\u003c/a>, CalMatters",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A remarkably wet kickoff to Northern California’s rainy season has coincided with a desperately dry fall in Southern California — a huge disparity, perhaps \u003ca href=\"https://weatherwest.com/archives/43171\">unprecedented\u003c/a>, between the haves and have-nots of rainfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles usually gets several inches of rain by now, halfway into the rainy season, but it’s only recorded a fifth of an inch downtown since July, its second driest period in almost \u003ca href=\"https://www.laalmanac.com/weather/we131b.php\">150 years of record-keeping\u003c/a>. The rest of Southern California is just as bone-dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, much of the northern third of the state has weathered nearly two months of storms, flooding and even tornadoes. Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco, has received more rain than nearly any other city in California — nearly two times its average rainfall to date. At the city’s airport, almost 7 inches fell on Nov. 20 alone, an all-time daily record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Northern California is always wetter than the semi-arid southern half. But the scale of the north-south gap that has persisted for several months has stunned experts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There have been few if any years since 1895 … that have been so much above-normal in the northern part of the state while simultaneously so dry in the south,” Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist, wrote in his blog \u003ca href=\"https://weatherwest.com/\">Weather West\u003c/a>. He added, in an email exchange with CalMatters, that “it is likely that the current north-south disparity is record-breaking in magnitude by at least some metrics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This season’s stark imbalance isn’t bad in terms of water supply. That’s because Northern California’s rain and snow feed major reservoirs, which provide much of the water used by Californians. If this occurred in reverse — a wet south and a dry north — most of the water would remain uncaptured, providing little benefit for supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/reportapp/javareports?name=swccond.pdf\">Snowfall to date (PDF)\u003c/a> has followed a similar pattern, with relatively heavy snowpack accumulating in the northern Sierra Nevada and substantially below-average levels in the southern Sierra.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/W7BDQ/3/\" width=\"800\" height=\"750\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of Southern California, between Kern County and the borders with Arizona and Mexico, is experiencing \u003ca href=\"https://www.drought.gov/states/california\">moderate to extreme drought\u003c/a> so far this season. The dryness, along with fierce Santa Ana winds, ignited two major fast-moving wildfires in Los Angeles County on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But while the latest forecasts predict dry weather for at least the next 12 days, water suppliers aren’t panicking. They say thanks to ample precipitation two years in a row, their reservoirs and groundwater basins are brimming with water to supply Southern Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In terms of water reliability and water supply at this moment in Southern California, things are looking pretty solid,” said Mike McNutt of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, which serves 75,000 people in northwest Los Angeles County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, demand in the district has declined since the 2020 drought year by 23%, McNutt said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Statewide, average per capita water use has declined sharply \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/water-use-in-california/\">since the 1990s\u003c/a> in spite of a growing population. Last July, state officials approved controversial and costly \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2024/07/california-water-conservation-rules-adopted/\">mandatory conservation rules\u003c/a> that force 405 cities and other urban suppliers serving about 95% of Californians to meet individualized water budgets that decline over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Orange County Water District Chief Hydrogeologist Roy Herndon said his agency, which supplies groundwater to the north half of the county, has enough supply to carry its 2.5 million customers through the worst of any potential droughts — multiple years in a row with minimal rainfall. “Three years, no problem. I’d say even five years,” Herndon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — which serves 19 million people mostly with imported water — also has an abundance, “with a record 3.8 million acre-feet of water in storage,” according to Interim General Manager Deven Upadhyay, who issued a statement last week. That’s enough water to supply 40 million people for a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year was the \u003ca href=\"https://ca.water.usgs.gov/california-drought/california-drought-runoff.html\">eighth wettest year\u003c/a> statewide in a century, and 2024 was about average. Now, the state’s largest reservoirs are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-drought-monitor/\">well above their average levels \u003c/a>for this time of year. Lake Oroville, the State Water Project’s largest, contained 128% of its average to-date storage as of Jan. 6. Lake Shasta was at 130%. Casitas and Diamond Valley reservoirs, key holding facilities for Southern California’s supply, are both almost full.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moreover, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12020122/northern-california-snowpack-much-stronger-start-than-last-year\">snowpack conditions\u003c/a> in the Sierra Nevada are promising.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Monday, the Sierra Nevada contained a \u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/reportapp/javareports?name=swccond.pdf\">snow water equivalent (PDF)\u003c/a> of 103% of average. The northern end of the mountain range is at 150% — a reassuring status since it’s the source of the bulk of the reservoirs. The southern end, however, now holds just two-thirds of its average for early January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12020772\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12020772\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/010225-Snow-Survey-DWR-CM-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/010225-Snow-Survey-DWR-CM-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/010225-Snow-Survey-DWR-CM-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/010225-Snow-Survey-DWR-CM-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/010225-Snow-Survey-DWR-CM-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/010225-Snow-Survey-DWR-CM-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At right, California Department of Water Resources staff member Andy Reising conducts the first snow survey of the 2025 season at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada., on Jan. 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Nick Shockey/California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Off to a better start this water year than we were last year, but much remains to be seen in terms of how this water year actually ends up,” said David Rizzardo, hydrology section manager of the California Department of Water Resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency announced in early December that its State Water Project — which serves 750,000 acres of farmland and 27 million people — would be delivering 5% of requested water supplies to local agencies. Later in the month, after November’s atmospheric rivers pummeled Northern California, the department boosted the initial allocation to 15%. The allocation will likely jump again before the rainy season peters out — usually in April or May.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What’s in store for the next three months?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In California climatology, only one prediction is downright easy to make: Summers will be dry across most of the state. But California’s winters are extremely variable, and how the next three months — historically the wettest of most years — will unwind is anyone’s guess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Anderson, a climatologist with the California Department of Water Resources, said a single large storm could change the outlook for Southern California’s water year. But he also observed that most years that have started out so exceptionally dry have stayed dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the ten times on record when Southern California’s coastal region had received less than an inch of rain by New Year’s Day, only once did the water year’s precipitation tally come out above normal, he said. Three of those times, precipitation levels reached almost average.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Abatzoglou, a climatologist at UC Merced, said an abrupt shift in precipitation patterns into a full-on drought statewide, though not necessarily probable, would not be surprising, either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is certainly the California story — bouts of very wet to bouts of very dry, flipping within a single season, flipping year to year, hoping that it evens out in the end,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though it’s essentially a tossup how the rest of the year shapes up, there is a caveat: the onset of \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.shtml\">La Niña\u003c/a>. The counterpart to the more prestigious El Niño, La Niña often features dry conditions in Southern California and wetter conditions farther north.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alexander Gershunov, a research meteorologist at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said the precipitation patterns seen so far this year, while somewhat consistent with La Niña, are more the “outcome of natural variability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“La Niña signals typically don’t kick in until January,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A classic La Niña could draw out current patterns through the remainder of the winter, though Gershunov also leaned toward the possibility that the year would finish up a wet one. Citing 2011, 2017 and 2023, he said, “three of the wettest years this century were La Niña years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Southern California’s dry conditions primed the region to burn. The largest wildfire, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/palisades-fire\">Palisades Fire\u003c/a>, in Los Angeles County’s Pacific Palisades, grew to more than 3,000 acres within hours, forcing evacuation of tens of thousands of residences and destroying homes. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/eaton-fire\">Eaton Fire \u003c/a>ignited in Altadena, near the San Gabriel Mountains, on Tuesday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Wetter wets and drier dries\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Increasingly pronounced weather extremes have been a growing area of interest among scientists and state officials, who frequently cite “weather whiplash” — “wetter wets” and “drier dries” — as one of the most pressing climate-related challenges facing California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mid-winter wildfires are just one potential outcome of this climate pattern. Increasingly erratic and unpredictable water cycles are another. California’s intricate system of reservoirs, canals and pumping stations was built to accommodate winter rainfall followed by a steady flow of snowmelt in the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our reservoir system was predicated on the notion that much of our water would stay frozen in the mountains for months,” said Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow and water supply expert at the Public Policy Institute of California.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But the climate that has historically supported this pattern is changing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hots are getting hotter, dries are getting drier, the wets are getting a lot wetter,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom in a recent press briefing. “You have simultaneous droughts and simultaneous rain bombs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One trend frequently described is that of warmer and shorter winters, compressed from both ends. This causes more precipitation to fall in a shorter period of time, more of it to fall as rain, and more of the snow that does fall to melt earlier in the season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate models suggest that the state’s snowpack — a resource that on average has provided \u003ca href=\"https://oehha.ca.gov/climate-change/epic-2022/impacts-physical-systems/snow-water-content\">15 million acre-feet of water annually\u003c/a>, or nearly four times the capacity of the state’s largest reservoir — could mostly disappear by the end of the century, when winters may be too warm to support long-lasting snow on all but the highest peaks and ridges in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The outlooks for California are a warmer future, where we see that snow line … moving up the hill, towards the end of the century, really leaving that seasonal snowpack to the higher elevations,” Anderson, at the Department of Water Resources, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mount said the decline of snowpack is happening slowly on average, but with extreme snow drought periods increasingly falling into the bar charts of California history. Notable gaps are seen from 2012 to 2015 and 2020 to 2023 — low-snow periods that could reflect future norms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re facing a future without snowpack, and we’re not ready for that,” Mount said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This shifting hydrology has prompted calls from many water supply advocates for more reservoirs and enlargement of existing ones to capture more water at once. The long-delayed proposed \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/02/california-sites-reservoir/\">Sites Reservoir\u003c/a> — one of Newsom’s frequent rallying points — is well into planning stages, and other reservoirs are being enlarged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mount said relying on such concrete infrastructure enhancements will eventually prove much too costly. The solution, he says, lies underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our best hope is to aggressively start using groundwater for our main storage for the future,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Underground solutions\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>That’s not so easy in agricultural areas. Farms use such great volumes of water that it’s impossible to recharge many groundwater basins faster than growers pump it out, especially in the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2023/02/california-depleted-groundwater-storms/\">San Joaquin Valley\u003c/a>. Water agencies and state officials are seeking ways to channel floodwaters into gravelly basins where water can rapidly sink in, but logistical and regulatory barriers continue to stifle progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because urban areas use relatively little water compared to farmland, local stormwater capture has made more of a splash. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power captured more than \u003ca href=\"https://www.ladwpnews.com/record-snowpack-dramatically-improves-water-supply-outlook-for-los-angeles/\">108,000 acre-feet\u003c/a> of local stormwater in 2023 — about 20% of its annual demands — and diverted it into groundwater basins. Last year, the agency captured \u003ca href=\"https://www.ladwpnews.com/the-city-of-los-angeles-captures-5-billion-more-gallons-of-stormwater-in-february-2024-than-february-2023/\">41,000 acre-feet\u003c/a> of stormwater in February alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delon Kwan, the department’s assistant director of water resources, said city plans are afoot to increase stormwater capture to 150,000 acre-feet per year by 2035, in part by using urban parks as infiltration grounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water recycling systems are another way to help drought-proof California communities. In his 2022 \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/Initiatives/Water-Resilience/CA-Water-Supply-Strategy.pdf\">water supply strategy (PDF)\u003c/a>, Newsom set a target of 800,000 acre-feet of recycled water by 2030 and 1.8 million acre-feet by 2040. Some cities already reuse wastewater for irrigation or treat it after storing it in aquifers. Now, direct potable reuse — sometimes erroneously called toilet-to-tap — has been \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/12/california-rules-turn-sewage-into-drinking-water/#:~:text=Gavin%20Newsom%20called%20for%20increasing,streams%20and%20the%20deep%20ocean.\">approved \u003c/a>in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mount said Southern California has made great steps toward improving local water supplies, but climate change could limit the region’s potential for self-sufficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As you see increasing aridity in Southern California, with a climate more and more like the Southwest, you’re going to see increasing reliance on water from other areas,” he said. “If you haven’t got water to recycle, it becomes a real problem. If you haven’t got stormwater to capture, it’s a problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "In 11th-Hour Move, Biden Bans Oil and Gas Drilling in Most US Waters",
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"content": "\u003cp>President Joe Biden is using a decades-old law to block drilling for oil in more than 625 million acres of U.S. ocean — the largest region a president has ever protected using this authority. It’s a move designed to help cement his climate legacy and one the incoming Trump administration is expected to challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biden has previously protected much smaller regions from oil development, but Monday’s announcement covers vastly more territory: the entire East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and a portion of the Bering Sea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil and gas companies that want to find or produce offshore oil have to pay the U.S. government to lease sections of the ocean. Biden’s action prohibits new leases in the identified regions; it does not affect any existing leases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the newly-protected territory is not particularly appealing to the oil industry, at least right now. That’s led some to dismiss this move as merely symbolic. However, the region includes the eastern Gulf of Mexico, where oil companies are interested in expanding when an existing moratorium expires. And all together, the huge swathes of ocean set aside in this move — hypothetically forever — include more than a third of the offshore U.S. oil and gas that is likely economical to extract, according to government data and analysts at Clearview Energy Partners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The oil industry has objected to the moratorium. “American voters sent a clear message in support of domestic energy development, and yet the current administration is using its final days in office to cement a record of doing everything possible to restrict it,” American Petroleum Institute president Mike Sommers said in a statement. The API suggested that reversing this “politically-motivated” action should be a top priority for Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even if there’s no immediate interest in some areas, it’s crucial for the federal government to maintain the flexibility to adapt its energy policy, especially in response to unexpected global changes like the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Erik Milito, the president of a trade group representing offshore energy development, said in a statement. “Blanket bans only serve to transfer energy production and economic opportunities abroad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Green groups, meanwhile, celebrated the announcement. “We see this as an epic ocean victory,” said Joseph Gordon, campaign director for Oceana, a nonprofit that advocates for ocean conservation worldwide. “This is a commitment to turning the corner from fossil fuels to clean energy. And we hope that millions of Americans who live near the ocean or visit or see places on the map protected today … can take comfort knowing that those places will never be subject to offshore drilling and they’ll never [experience] an oil spill like Deepwater Horizon,” the devastating 2010 BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is, of course, a familiar divide, with industry representatives on one side and environmental groups on the other. For his part, Biden rejected that framing. “We do not need to choose between protecting the environment and growing our economy,” he said in a statement, calling it a false choice. “Protecting America’s coasts and ocean is the right thing to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Bipartisan history, uncertain future\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Previous presidents have used the same authority Biden exerted on Monday to protect ocean regions from drilling, though never so many acres at one time. Trump himself \u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/icymi-no-offshore-drilling-around-florida-and-southern-atlantic\">used it\u003c/a> to protect the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina for 12 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside tag='environment' label='More Environment News']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, significantly, Biden’s move has no expiration date. And courts have previously found that makes the move essentially permanent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After former President Barack Obama undertook a similar action late in his administration to protect waters from drilling with no end date, Trump attempted to reverse it — \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/04/25/717214683/trump-administration-puts-offshore-drilling-plan-on-hold-after-setback-in-court\">without success\u003c/a>. Courts found that the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act allows a president to protect waters indefinitely, and doesn’t include any provision for removing that protection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Book of Clearview Energy Partners said this doesn’t mean the Trump administration can’t undo these protections. “The administration, having done this once before, will probably look to a congressional pathway as a means of resolution,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A filibuster-proof budget reconciliation bill could be a path for reopening these acres to oil development. That would be attractive not just as a way to follow through on Trump’s campaign promises to “drill, baby, drill” but also for the budgetary benefits: offshore oil lease auctions make money for the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Book said with Republicans in Congress promising a reconciliation bill this summer, these protections — or some of them — might be rolled back as early as this year.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>President Joe Biden is using a decades-old law to block drilling for oil in more than 625 million acres of U.S. ocean — the largest region a president has ever protected using this authority. It’s a move designed to help cement his climate legacy and one the incoming Trump administration is expected to challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biden has previously protected much smaller regions from oil development, but Monday’s announcement covers vastly more territory: the entire East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and a portion of the Bering Sea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil and gas companies that want to find or produce offshore oil have to pay the U.S. government to lease sections of the ocean. Biden’s action prohibits new leases in the identified regions; it does not affect any existing leases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the newly-protected territory is not particularly appealing to the oil industry, at least right now. That’s led some to dismiss this move as merely symbolic. However, the region includes the eastern Gulf of Mexico, where oil companies are interested in expanding when an existing moratorium expires. And all together, the huge swathes of ocean set aside in this move — hypothetically forever — include more than a third of the offshore U.S. oil and gas that is likely economical to extract, according to government data and analysts at Clearview Energy Partners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The oil industry has objected to the moratorium. “American voters sent a clear message in support of domestic energy development, and yet the current administration is using its final days in office to cement a record of doing everything possible to restrict it,” American Petroleum Institute president Mike Sommers said in a statement. The API suggested that reversing this “politically-motivated” action should be a top priority for Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even if there’s no immediate interest in some areas, it’s crucial for the federal government to maintain the flexibility to adapt its energy policy, especially in response to unexpected global changes like the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Erik Milito, the president of a trade group representing offshore energy development, said in a statement. “Blanket bans only serve to transfer energy production and economic opportunities abroad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Green groups, meanwhile, celebrated the announcement. “We see this as an epic ocean victory,” said Joseph Gordon, campaign director for Oceana, a nonprofit that advocates for ocean conservation worldwide. “This is a commitment to turning the corner from fossil fuels to clean energy. And we hope that millions of Americans who live near the ocean or visit or see places on the map protected today … can take comfort knowing that those places will never be subject to offshore drilling and they’ll never [experience] an oil spill like Deepwater Horizon,” the devastating 2010 BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is, of course, a familiar divide, with industry representatives on one side and environmental groups on the other. For his part, Biden rejected that framing. “We do not need to choose between protecting the environment and growing our economy,” he said in a statement, calling it a false choice. “Protecting America’s coasts and ocean is the right thing to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Bipartisan history, uncertain future\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Previous presidents have used the same authority Biden exerted on Monday to protect ocean regions from drilling, though never so many acres at one time. Trump himself \u003ca href=\"https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/icymi-no-offshore-drilling-around-florida-and-southern-atlantic\">used it\u003c/a> to protect the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina for 12 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, significantly, Biden’s move has no expiration date. And courts have previously found that makes the move essentially permanent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After former President Barack Obama undertook a similar action late in his administration to protect waters from drilling with no end date, Trump attempted to reverse it — \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/04/25/717214683/trump-administration-puts-offshore-drilling-plan-on-hold-after-setback-in-court\">without success\u003c/a>. Courts found that the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act allows a president to protect waters indefinitely, and doesn’t include any provision for removing that protection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Book of Clearview Energy Partners said this doesn’t mean the Trump administration can’t undo these protections. “The administration, having done this once before, will probably look to a congressional pathway as a means of resolution,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A filibuster-proof budget reconciliation bill could be a path for reopening these acres to oil development. That would be attractive not just as a way to follow through on Trump’s campaign promises to “drill, baby, drill” but also for the budgetary benefits: offshore oil lease auctions make money for the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Book said with Republicans in Congress promising a reconciliation bill this summer, these protections — or some of them — might be rolled back as early as this year.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Free Guided Hikes for New Year's Day in California State Parks",
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"content": "\u003cp>On New Year’s Day — Wednesday, Jan. 1 — California State Parks will be offering First Day Hikes: a nationwide initiative that invites the public to experience the first day of 2025 out in nature with guided hikes, for free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During these guided hikes, you’ll be able to enjoy the outdoors and learn about local geology, wildlife and cultural treasures around California’s state parks — which could spark some inspiration for exploring our state parks all year round.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can find a free guided hike with \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30737\">California State Parks’ interactive map\u003c/a>, which allows you to search for the best hikes near you by park, county or region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you’ve found a guided New Year’s Day hike that interests you, be sure to click through for important information including:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>How long and strenuous the hike is, and which ages it’s suitable for.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Whether pre-registration is necessary.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Any parking fees at the facility.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Whether pets are allowed (before you leash up your pup).\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Where and when you can meet to start the hike.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Any recommended clothing, footwear and food.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Don’t forget to dress for cool weather, wear comfortable supportive shoes and bring snacks and water — plus plenty of enthusiasm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>8 ideas for guided hikes in California State Parks for New Year’s Day\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There’s a large amount of free guided hikes to choose from, but here are eight picks around the wider Bay Area that you can join on New Year’s Day:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=540\">Big Basin State Park:\u003c/a> Join a 5.5-mile guided hike on Jan. 1 at 11 a.m., or a shorter 0.7-mile one at 8 a.m. Parking is $10. You’ll learn about the devastating CZU fire that hit areas of the park, see the park’s recovery and regrowth up-close and discuss the role that fire plays in the area’s ecology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=517\">Mount Diablo State Park:\u003c/a> Join a 4-mile guided hike on Jan. 1 at 9 a.m. to search for signs of winter: mistletoe, beard lichen, California holly and more. You can also join a shorter 1.5-mile hike at noon, to learn about how fire has helped the park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=546\">Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park:\u003c/a> Join a 1-mile guided hike on Jan. 1 at noon. Participants can meet in front of the visitor center, a one-minute walk from the main parking lot. Walk under giant trees to learn about coastal redwoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=666\">The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park:\u003c/a> Join a 4-mile guided hike on Jan. 1 at 9 a.m. During the hike, you’ll see the site where the town of Loma Prieta was located and a hidden spot deep in the redwood forest where marine fossils can be found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=538\">Castle Rock State Park:\u003c/a> There will be two guided hikes available on Jan. 1 at 10 a.m. One is 5.2 miles long with views of the San Lorenzo Valley and Pacific, and the other is a shorter 2.5-mile one where you’ll learn about the rich native history of the park’s land. Parking is $10.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30737\">See all of California State Parks’ free guided hikes on New Year’s Day.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On New Year’s Day — Wednesday, Jan. 1 — California State Parks will be offering First Day Hikes: a nationwide initiative that invites the public to experience the first day of 2025 out in nature with guided hikes, for free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During these guided hikes, you’ll be able to enjoy the outdoors and learn about local geology, wildlife and cultural treasures around California’s state parks — which could spark some inspiration for exploring our state parks all year round.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can find a free guided hike with \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30737\">California State Parks’ interactive map\u003c/a>, which allows you to search for the best hikes near you by park, county or region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you’ve found a guided New Year’s Day hike that interests you, be sure to click through for important information including:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>How long and strenuous the hike is, and which ages it’s suitable for.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Whether pre-registration is necessary.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Any parking fees at the facility.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Whether pets are allowed (before you leash up your pup).\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Where and when you can meet to start the hike.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Any recommended clothing, footwear and food.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Don’t forget to dress for cool weather, wear comfortable supportive shoes and bring snacks and water — plus plenty of enthusiasm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>8 ideas for guided hikes in California State Parks for New Year’s Day\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There’s a large amount of free guided hikes to choose from, but here are eight picks around the wider Bay Area that you can join on New Year’s Day:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=540\">Big Basin State Park:\u003c/a> Join a 5.5-mile guided hike on Jan. 1 at 11 a.m., or a shorter 0.7-mile one at 8 a.m. Parking is $10. You’ll learn about the devastating CZU fire that hit areas of the park, see the park’s recovery and regrowth up-close and discuss the role that fire plays in the area’s ecology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=517\">Mount Diablo State Park:\u003c/a> Join a 4-mile guided hike on Jan. 1 at 9 a.m. to search for signs of winter: mistletoe, beard lichen, California holly and more. You can also join a shorter 1.5-mile hike at noon, to learn about how fire has helped the park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=546\">Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park:\u003c/a> Join a 1-mile guided hike on Jan. 1 at noon. Participants can meet in front of the visitor center, a one-minute walk from the main parking lot. Walk under giant trees to learn about coastal redwoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=666\">The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park:\u003c/a> Join a 4-mile guided hike on Jan. 1 at 9 a.m. During the hike, you’ll see the site where the town of Loma Prieta was located and a hidden spot deep in the redwood forest where marine fossils can be found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=538\">Castle Rock State Park:\u003c/a> There will be two guided hikes available on Jan. 1 at 10 a.m. One is 5.2 miles long with views of the San Lorenzo Valley and Pacific, and the other is a shorter 2.5-mile one where you’ll learn about the rich native history of the park’s land. Parking is $10.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30737\">See all of California State Parks’ free guided hikes on New Year’s Day.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "strong-dangerous-waves-return-to-northern-california-coast-through-the-weekend",
"title": "Strong, Dangerous Waves Return to Northern California Coast Through the Weekend",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Days after heavy surf pounded the Northern California coast, killing at least one man and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12019684/santa-cruz-wharf-partially-collapses-as-pacific-storm-pounds-californias-coast\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">damaging the Santa Cruz Wharf\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, powerful waves are expected to return through the weekend.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Large waves are forecast to reach 20 to 30 feet as they break, eventually slamming into a long stretch of the coast from Big Sur and Monterey Bay up to the North Bay, including Point Reyes, according to a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/NWSBayArea/status/1872347604891373981\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">high surf advisory\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> issued by the National Weather Service on Thursday morning. The advisory will remain in effect through 4 p.m. Sunday. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Inexperienced swimmers should stay out of the water due to dangerous swimming and surfing conditions, and people are advised to stay away from jetties, piers and other waterside infrastructure. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“If you’re visiting the beaches at this time, you’re not just putting yourself at risk, you’re putting the people that have to come rescue you if anything goes wrong at risk,” said Brayden Murdock, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office. “There’s a lot of danger in these waves.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The surf will be less significant than what was seen over the weekend but still elevated, Murdock said, with waves in the 20- to 30-foot range “well observed” over the next few days.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The earlier round of massive swells brought “a lot of 30- to 40-foot breaking waves with some higher breakers getting up to 60,” Murdock said. Those waves were blamed for the death of a man on the Monterey Bay coast, who was pulled out from under debris that was washed up by a large wave at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville on Monday morning. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Monday afternoon, a 150-foot section of the end of the Santa Cruz Wharf collapsed into the ocean, sending public restrooms, a closed restaurant and three people into the water. Two were rescued and the third swam to shore.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a reminder that even on piers, jetties and higher areas, strong waves can be a major risk. With longer periods between waves, they have the opportunity to compound and create even higher waves, called “sneaker waves,” Murdock said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“As we start to see some of these compounding sneaker waves, it makes the reach of the wave itself much longer up the shore. … So we can’t recommend much in the way of fishing or even taking the pets along the beach if they are still what they think is far away from the water. It could still sneak up on here,” Murdock said. “And unfortunately, again, earlier in the week, we had a lot of people out trying to take pictures and see the higher surf coming through. And unfortunately for some, that wound up being too big of a risk.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The swell is expected to build throughout the day Thursday. Officials warned that even though wave heights shrink as the waves approach shore, they still pose a significant risk.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“All that energy is retained. So even though we’re not seeing exactly 20- to 30-foot [waves] along the beach itself, you’re still getting all that energy from those higher waves hitting all of these areas,” Murdock said. “So that’s why we’re really concerned about some of the coastlines as we continue into the weekend, because this is going to last for a long time and these waves are going to be dangerous.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In addition to the high surf, a storm will bring winds, clouds and light rain to the Bay Area over the next few days. That will lower visibility along the coast, making water rescues more difficult, Murdock said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED’s Maria Fernanda Bernal contributed to this report.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Days after heavy surf killed at least one man and damaged the Santa Cruz Wharf, large breaking waves of 20 to 30 feet prompted a high surf advisory through Sunday afternoon. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Days after heavy surf pounded the Northern California coast, killing at least one man and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12019684/santa-cruz-wharf-partially-collapses-as-pacific-storm-pounds-californias-coast\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">damaging the Santa Cruz Wharf\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, powerful waves are expected to return through the weekend.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Large waves are forecast to reach 20 to 30 feet as they break, eventually slamming into a long stretch of the coast from Big Sur and Monterey Bay up to the North Bay, including Point Reyes, according to a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://x.com/NWSBayArea/status/1872347604891373981\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">high surf advisory\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> issued by the National Weather Service on Thursday morning. The advisory will remain in effect through 4 p.m. Sunday. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Inexperienced swimmers should stay out of the water due to dangerous swimming and surfing conditions, and people are advised to stay away from jetties, piers and other waterside infrastructure. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“If you’re visiting the beaches at this time, you’re not just putting yourself at risk, you’re putting the people that have to come rescue you if anything goes wrong at risk,” said Brayden Murdock, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office. “There’s a lot of danger in these waves.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The surf will be less significant than what was seen over the weekend but still elevated, Murdock said, with waves in the 20- to 30-foot range “well observed” over the next few days.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The earlier round of massive swells brought “a lot of 30- to 40-foot breaking waves with some higher breakers getting up to 60,” Murdock said. Those waves were blamed for the death of a man on the Monterey Bay coast, who was pulled out from under debris that was washed up by a large wave at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville on Monday morning. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Monday afternoon, a 150-foot section of the end of the Santa Cruz Wharf collapsed into the ocean, sending public restrooms, a closed restaurant and three people into the water. Two were rescued and the third swam to shore.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s a reminder that even on piers, jetties and higher areas, strong waves can be a major risk. With longer periods between waves, they have the opportunity to compound and create even higher waves, called “sneaker waves,” Murdock said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“As we start to see some of these compounding sneaker waves, it makes the reach of the wave itself much longer up the shore. … So we can’t recommend much in the way of fishing or even taking the pets along the beach if they are still what they think is far away from the water. It could still sneak up on here,” Murdock said. “And unfortunately, again, earlier in the week, we had a lot of people out trying to take pictures and see the higher surf coming through. And unfortunately for some, that wound up being too big of a risk.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The swell is expected to build throughout the day Thursday. Officials warned that even though wave heights shrink as the waves approach shore, they still pose a significant risk.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“All that energy is retained. So even though we’re not seeing exactly 20- to 30-foot [waves] along the beach itself, you’re still getting all that energy from those higher waves hitting all of these areas,” Murdock said. “So that’s why we’re really concerned about some of the coastlines as we continue into the weekend, because this is going to last for a long time and these waves are going to be dangerous.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In addition to the high surf, a storm will bring winds, clouds and light rain to the Bay Area over the next few days. That will lower visibility along the coast, making water rescues more difficult, Murdock said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">KQED’s Maria Fernanda Bernal contributed to this report.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-will-give-you-up-to-2000-for-an-e-bike-if-youre-eligible",
"title": "California Could Give You Up To $2,000 For an E-Bike — Applications Now Open",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Looking for information about the 2025 California E-Bike Incentive Project application? This story is about the 2024 program and has outdated information but \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036516/california-ebike-incentive-project-voucher-lottery-when-do-applications-open-2025-april\">our guide on the latest round is now available\u003c/a>.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A new multimillion-dollar state fund is offering Californians up to $2,000 each to buy a brand new electric bicycle, \u003ca href=\"#apply-ebike-voucher\">if they qualify\u003c/a> — and \u003ca href=\"https://ebikeincentives.org/apply/\">applications opened on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PDT\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://ebikeincentives.org/\">California E-Bike Incentive Project\u003c/a> will provide $7.5 million to help lower- and middle-income families buy an e-bike, which can help riders to cover long distances faster for journeys like commutes and make it easier to transport young kids or groceries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to: \u003ca href=\"#apply-ebike-voucher\">How to apply for California’s e-bike vouchers\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The program, from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), offers $1,750 in vouchers to each qualifying individual — along with an extra $250 if they meet additional income requirements. The voucher can be used at hundreds of participating e-bike retailers all over the state to cover the cost of an e-bike, with the program covering a wide range of e-bikes to match the needs of each rider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials say that by helping thousands of Californians buy their own e-bike, the program will give more people access to a no-emissions mode of getting around that fits their lifestyle — especially if they don’t have access to dependable public transportation or the capacity to ride a regular bicycle every day. “Bicycles are a great climate change-fighting tool,” said Kendra Ramsey, executive director of the California Bicycle Coalition, which supports the voucher program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, only 1,500 vouchers will be given out during this first round of applications, or about 10% of the total money that will be given out. “More vouchers will be released in subsequent application windows,” Ramsey told KQED Forum. “If someone doesn’t get in this time, they will still have other opportunities.” So, in order to get a voucher during this round, Ramsey recommends “folks go to the site before [Wednesday], find out what they need to apply and have that information all ready.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for everything you need to know about applying for California’s e-bike voucher program once \u003ca href=\"https://ebikeincentives.org/apply/\">applications have opened on Wednesday evening\u003c/a>, including who qualifies for the money, how applications work and what kinds of e-bikes can be purchased.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"apply-ebike-voucher\">\u003c/a>Who is eligible to apply for an e-bike voucher?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are only two requirements to apply for the voucher program starting \u003ca href=\"https://ebikeincentives.org/apply/\">Wednesday, Dec. 18, at 6 p.m.\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>You must be a California resident 18 years of age or older.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>You must report a household income of 300% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) or less.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>In order to meet the residency requirement, you’ll just need a state ID. While for the income requirement, keep in mind that the program takes into account how many people are in your household, including your spouse, kids, parents or roommates. You can check if you qualify using the chart below from CARB:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12018184\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Image-12-13-24-at-11.30%E2%80%AFAM-scaled-e1734118378975.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1263\" height=\"986\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Image-12-13-24-at-11.30 AM-scaled-e1734118378975.jpg 1263w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Image-12-13-24-at-11.30 AM-scaled-e1734118378975-800x625.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Image-12-13-24-at-11.30 AM-scaled-e1734118378975-1020x796.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Image-12-13-24-at-11.30 AM-scaled-e1734118378975-160x125.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1263px) 100vw, 1263px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are many ways to prove your income when completing the application. The preferred way is to upload your \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript\">IRS tax transcript\u003c/a>, a document that includes only the most essential information you’ll find on your 1040. To access your IRS tax transcript, you’ll need to make an \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/payments/online-account-for-individuals\">IRS Individual Online Account\u003c/a> at irs.gov.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also upload other types of documents for this requirement, including:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Your W-2 or pay stubs for the past three months.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A 1099 if you are self-employed.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>An award letter confirming you’re unemployed and are receiving benefits from a state or federal agency.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>(And while there is \u003ca href=\"https://ebikeincentives.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Income-Documentation-List-v1.2-linked.pdf\">a whole list of documents you can provide to check off this requirement [PDF]\u003c/a>, you just need to provide one.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you intend to apply, make sure you have this information ready before applications open at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18. Once applications are open, you will be assigned a queue number, said Ramsey from the California Bicycle Coalition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That number, she explained, “is in the order [you] entered the site.” So the sooner you get started on your application, higher are the chances you’ll make it to the first 1,500 vouchers awarded.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Once I’ve submitted my application, can I get my e-bike?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Not yet. Once CARB has your application, they’ll take several weeks to process it and let you know if you’ve been selected for the first round of vouchers — or if there’s anything missing from your materials. According to the agency, this process could take up to 60 days, so it’s very likely that you won’t have a new e-bike in time for the holidays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If everything looks good on your application and you’re chosen to receive a voucher, you’ll soon receive information through the email you provided that explains how to make your purchase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>I’m eligible and submitted an application but wasn’t awarded the voucher. Why?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you weren’t chosen this time around, it’s likely you turned in your application by the time the first 1,500 vouchers were given out.[aside label=\"More KQED Guides\" tag=\"kqed-guides\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you weren’t lucky this time around, remember: more vouchers will be given out every 2–3 months until program funding runs out.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>If I do get a voucher, can I buy an e-bike wherever I want?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Not necessarily. The program has a list of hundreds of bike shops, athletic stores and other businesses all over California that are approved retailers for the program. You can find a store that’s closest to you \u003ca href=\"https://ebikeincentives.org/approved-retailer-map/\">using this map\u003c/a> and see what’s available, including approved home delivery, based on your zip code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all bikes at an approved retailer are included in the program, as your voucher only covers the cost of three types of e-bikes:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Class 1–3 e-bikes, with top speeds of 28 miles per hour.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cargo e-bikes.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Adaptive e-bikes (adult electric trikes, handcycles, recumbents, wheelchair tandems).\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ebikeincentives.org/eligible-e-bikes/\">Check out the full list of requirements for the e-bike you choose.\u003c/a> But don’t worry: “You don’t need to know which e-bike you want when you apply,” Ramsey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are many different types of e-bikes, and while some focus on speed or sleek design, other e-bikes are designed to help specific needs of parents, delivery workers, older adults and people with disabilities. When buying an e-bike, let folks at the store know all the different ways you foresee using it so they can help you decide the model that’s best for your lifestyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This guide includes reporting from KQED’s Mina Kim. An earlier version of this guide originally published on Dec. 14.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The California E-Bike Incentive Project offers $1,750 in vouchers to each qualifying individual — along with an extra $250 if they meet additional income requirements.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Looking for information about the 2025 California E-Bike Incentive Project application? This story is about the 2024 program and has outdated information but \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12036516/california-ebike-incentive-project-voucher-lottery-when-do-applications-open-2025-april\">our guide on the latest round is now available\u003c/a>.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A new multimillion-dollar state fund is offering Californians up to $2,000 each to buy a brand new electric bicycle, \u003ca href=\"#apply-ebike-voucher\">if they qualify\u003c/a> — and \u003ca href=\"https://ebikeincentives.org/apply/\">applications opened on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PDT\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://ebikeincentives.org/\">California E-Bike Incentive Project\u003c/a> will provide $7.5 million to help lower- and middle-income families buy an e-bike, which can help riders to cover long distances faster for journeys like commutes and make it easier to transport young kids or groceries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to: \u003ca href=\"#apply-ebike-voucher\">How to apply for California’s e-bike vouchers\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The program, from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), offers $1,750 in vouchers to each qualifying individual — along with an extra $250 if they meet additional income requirements. The voucher can be used at hundreds of participating e-bike retailers all over the state to cover the cost of an e-bike, with the program covering a wide range of e-bikes to match the needs of each rider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials say that by helping thousands of Californians buy their own e-bike, the program will give more people access to a no-emissions mode of getting around that fits their lifestyle — especially if they don’t have access to dependable public transportation or the capacity to ride a regular bicycle every day. “Bicycles are a great climate change-fighting tool,” said Kendra Ramsey, executive director of the California Bicycle Coalition, which supports the voucher program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, only 1,500 vouchers will be given out during this first round of applications, or about 10% of the total money that will be given out. “More vouchers will be released in subsequent application windows,” Ramsey told KQED Forum. “If someone doesn’t get in this time, they will still have other opportunities.” So, in order to get a voucher during this round, Ramsey recommends “folks go to the site before [Wednesday], find out what they need to apply and have that information all ready.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for everything you need to know about applying for California’s e-bike voucher program once \u003ca href=\"https://ebikeincentives.org/apply/\">applications have opened on Wednesday evening\u003c/a>, including who qualifies for the money, how applications work and what kinds of e-bikes can be purchased.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"apply-ebike-voucher\">\u003c/a>Who is eligible to apply for an e-bike voucher?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are only two requirements to apply for the voucher program starting \u003ca href=\"https://ebikeincentives.org/apply/\">Wednesday, Dec. 18, at 6 p.m.\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>You must be a California resident 18 years of age or older.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>You must report a household income of 300% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) or less.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>In order to meet the residency requirement, you’ll just need a state ID. While for the income requirement, keep in mind that the program takes into account how many people are in your household, including your spouse, kids, parents or roommates. You can check if you qualify using the chart below from CARB:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12018184\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Image-12-13-24-at-11.30%E2%80%AFAM-scaled-e1734118378975.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1263\" height=\"986\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Image-12-13-24-at-11.30 AM-scaled-e1734118378975.jpg 1263w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Image-12-13-24-at-11.30 AM-scaled-e1734118378975-800x625.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Image-12-13-24-at-11.30 AM-scaled-e1734118378975-1020x796.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Image-12-13-24-at-11.30 AM-scaled-e1734118378975-160x125.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1263px) 100vw, 1263px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are many ways to prove your income when completing the application. The preferred way is to upload your \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript\">IRS tax transcript\u003c/a>, a document that includes only the most essential information you’ll find on your 1040. To access your IRS tax transcript, you’ll need to make an \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/payments/online-account-for-individuals\">IRS Individual Online Account\u003c/a> at irs.gov.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also upload other types of documents for this requirement, including:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Your W-2 or pay stubs for the past three months.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A 1099 if you are self-employed.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>An award letter confirming you’re unemployed and are receiving benefits from a state or federal agency.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>(And while there is \u003ca href=\"https://ebikeincentives.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Income-Documentation-List-v1.2-linked.pdf\">a whole list of documents you can provide to check off this requirement [PDF]\u003c/a>, you just need to provide one.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you intend to apply, make sure you have this information ready before applications open at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18. Once applications are open, you will be assigned a queue number, said Ramsey from the California Bicycle Coalition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That number, she explained, “is in the order [you] entered the site.” So the sooner you get started on your application, higher are the chances you’ll make it to the first 1,500 vouchers awarded.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Once I’ve submitted my application, can I get my e-bike?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Not yet. Once CARB has your application, they’ll take several weeks to process it and let you know if you’ve been selected for the first round of vouchers — or if there’s anything missing from your materials. According to the agency, this process could take up to 60 days, so it’s very likely that you won’t have a new e-bike in time for the holidays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If everything looks good on your application and you’re chosen to receive a voucher, you’ll soon receive information through the email you provided that explains how to make your purchase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you weren’t lucky this time around, remember: more vouchers will be given out every 2–3 months until program funding runs out.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>If I do get a voucher, can I buy an e-bike wherever I want?\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Not necessarily. The program has a list of hundreds of bike shops, athletic stores and other businesses all over California that are approved retailers for the program. You can find a store that’s closest to you \u003ca href=\"https://ebikeincentives.org/approved-retailer-map/\">using this map\u003c/a> and see what’s available, including approved home delivery, based on your zip code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not all bikes at an approved retailer are included in the program, as your voucher only covers the cost of three types of e-bikes:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Class 1–3 e-bikes, with top speeds of 28 miles per hour.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Cargo e-bikes.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Adaptive e-bikes (adult electric trikes, handcycles, recumbents, wheelchair tandems).\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ebikeincentives.org/eligible-e-bikes/\">Check out the full list of requirements for the e-bike you choose.\u003c/a> But don’t worry: “You don’t need to know which e-bike you want when you apply,” Ramsey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are many different types of e-bikes, and while some focus on speed or sleek design, other e-bikes are designed to help specific needs of parents, delivery workers, older adults and people with disabilities. When buying an e-bike, let folks at the store know all the different ways you foresee using it so they can help you decide the model that’s best for your lifestyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This guide includes reporting from KQED’s Mina Kim. An earlier version of this guide originally published on Dec. 14.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "will-californias-new-plan-for-water-rules-save-salmon-from-extinction",
"title": "Will California's New Plan for Water Rules Save Salmon from Extinction?",
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"headTitle": "Will California’s New Plan for Water Rules Save Salmon from Extinction? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The Newsom administration is refining a contentious set of proposed rules, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2023/09/california-delta-bay-plan/\">years in the making\u003c/a>, that would reshape how farms and cities draw water from the Central Valley’s Delta and its rivers. Backed by more than $1 billion in state funds, the rules, if adopted, would require water users to help restore rivers and rebuild depleted Chinook salmon runs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The administration touts its proposed rules as the starting point of a long-term effort to double Central Valley Chinook populations from historical levels, reaching \u003ca href=\"https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=84381\">numbers\u003c/a> not seen in at least 75 years. But environmental groups have almost unanimously rejected it, saying it promises environmental gains that will never materialize and jeopardizes the existence of California’s iconic salmon and other fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no way the assets they’ve put on the table, water and habitat combined, are going to achieve the doubling goal — no way, not possible,” said Jon Rosenfield, science director with San Francisco Baykeeper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dubbed \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/Initiatives/Voluntary-Agreements-Page\">Healthy Rivers and Landscapes\u003c/a> but better known as “\u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/Newsroom/Page-Content/News-List/Agreement-with-Local-Water-Suppliers-to-Improve-the-Health-of-Rivers-and-Landscapes\">the voluntary agreements,\u003c/a>” the proposal is one of two pathways for state officials as they update a keystone regulatory document called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/\">Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan\u003c/a>, which was last overhauled in 1995.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the ecosystem of the Bay-Delta in the throes of collapse, the set of rules is critical to determining how much water flows through the Delta for salmon and other species and how much is available for growers and cities in the Central Valley and Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once vital to indigenous cultures and the coastal ecosystem, Chinook salmon and other native fish have declined for decades due to dam operations, water diversions, increased water temperatures and marine food web issues. Numbers of spawning adult Chinook have dropped so low that all commercial and recreational salmon fishing has been banned for two years in a row, and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2024/10/salmon-fishing-california/\">preliminary numbers this year\u003c/a> show no signs of recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials from multiple agencies have lauded the Healthy Rivers program — which would meter out flows for fish while mandating restoration of floodplains and other river features — as their preferred option for updating the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s most influential water districts, serving tens of millions of people and most of the Central Valley’s farmland, have rallied behind the state’s preferred option, which has taken center stage during public workshops since November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom administration officials have worked on these rules for years during negotiations with the San Joaquin Valley’s \u003ca href=\"https://wwd.ca.gov/\">Westlands Water District\u003c/a>, the nation’s largest agricultural water provider, the giant Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and other water users.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot described the proposal as “a new and strengthened approach” that will protect both the environment and the water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crowfoot told the water board that the proposed rules would do “a good job working to balance all of (Californians’) needs, and ultimately help the environment to recover in ways that’s workable for communities across our state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such a balance has long eluded state officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is progress,” Chuck Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said at a November water board workshop. “It’s gone on so long. It’s time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2020/02/gavin-newsom-sacramento-san-joaquin-bay-delta/\">endorsed the “voluntary agreement”\u003c/a> approach. “Today, I am committing to achieving a doubling of California’s salmon population by 2050. These agreements will be foundational to meeting that goal,” he wrote in a CalMatters opinion piece.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nina Hawk, the Bay-Delta Initiatives group manager with the Metropolitan Water District — which provides water that serves 19 million Southern Californians — said the Newsom proposal would create an equitable pathway to meeting human and environmental water demands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is important that we try to balance what the state board defines as beneficial uses … both for the environment and for farms, in a way that looks at the integrity of the water system and also for the state of California’s natural resources and its economy,” Hawk said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Padway of the Zone 7 Water Agency, which serves 270,000 East Bay residents, encouraged the water board to adopt the rules, commending them as an “immediately implementable” route to balancing water demands for people and environmental uses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12018570\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12018570\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_012023_Drone_Banks_Pumping_Plant_Aqueduct_CM.jpg\" alt=\"A wide drone shot from above an aqueduct with green grass and a water tower.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_012023_Drone_Banks_Pumping_Plant_Aqueduct_CM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_012023_Drone_Banks_Pumping_Plant_Aqueduct_CM-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_012023_Drone_Banks_Pumping_Plant_Aqueduct_CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_012023_Drone_Banks_Pumping_Plant_Aqueduct_CM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_012023_Drone_Banks_Pumping_Plant_Aqueduct_CM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_012023_Drone_Banks_Pumping_Plant_Aqueduct_CM-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A drone provides a view of water pumped from the Harvey O. Banks Delta Pumping Plant into the California Aqueduct at 9,790 cubic feet per second after January storms. The facility located in Alameda County and lifts water into the California Aqueduct. Jan. 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Ken James/California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But environmentalists aren’t sold. Some have even refused to call it by its formal name, saying it’s a euphemism with no bearing on “healthy rivers.” They say the rules would favor water users, allowing cities and farms to draw so much water from the Delta and its tributary rivers that salmon will continue their long decline. They say the proposed rules simply don’t offer fish the water they need, let alone support the state’s salmon rebuilding mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re diverting more than half of a river’s flow, you are guaranteeing negative population growth” of salmon, said Gary Bobker, Friends of the River’s program director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The complex flow rules could even allow growers to entirely drain some rivers in critically dry years, according to Barry Nelson, a water policy analyst with the Golden State Salmon Association who spoke at a recent board workshop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Dewatering rivers during droughts would be completely consistent with the Bay-Delta Plan,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The State Water Resources Control Board is the agency with the authority to approve the rules. A public hearing and vote could come in 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water board’s other option would require strict minimum flows in rivers. Water users say those rules would have unacceptable impacts on farms, hydropower and communities — including planned housing projects — while environmentalists and tribes laud it as more protective of fish. It would ensure that rivers contain an average of 55% of the total water available in the watershed at a given time — a measure called unimpaired flow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While momentum has built behind the state’s Healthy Rivers plan, the state water board could still go either way with their vote. It is even possible that officials adopt both options, with the unimpaired flow pathway reserved as a regulatory backstop, should the Newsom proposal fail, or as concurrent rules applied to waters users who opt out of the voluntary agreements.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Doubling Chinook runs — is it a stream dream?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>A longstanding mandate requires fishery and water managers to double the Central Valley’s population of naturally reproducing Chinook salmon from levels observed between 1967 and 1991. This would translate into an average of \u003ca href=\"https://deltacouncil.ca.gov/pdf/delta-plan/2019-11-21-preliminary-draft-datasheet-salmon-doubling.pdf\">990,000 spawning Chinook\u003c/a> each year, almost 10 times recent averages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials say their Healthy Rivers plan would help to realize this goal. Around year-eight — when the program could be extended — officials hope to be about 25% of the way to the doubling goal, said Louise Conrad, lead scientist with the state Department of Water Resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials with the National Marine Fisheries Service, in a January letter to the state, said the eight-year timeframe “is concerning, given the dire status of native fish species within the Sacramento River Basin and Delta.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in comments emailed to the Water Board in January, noted the light water allowances in critically dry years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“EPA is concerned that the total volume and timing of Delta inflow and outflow provided under the proposed VA (voluntary agreement) alternative relative to baseline is not large enough to adequately restore and protect aquatic ecosystems,” the agency wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12018571\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12018571\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/03_121124-Fall-Run-Salmon-XM-DWR-01-CM.jpg\" alt=\"A salmon under water with rocks. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/03_121124-Fall-Run-Salmon-XM-DWR-01-CM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/03_121124-Fall-Run-Salmon-XM-DWR-01-CM-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/03_121124-Fall-Run-Salmon-XM-DWR-01-CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/03_121124-Fall-Run-Salmon-XM-DWR-01-CM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/03_121124-Fall-Run-Salmon-XM-DWR-01-CM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/03_121124-Fall-Run-Salmon-XM-DWR-01-CM-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fall-run Chinook salmon migrate and spawn in the Feather River near the California Department of Water Resources infrastructure and the Feather River Fish Hatchery in Oroville, Butte County, on Nov. 15, 2024. \u003ccite>(Xavier Mascareñas/California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This target of doubling Chinook is nothing new. The almost legendary “doubling goal” has been on the books since the early 1990s, when federal law \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/mp/cvpia/docs-reports/meetings/2013/cvpia-pub-mtg-progress-revisioning-1-17-13.pdf\">set the deadline for 2002 (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now the state’s proposed rules would punt it to 2050 — what salmon advocates say is much too far away for a species already on the brink and a vanishing fishing industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Salmon runs could potentially be extinct by then with the flow assets they’re putting forward,” said Ashley Overhouse, Defenders of Wildlife’s water policy advisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Representatives of California tribes, who historically relied on Chinook as a dietary mainstay, say they were excluded from planning discussions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The only people that have been at the table talking about the voluntary agreements are water agencies, water contractors, irrigation districts, and private companies,” said Gary Mulcahy, government liaison for the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. “They (state officials) have excluded tribes, disadvantaged communities, environmental justice communities for nine years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the flow rules environmentalists and tribes prefer would cut deep into urban and agricultural water supplies, causing “impacts far and wide” on water exports from the Delta, storage in upstream reservoirs and hydropower production, said Jennifer Pierre, general manager of the State Water Contractors, which represents 27 water agencies that serve 750,000 acres of farmland and 27 million people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farmers, she said, would experience substantial permanent economic losses, forcing widespread fallowing of their crops. San Joaquin Valley growers would lose more than a quarter of their water in dry years, and 13% on average for all years, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/docs/2023/staff-report/ch06-waterchngs.pdf\">draft rules (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thaddeus Bettner, executive director of the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors — a group of farmers who largely grow rice — said it would force as much as 30% of his district’s 450,000 irrigated acres out of production, with harder impacts on growers with little groundwater to fall back on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rice farmer Jon Munger, with 13,000 acres on the east side of the Sacramento Valley, said, in some years, the unimpaired flow approach favored by environmentalists could strip him of virtually all of his water in summer months. His groundwater supply is very limited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wouldn’t have any water to grow rice,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That option would also squeeze residential water use. The Placer County Water Agency, which serves about a quarter-million residents northeast of Sacramento, would lose almost half its supply, threatening initiatives to accommodate a growing population, said General Manager Andrew Fecko.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would cost Southern California a big chunk of its municipal water, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wouldn’t have sufficient water supply,” said Hawk at the Metropolitan Water District. “It would be a decline at the taps, it would be a decline for businesses.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Billions of dollars in new salmon habitat\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The program proposes restoring \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/Initiatives/Voluntary-Agreements-Page\">45,000 acres\u003c/a> of structural habitat, like floodplains, tidal marshes, in-river piles of woody debris and gravel spawning beds over the next eight years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thousands of acres are already completed or underway. This, according to Overhouse at Defenders of Wildlife, leaves roughly 30,000 planned acres that would be brand new additions to the ecosystem — which she and others say would mute the promised benefits of the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of this will cost money, and to date \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/Initiatives/Voluntary-Watershed-Agreements/Draft_FundingPlanDescription.pdf\">$2.4 billion in public funds (PDF)\u003c/a> have been secured to support the flow measures and the habitat restoration. Another $500 million may be needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s proposed rules would allocate to the Sacramento River system between 100,000 and 700,000 acre-feet of water per year, depending on how much precipitation has fallen. But environmentalists say this isn’t nearly enough. They also worry that regulatory loopholes would allow future water projects — such as the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/02/california-sites-reservoir/\">Sites Reservoir\u003c/a>, for which Newsom advocated at a public appearance last week — to divert water that would be protected if the state adopted unimpaired flow rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is not an accident that they haven’t solved this problem,” Nelson, with the Salmon Association, said. “The VAs (voluntary agreements) and the Delta tunnel and Sites are a package.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some conservationists are optimistic about the state’s proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rene Henery, California science director with Trout Unlimited, thinks more habitat and water — especially in dry years — will be needed to protect salmon. But he also thinks the rules could succeed, as long as it’s just the first step of many in a flexible and collaborative restoration process — something he and a team of colleagues are trying to initiate with a state-funded project called \u003ca href=\"https://csamp.baydeltalive.com/recovery/reorienting-to-recovery\">Reorienting to Recovery\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Davis fish biologist Carson Jeffres, who has studied floodplain restoration projects, also said the salmon doubling objective is achievable through the Newsom proposal as long as state officials “have the courage to be nimble and adjust and adapt if it looks like things aren’t going as planned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tribal water rights advocate Regina Chichizola, executive director of Save California Salmon, rejected the Newsom administration’s notion that the state balances competing needs and demands.[aside tag=\"water, salmon\" label=\"More Related Stories\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve compromised so much that we’re facing an extinction crisis, that tribes don’t have fish for ceremonies,” she told the board in an emotional public comment last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Of course I want to make sure that all of the cities have access to water, but in the end agriculture is going to have to use less water,” she said. “The job of the water board is not to make everyone happy, it’s to protect beneficial uses and clean water, and if the salmon go extinct on your watch, that’s something that you’re going to have to tell your grandkids about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Growers and cities support the Newsom administration proposal, saying it strikes a balance for uses of Delta water. But environmentalists say the 'healthy rivers' rules would actually harm California’s iconic salmon.",
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"title": "Will California's New Plan for Water Rules Save Salmon from Extinction? | KQED",
"description": "Growers and cities support the Newsom administration proposal, saying it strikes a balance for uses of Delta water. But environmentalists say the 'healthy rivers' rules would actually harm California’s iconic salmon.",
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"headline": "Will California's New Plan for Water Rules Save Salmon from Extinction?",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Newsom administration is refining a contentious set of proposed rules, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2023/09/california-delta-bay-plan/\">years in the making\u003c/a>, that would reshape how farms and cities draw water from the Central Valley’s Delta and its rivers. Backed by more than $1 billion in state funds, the rules, if adopted, would require water users to help restore rivers and rebuild depleted Chinook salmon runs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The administration touts its proposed rules as the starting point of a long-term effort to double Central Valley Chinook populations from historical levels, reaching \u003ca href=\"https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=84381\">numbers\u003c/a> not seen in at least 75 years. But environmental groups have almost unanimously rejected it, saying it promises environmental gains that will never materialize and jeopardizes the existence of California’s iconic salmon and other fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no way the assets they’ve put on the table, water and habitat combined, are going to achieve the doubling goal — no way, not possible,” said Jon Rosenfield, science director with San Francisco Baykeeper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dubbed \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/Initiatives/Voluntary-Agreements-Page\">Healthy Rivers and Landscapes\u003c/a> but better known as “\u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/Newsroom/Page-Content/News-List/Agreement-with-Local-Water-Suppliers-to-Improve-the-Health-of-Rivers-and-Landscapes\">the voluntary agreements,\u003c/a>” the proposal is one of two pathways for state officials as they update a keystone regulatory document called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/\">Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan\u003c/a>, which was last overhauled in 1995.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the ecosystem of the Bay-Delta in the throes of collapse, the set of rules is critical to determining how much water flows through the Delta for salmon and other species and how much is available for growers and cities in the Central Valley and Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once vital to indigenous cultures and the coastal ecosystem, Chinook salmon and other native fish have declined for decades due to dam operations, water diversions, increased water temperatures and marine food web issues. Numbers of spawning adult Chinook have dropped so low that all commercial and recreational salmon fishing has been banned for two years in a row, and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/water/2024/10/salmon-fishing-california/\">preliminary numbers this year\u003c/a> show no signs of recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials from multiple agencies have lauded the Healthy Rivers program — which would meter out flows for fish while mandating restoration of floodplains and other river features — as their preferred option for updating the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s most influential water districts, serving tens of millions of people and most of the Central Valley’s farmland, have rallied behind the state’s preferred option, which has taken center stage during public workshops since November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom administration officials have worked on these rules for years during negotiations with the San Joaquin Valley’s \u003ca href=\"https://wwd.ca.gov/\">Westlands Water District\u003c/a>, the nation’s largest agricultural water provider, the giant Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and other water users.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot described the proposal as “a new and strengthened approach” that will protect both the environment and the water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crowfoot told the water board that the proposed rules would do “a good job working to balance all of (Californians’) needs, and ultimately help the environment to recover in ways that’s workable for communities across our state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such a balance has long eluded state officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is progress,” Chuck Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said at a November water board workshop. “It’s gone on so long. It’s time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2020/02/gavin-newsom-sacramento-san-joaquin-bay-delta/\">endorsed the “voluntary agreement”\u003c/a> approach. “Today, I am committing to achieving a doubling of California’s salmon population by 2050. These agreements will be foundational to meeting that goal,” he wrote in a CalMatters opinion piece.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nina Hawk, the Bay-Delta Initiatives group manager with the Metropolitan Water District — which provides water that serves 19 million Southern Californians — said the Newsom proposal would create an equitable pathway to meeting human and environmental water demands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is important that we try to balance what the state board defines as beneficial uses … both for the environment and for farms, in a way that looks at the integrity of the water system and also for the state of California’s natural resources and its economy,” Hawk said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kevin Padway of the Zone 7 Water Agency, which serves 270,000 East Bay residents, encouraged the water board to adopt the rules, commending them as an “immediately implementable” route to balancing water demands for people and environmental uses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12018570\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12018570\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_012023_Drone_Banks_Pumping_Plant_Aqueduct_CM.jpg\" alt=\"A wide drone shot from above an aqueduct with green grass and a water tower.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_012023_Drone_Banks_Pumping_Plant_Aqueduct_CM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_012023_Drone_Banks_Pumping_Plant_Aqueduct_CM-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_012023_Drone_Banks_Pumping_Plant_Aqueduct_CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_012023_Drone_Banks_Pumping_Plant_Aqueduct_CM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_012023_Drone_Banks_Pumping_Plant_Aqueduct_CM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_012023_Drone_Banks_Pumping_Plant_Aqueduct_CM-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A drone provides a view of water pumped from the Harvey O. Banks Delta Pumping Plant into the California Aqueduct at 9,790 cubic feet per second after January storms. The facility located in Alameda County and lifts water into the California Aqueduct. Jan. 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Ken James/California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But environmentalists aren’t sold. Some have even refused to call it by its formal name, saying it’s a euphemism with no bearing on “healthy rivers.” They say the rules would favor water users, allowing cities and farms to draw so much water from the Delta and its tributary rivers that salmon will continue their long decline. They say the proposed rules simply don’t offer fish the water they need, let alone support the state’s salmon rebuilding mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re diverting more than half of a river’s flow, you are guaranteeing negative population growth” of salmon, said Gary Bobker, Friends of the River’s program director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The complex flow rules could even allow growers to entirely drain some rivers in critically dry years, according to Barry Nelson, a water policy analyst with the Golden State Salmon Association who spoke at a recent board workshop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Dewatering rivers during droughts would be completely consistent with the Bay-Delta Plan,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The State Water Resources Control Board is the agency with the authority to approve the rules. A public hearing and vote could come in 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water board’s other option would require strict minimum flows in rivers. Water users say those rules would have unacceptable impacts on farms, hydropower and communities — including planned housing projects — while environmentalists and tribes laud it as more protective of fish. It would ensure that rivers contain an average of 55% of the total water available in the watershed at a given time — a measure called unimpaired flow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While momentum has built behind the state’s Healthy Rivers plan, the state water board could still go either way with their vote. It is even possible that officials adopt both options, with the unimpaired flow pathway reserved as a regulatory backstop, should the Newsom proposal fail, or as concurrent rules applied to waters users who opt out of the voluntary agreements.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Doubling Chinook runs — is it a stream dream?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>A longstanding mandate requires fishery and water managers to double the Central Valley’s population of naturally reproducing Chinook salmon from levels observed between 1967 and 1991. This would translate into an average of \u003ca href=\"https://deltacouncil.ca.gov/pdf/delta-plan/2019-11-21-preliminary-draft-datasheet-salmon-doubling.pdf\">990,000 spawning Chinook\u003c/a> each year, almost 10 times recent averages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State officials say their Healthy Rivers plan would help to realize this goal. Around year-eight — when the program could be extended — officials hope to be about 25% of the way to the doubling goal, said Louise Conrad, lead scientist with the state Department of Water Resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials with the National Marine Fisheries Service, in a January letter to the state, said the eight-year timeframe “is concerning, given the dire status of native fish species within the Sacramento River Basin and Delta.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in comments emailed to the Water Board in January, noted the light water allowances in critically dry years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“EPA is concerned that the total volume and timing of Delta inflow and outflow provided under the proposed VA (voluntary agreement) alternative relative to baseline is not large enough to adequately restore and protect aquatic ecosystems,” the agency wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12018571\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12018571\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/03_121124-Fall-Run-Salmon-XM-DWR-01-CM.jpg\" alt=\"A salmon under water with rocks. \" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/03_121124-Fall-Run-Salmon-XM-DWR-01-CM.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/03_121124-Fall-Run-Salmon-XM-DWR-01-CM-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/03_121124-Fall-Run-Salmon-XM-DWR-01-CM-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/03_121124-Fall-Run-Salmon-XM-DWR-01-CM-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/03_121124-Fall-Run-Salmon-XM-DWR-01-CM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/03_121124-Fall-Run-Salmon-XM-DWR-01-CM-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fall-run Chinook salmon migrate and spawn in the Feather River near the California Department of Water Resources infrastructure and the Feather River Fish Hatchery in Oroville, Butte County, on Nov. 15, 2024. \u003ccite>(Xavier Mascareñas/California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This target of doubling Chinook is nothing new. The almost legendary “doubling goal” has been on the books since the early 1990s, when federal law \u003ca href=\"https://www.usbr.gov/mp/cvpia/docs-reports/meetings/2013/cvpia-pub-mtg-progress-revisioning-1-17-13.pdf\">set the deadline for 2002 (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now the state’s proposed rules would punt it to 2050 — what salmon advocates say is much too far away for a species already on the brink and a vanishing fishing industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Salmon runs could potentially be extinct by then with the flow assets they’re putting forward,” said Ashley Overhouse, Defenders of Wildlife’s water policy advisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Representatives of California tribes, who historically relied on Chinook as a dietary mainstay, say they were excluded from planning discussions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The only people that have been at the table talking about the voluntary agreements are water agencies, water contractors, irrigation districts, and private companies,” said Gary Mulcahy, government liaison for the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. “They (state officials) have excluded tribes, disadvantaged communities, environmental justice communities for nine years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the flow rules environmentalists and tribes prefer would cut deep into urban and agricultural water supplies, causing “impacts far and wide” on water exports from the Delta, storage in upstream reservoirs and hydropower production, said Jennifer Pierre, general manager of the State Water Contractors, which represents 27 water agencies that serve 750,000 acres of farmland and 27 million people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farmers, she said, would experience substantial permanent economic losses, forcing widespread fallowing of their crops. San Joaquin Valley growers would lose more than a quarter of their water in dry years, and 13% on average for all years, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/docs/2023/staff-report/ch06-waterchngs.pdf\">draft rules (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thaddeus Bettner, executive director of the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors — a group of farmers who largely grow rice — said it would force as much as 30% of his district’s 450,000 irrigated acres out of production, with harder impacts on growers with little groundwater to fall back on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rice farmer Jon Munger, with 13,000 acres on the east side of the Sacramento Valley, said, in some years, the unimpaired flow approach favored by environmentalists could strip him of virtually all of his water in summer months. His groundwater supply is very limited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wouldn’t have any water to grow rice,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That option would also squeeze residential water use. The Placer County Water Agency, which serves about a quarter-million residents northeast of Sacramento, would lose almost half its supply, threatening initiatives to accommodate a growing population, said General Manager Andrew Fecko.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would cost Southern California a big chunk of its municipal water, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We wouldn’t have sufficient water supply,” said Hawk at the Metropolitan Water District. “It would be a decline at the taps, it would be a decline for businesses.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Billions of dollars in new salmon habitat\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The program proposes restoring \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/Initiatives/Voluntary-Agreements-Page\">45,000 acres\u003c/a> of structural habitat, like floodplains, tidal marshes, in-river piles of woody debris and gravel spawning beds over the next eight years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thousands of acres are already completed or underway. This, according to Overhouse at Defenders of Wildlife, leaves roughly 30,000 planned acres that would be brand new additions to the ecosystem — which she and others say would mute the promised benefits of the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of this will cost money, and to date \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/Initiatives/Voluntary-Watershed-Agreements/Draft_FundingPlanDescription.pdf\">$2.4 billion in public funds (PDF)\u003c/a> have been secured to support the flow measures and the habitat restoration. Another $500 million may be needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s proposed rules would allocate to the Sacramento River system between 100,000 and 700,000 acre-feet of water per year, depending on how much precipitation has fallen. But environmentalists say this isn’t nearly enough. They also worry that regulatory loopholes would allow future water projects — such as the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/02/california-sites-reservoir/\">Sites Reservoir\u003c/a>, for which Newsom advocated at a public appearance last week — to divert water that would be protected if the state adopted unimpaired flow rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is not an accident that they haven’t solved this problem,” Nelson, with the Salmon Association, said. “The VAs (voluntary agreements) and the Delta tunnel and Sites are a package.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some conservationists are optimistic about the state’s proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rene Henery, California science director with Trout Unlimited, thinks more habitat and water — especially in dry years — will be needed to protect salmon. But he also thinks the rules could succeed, as long as it’s just the first step of many in a flexible and collaborative restoration process — something he and a team of colleagues are trying to initiate with a state-funded project called \u003ca href=\"https://csamp.baydeltalive.com/recovery/reorienting-to-recovery\">Reorienting to Recovery\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UC Davis fish biologist Carson Jeffres, who has studied floodplain restoration projects, also said the salmon doubling objective is achievable through the Newsom proposal as long as state officials “have the courage to be nimble and adjust and adapt if it looks like things aren’t going as planned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tribal water rights advocate Regina Chichizola, executive director of Save California Salmon, rejected the Newsom administration’s notion that the state balances competing needs and demands.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve compromised so much that we’re facing an extinction crisis, that tribes don’t have fish for ceremonies,” she told the board in an emotional public comment last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Of course I want to make sure that all of the cities have access to water, but in the end agriculture is going to have to use less water,” she said. “The job of the water board is not to make everyone happy, it’s to protect beneficial uses and clean water, and if the salmon go extinct on your watch, that’s something that you’re going to have to tell your grandkids about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "california-got-millions-to-train-workers-in-disaster-relief-but-its-leaving-money-on-table",
"title": "California Got Millions to Train Workers in Disaster Relief, but It’s Leaving Money on Table",
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"content": "\u003cp>In January 2023, and continuing throughout the spring, rain swelled many of California’s reservoirs and creeks, engulfing homes and businesses and killing 21 people. One federal estimate says it cost the state nearly \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/state-summary/CA#:~:text=California%20Flooding,2022%20%2D%20March%202023\">$5 billion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, nearly two years later, it’s Alexis Ramirez’s job to help pick up the pieces, clearing debris from a damaged park. For him, and hundreds of others across the state, the disaster isn’t just about loss — it’s also an opportunity for temporary work. But these cleanup jobs are precarious and difficult, often requiring physical, back-breaking labor in remote areas under extreme conditions. Some government agencies struggle to manage these workers because of administrative hurdles, shifts in the weather that complicate disaster relief, and delays in the grant awards that make this cleanup possible, according to a CalMatters analysis of eight federal grants and interviews with agencies across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramirez is part of one federal program, known as the National Dislocated Worker Grants, that has pumped over $210 million into California since 2015 to provide temporary, disaster-relief jobs to lower-income and unemployed workers. The money came from 12 grants, each one in response to drought, floods, wildfires, or the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of these disaster-relief grants, the state failed to use about 20% of the money that was available, according to a CalMatters analysis of public records. That’s in part because of “bureaucratic hoops,” such as delays in receiving grant money, said Michael Cross, executive director of the Northern Rural Training and Employment Consortium. He said his 11-county program in Northern California has sometimes had to delay or “stop work” on relief projects related to the wildfires and floods because the money was slow to arrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12018387\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12018387\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: A temporary worker, Alexis Ramirez, walks through his work site with pruning shears under his arm. Right: Ramirez piles tree branches and trunks in Bartlett Park in Porterville on Dec. 4, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ramirez said he got sick and was unable to find steady work that could support himself and his 4-year-old daughter. “I was really in need of a job.” Now, he said he’s making about $21 an hour, almost twice what he made picking blueberries and grapes before the pandemic. But his current job, which began in September, ends in the next few weeks, and he said he has yet to find other work.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Temporary work provides a new start\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California’s Central Valley saw some of the worst flooding during the 2023 winter storms, and small agricultural towns \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/08/california-storm-damage/\">were hard hit\u003c/a>. In Tulare County, a local river overflowed its banks in March 2023, washing over homes, roads, and parks near the town of Porterville, population 62,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two months later the county received money to hire temporary relief workers, but it was too early, said Priscilla Gonzales-Gray, a career services coordinator with the Tulare County Workforce Investment Board. The initial proposal was to clear debris from Porterville’s waterways, but by the time the money had arrived, winter snowmelt had filled the sloughs with fast-running, deep water. “It was not a safe working environment for employees,” said Gonzales-Gray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county decided to send workers to a Porterville park instead, which had flooded around the same time as the waterway, leaving a playground completely submerged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was September 2023 before the waters had receded enough to allow workers to begin clearing out the park. Since work began, Gonzales-Gray said the county has hired 23 people, including Ramirez, all for temporary jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12018388\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12018388\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Temporary worker Demetrius Ensign uses a chainsaw to cut tree branches and trunks. Right: Temporary workers pile up tree branches and trunks to clean up Bartlett Park in Porterville on Dec. 4, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ramirez said he arrives at the park at 6 a.m. and works until 2:30 p.m., four days a week, using hand-tools like shovels and rakes to gather broken branches, tree trunks, and rocks. “It’s not a ton of hours,” he said in Spanish, “but it’s helping me start over.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program’s insurance doesn’t allow workers like Ramirez to use power tools, said Gonzales-Gray, so the county puts workers on a team with the parks department, which is authorized to to use wood-chippers and chainsaws. “That does make the work go a little slower,” she said. “However, it does provide longer opportunities for these temporary employments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The park is scheduled to open in January, and the county is preparing to hire a new round of temporary workers to repair another park. By the time both parks are complete and open to the public, Gonzales-Gray said the county will have hired about 60 workers from a roughly $1.5 million grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why Merced left money on the table\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Like Porterville, the town of Planada in Merced County revolves around agriculture and most residents are Latino. Many are undocumented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January 2023, floods tore through the town, and Anastacio Rosales, who has lived in Planada for 60 years, was one of many residents whose homes were destroyed. “I have lost all of my most valuable possessions, including family photos and precious keepsakes from my parents,” he wrote in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2023/06/keep-promises-after-planada-flooded/\">an Op-Ed to CalMatters\u003c/a> a few months after the storm. “Sadly, the same can be said for many of my neighbors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12018389\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12018389\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102723-Planada-Residents-LV_CM_15-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102723-Planada-Residents-LV_CM_15-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102723-Planada-Residents-LV_CM_15-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102723-Planada-Residents-LV_CM_15-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102723-Planada-Residents-LV_CM_15-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102723-Planada-Residents-LV_CM_15-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anastacio Rosales in front of his home, which he renovated after the flood in Planada earlier this year. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One study by the University of California, Merced found that more than 80% of Planada’s roughly 4,000 residents \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/06/california-flooding-3/\">suffered financial losses\u003c/a> as a result of the storms, such as missed work or property damage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Erick Serrato, Merced County’s director of workforce investment, said the county won’t claim most of the federal money available for temporary disaster-relief jobs. Initially, the county workforce agency planned to hire workers to assist in the town’s reconstruction, such as repairing its community center. But once money arrived in Merced County in May 2023 — five months after the initial flooding — waters had receded and others had already repaired the parks that temporary workers were supposed to fix, Serrato said. “When you have to wait five months to receive the support you need right in the aftermath, it makes it difficult to put those resources to work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The grant money also comes with restrictions, Serrato said. Temporary workers can’t repair private property, such as homes or businesses; they can only work on public lands, such as parks or waterways. The repairs can only return public lands to their prior conditions — workers can’t make any improvements that weren’t there before the flood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of repairing parks or waterways, which Serrato said were in good condition by May, the workforce board repurposed some of the federal grant money to hire workers to perform other services, such as helping homeowners navigate the state’s reimbursement process. This spring, for instance, the state gave the town of Planada $20 million to support recovery, including reimbursements for homeowners and businesses. That money remains \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2024/11/california-flooding-aid-delay/\">largely unspent\u003c/a> due to the county’s planning process and state rules requiring residents to verify their damages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosales acknowledged that the community center is functional again but in a recent interview, he said that other public lands still need repairs. “Around the creeks and canals, they haven’t cleaned them up like they’re supposed to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said debris is gathering in the storm drains and waterways once again, and if another storm comes, they could flood.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Moving money around\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Following floods in 2017 and dangerous, deadly wildfires in 2018, California’s workforce agencies spent over $80 million in federal funds to hire temporary workers to clean debris. In both cases, the state used more than 90% of the money it was allocated. But after wildfires in 2020 and 2021, the state left around $20 million — about 55% — in federal funds unclaimed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12018391\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12018391\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/020823-Planada-Feb-8-LV_CM_11-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/020823-Planada-Feb-8-LV_CM_11-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/020823-Planada-Feb-8-LV_CM_11-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/020823-Planada-Feb-8-LV_CM_11-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/020823-Planada-Feb-8-LV_CM_11-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/020823-Planada-Feb-8-LV_CM_11-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Debris and water damaged furniture on the side of a road in Planada on Feb. 8, 2023. The town was hit by flooding in January after heavy rainstorms rolled through the area. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/Catchlight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If California doesn’t use all of the money, then the federal government reallocates it to other places that need it, said Monica Vereen, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Labor, which provides these disaster relief grants to states. She said it’s common for states not to claim all of the money, but that every dollar ultimately gets used.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greg Lawson, a spokesperson for California’s Employment Development Department, said there are various reasons why federal money goes unclaimed. “The cleanup may not take as much time as initially estimated, the impact on jobs in the area may not end up as big, or people may be able to return to their jobs more quickly,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These funds weren’t as critical to us as maybe other parts of the state,” Serrato said about the workforce money that Merced County never claimed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the federal workforce grant, the county ultimately spent $165,000 — about 16%. Because the state awards the dollars in installments, Merced never had to return any money; it just never asked for the remaining cash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CalMatters reporter Levi Sumagaysay contributed to this story. \u003c/em>\u003cem>Financial support for this story was provided by the Smidt Foundation and The James Irvine Foundation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "When disaster strikes, California gets federal funding to hire temporary workers to clean debris. But the jobs are tough, and some agencies struggle to manage the grants.",
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"title": "California Got Millions to Train Workers in Disaster Relief, but It’s Leaving Money on Table | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In January 2023, and continuing throughout the spring, rain swelled many of California’s reservoirs and creeks, engulfing homes and businesses and killing 21 people. One federal estimate says it cost the state nearly \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/state-summary/CA#:~:text=California%20Flooding,2022%20%2D%20March%202023\">$5 billion\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, nearly two years later, it’s Alexis Ramirez’s job to help pick up the pieces, clearing debris from a damaged park. For him, and hundreds of others across the state, the disaster isn’t just about loss — it’s also an opportunity for temporary work. But these cleanup jobs are precarious and difficult, often requiring physical, back-breaking labor in remote areas under extreme conditions. Some government agencies struggle to manage these workers because of administrative hurdles, shifts in the weather that complicate disaster relief, and delays in the grant awards that make this cleanup possible, according to a CalMatters analysis of eight federal grants and interviews with agencies across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramirez is part of one federal program, known as the National Dislocated Worker Grants, that has pumped over $210 million into California since 2015 to provide temporary, disaster-relief jobs to lower-income and unemployed workers. The money came from 12 grants, each one in response to drought, floods, wildfires, or the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of these disaster-relief grants, the state failed to use about 20% of the money that was available, according to a CalMatters analysis of public records. That’s in part because of “bureaucratic hoops,” such as delays in receiving grant money, said Michael Cross, executive director of the Northern Rural Training and Employment Consortium. He said his 11-county program in Northern California has sometimes had to delay or “stop work” on relief projects related to the wildfires and floods because the money was slow to arrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12018387\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12018387\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-3-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: A temporary worker, Alexis Ramirez, walks through his work site with pruning shears under his arm. Right: Ramirez piles tree branches and trunks in Bartlett Park in Porterville on Dec. 4, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ramirez said he got sick and was unable to find steady work that could support himself and his 4-year-old daughter. “I was really in need of a job.” Now, he said he’s making about $21 an hour, almost twice what he made picking blueberries and grapes before the pandemic. But his current job, which began in September, ends in the next few weeks, and he said he has yet to find other work.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Temporary work provides a new start\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California’s Central Valley saw some of the worst flooding during the 2023 winter storms, and small agricultural towns \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/08/california-storm-damage/\">were hard hit\u003c/a>. In Tulare County, a local river overflowed its banks in March 2023, washing over homes, roads, and parks near the town of Porterville, population 62,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two months later the county received money to hire temporary relief workers, but it was too early, said Priscilla Gonzales-Gray, a career services coordinator with the Tulare County Workforce Investment Board. The initial proposal was to clear debris from Porterville’s waterways, but by the time the money had arrived, winter snowmelt had filled the sloughs with fast-running, deep water. “It was not a safe working environment for employees,” said Gonzales-Gray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county decided to send workers to a Porterville park instead, which had flooded around the same time as the waterway, leaving a playground completely submerged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was September 2023 before the waters had receded enough to allow workers to begin clearing out the park. Since work began, Gonzales-Gray said the county has hired 23 people, including Ramirez, all for temporary jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12018388\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12018388\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1-1-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Temporary worker Demetrius Ensign uses a chainsaw to cut tree branches and trunks. Right: Temporary workers pile up tree branches and trunks to clean up Bartlett Park in Porterville on Dec. 4, 2024. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ramirez said he arrives at the park at 6 a.m. and works until 2:30 p.m., four days a week, using hand-tools like shovels and rakes to gather broken branches, tree trunks, and rocks. “It’s not a ton of hours,” he said in Spanish, “but it’s helping me start over.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program’s insurance doesn’t allow workers like Ramirez to use power tools, said Gonzales-Gray, so the county puts workers on a team with the parks department, which is authorized to to use wood-chippers and chainsaws. “That does make the work go a little slower,” she said. “However, it does provide longer opportunities for these temporary employments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The park is scheduled to open in January, and the county is preparing to hire a new round of temporary workers to repair another park. By the time both parks are complete and open to the public, Gonzales-Gray said the county will have hired about 60 workers from a roughly $1.5 million grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why Merced left money on the table\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Like Porterville, the town of Planada in Merced County revolves around agriculture and most residents are Latino. Many are undocumented.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January 2023, floods tore through the town, and Anastacio Rosales, who has lived in Planada for 60 years, was one of many residents whose homes were destroyed. “I have lost all of my most valuable possessions, including family photos and precious keepsakes from my parents,” he wrote in \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2023/06/keep-promises-after-planada-flooded/\">an Op-Ed to CalMatters\u003c/a> a few months after the storm. “Sadly, the same can be said for many of my neighbors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12018389\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12018389\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102723-Planada-Residents-LV_CM_15-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102723-Planada-Residents-LV_CM_15-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102723-Planada-Residents-LV_CM_15-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102723-Planada-Residents-LV_CM_15-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102723-Planada-Residents-LV_CM_15-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/102723-Planada-Residents-LV_CM_15-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anastacio Rosales in front of his home, which he renovated after the flood in Planada earlier this year. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/CatchLight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One study by the University of California, Merced found that more than 80% of Planada’s roughly 4,000 residents \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/06/california-flooding-3/\">suffered financial losses\u003c/a> as a result of the storms, such as missed work or property damage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Erick Serrato, Merced County’s director of workforce investment, said the county won’t claim most of the federal money available for temporary disaster-relief jobs. Initially, the county workforce agency planned to hire workers to assist in the town’s reconstruction, such as repairing its community center. But once money arrived in Merced County in May 2023 — five months after the initial flooding — waters had receded and others had already repaired the parks that temporary workers were supposed to fix, Serrato said. “When you have to wait five months to receive the support you need right in the aftermath, it makes it difficult to put those resources to work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The grant money also comes with restrictions, Serrato said. Temporary workers can’t repair private property, such as homes or businesses; they can only work on public lands, such as parks or waterways. The repairs can only return public lands to their prior conditions — workers can’t make any improvements that weren’t there before the flood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of repairing parks or waterways, which Serrato said were in good condition by May, the workforce board repurposed some of the federal grant money to hire workers to perform other services, such as helping homeowners navigate the state’s reimbursement process. This spring, for instance, the state gave the town of Planada $20 million to support recovery, including reimbursements for homeowners and businesses. That money remains \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2024/11/california-flooding-aid-delay/\">largely unspent\u003c/a> due to the county’s planning process and state rules requiring residents to verify their damages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosales acknowledged that the community center is functional again but in a recent interview, he said that other public lands still need repairs. “Around the creeks and canals, they haven’t cleaned them up like they’re supposed to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said debris is gathering in the storm drains and waterways once again, and if another storm comes, they could flood.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Moving money around\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Following floods in 2017 and dangerous, deadly wildfires in 2018, California’s workforce agencies spent over $80 million in federal funds to hire temporary workers to clean debris. In both cases, the state used more than 90% of the money it was allocated. But after wildfires in 2020 and 2021, the state left around $20 million — about 55% — in federal funds unclaimed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12018391\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1568px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12018391\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/020823-Planada-Feb-8-LV_CM_11-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1568\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/020823-Planada-Feb-8-LV_CM_11-copy.jpg 1568w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/020823-Planada-Feb-8-LV_CM_11-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/020823-Planada-Feb-8-LV_CM_11-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/020823-Planada-Feb-8-LV_CM_11-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/020823-Planada-Feb-8-LV_CM_11-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1568px) 100vw, 1568px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Debris and water damaged furniture on the side of a road in Planada on Feb. 8, 2023. The town was hit by flooding in January after heavy rainstorms rolled through the area. \u003ccite>(Larry Valenzuela/CalMatters/Catchlight Local)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If California doesn’t use all of the money, then the federal government reallocates it to other places that need it, said Monica Vereen, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Labor, which provides these disaster relief grants to states. She said it’s common for states not to claim all of the money, but that every dollar ultimately gets used.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greg Lawson, a spokesperson for California’s Employment Development Department, said there are various reasons why federal money goes unclaimed. “The cleanup may not take as much time as initially estimated, the impact on jobs in the area may not end up as big, or people may be able to return to their jobs more quickly,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These funds weren’t as critical to us as maybe other parts of the state,” Serrato said about the workforce money that Merced County never claimed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the federal workforce grant, the county ultimately spent $165,000 — about 16%. Because the state awards the dollars in installments, Merced never had to return any money; it just never asked for the remaining cash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CalMatters reporter Levi Sumagaysay contributed to this story. \u003c/em>\u003cem>Financial support for this story was provided by the Smidt Foundation and The James Irvine Foundation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Standing in his front yard in Wilmington, Jose Ulloa can’t get a sentence out without coughing. Heavy-duty trucks, headed to and from the Port of Los Angeles, pass in front of his home all day, their engines roaring and their exhaust spewing into the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ulloa, who was diagnosed with asthma a few years ago, suffers frequent breathing problems and was hospitalized after one attack. The truck traffic is likely a trigger since health officials say diesel exhaust is known to cause \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/overview-diesel-exhaust-and-health\">asthma attacks and other respiratory problems\u003c/a>, including lung cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parade of big rigs in his neighborhood started four years ago after a series of traffic pattern changes altered their route.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Imelda, his wife, sweeps the yard and cleans the home nonstop, but black dust still collects on every surface of their home within hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you blow your nose, black dust will come out,” she said. “It’s a terrible life living here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Oakland, Mashhoor Alammari, who runs a small fleet of drayage trucks that haul cargo to and from the port, wants to do his part to help clean the air of dangerous diesel exhaust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His company, The Crew Transportation, Inc., bought two new zero-emission big rigs at a cost of more than $900,000. But the trucks, powered by hydrogen fuel cells, are expensive to operate and there are few if any fueling stations along their routes. The new trucks have been sitting in the parking lot most of the time since he bought them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to put myself into a financial hole,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The experiences of the Wilmington family and the Oakland truck company illustrate the frustrations and obstacles that Californians face as state officials pursue an aggressive and controversial mandate to clean the air by phasing out diesel-powered big rigs and other trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s mandate, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/climate-change/2023/04/california-phases-out-diesel-trucks/\">approved by the Air Resources Board last year\u003c/a>, is the first in the world to ban new diesel trucks and require a switch to zero-emission vehicles, which are powered by electricity or hydrogen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Companies \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/advanced-clean-fleets-regulation-overview\">face varying deadlines\u003c/a> for ending their use of diesel, which for decades has been an efficient powerhouse fueling the economy and transport of goods. Starting in 2036, no new fossil-fueled medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks can be sold in California, and by 2042, large companies must convert their trucks to zero-emission models.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trucking industry said the regulation is unreasonable and will wreak havoc on the economy, making it difficult to make long-haul shipments. The California Trucking Association and a collective of 17 states, including Nebraska, Alabama and New Mexico, \u003ca href=\"https://environmentalenergybrief.sidley.com/2024/05/23/17-states-file-complaint-challenging-constitutionality-of-californias-advanced-clean-fleets-regulation/\">have sued the state\u003c/a>, alleging the rule oversteps state power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017438\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017438\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14.jpg\" alt=\"A large white truck in the foreground with big shipping containers in the background.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Commercial trucks pass by a warehouse in front of a residential neighborhood along Drumm Avenue in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles on Dec. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>From big rigs to garbage trucks and delivery vans, the rules will dramatically change the 1.8 million commercial trucks driven on California’s roads over the next two decades. Sales already are accelerating even though no deadlines have kicked in yet. Last year, one out of every six trucks sold in the state — more than 18,000 — were zero emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s mandate is in flux because the state still needs a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before it can start enforcing them. President-elect Donald Trump has criticized California’s electric car mandates and in the past tried to revoke the state’s authority to set its own vehicle standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One deadline already has passed: All new drayage trucks, which are used to haul containers from ports, were supposed to be zero emissions by last October. But that deadline is not yet being enforced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Truck companies like Alammari’s that took a risk to be early adopters of clean trucks are now in limbo, swallowing high operating costs and competing with cheaper diesel-only companies in an already struggling industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, California’s most vulnerable residents who live near roads with heavy diesel truck traffic may have to wait longer for a solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The dangers of diesel\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Diesel trucks are among the state’s biggest sources of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2024/02/california-new-soot-standards/\">microscopic particles of soot\u003c/a>, which can damage lungs and trigger asthma attacks and heart attacks. They also play an outsized role in California’s smog: While they make up just 6% of all vehicles on California’s roads, they are responsible for 72% of nitrogen oxides, a key ingredient of smog, emitted by on-road vehicles, according to the air board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, health officials declared diesel exhaust, which contains dozens of toxic gases, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr213_E.pdf\">human carcinogen (PDF.)\u003c/a> several decades ago because of studies linking it to lung cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Los Angeles basin, diesel exhaust is responsible for more than two-thirds of the cancer risk posed by air pollution, according to \u003ca href=\"http://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/planning/mates-v/mates-v-final-report-9-24-21.pdf?sfvrsn=6\">a risk analysis by the South Coast Air Quality Management District\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biggest dangers from diesels are in communities near high-traffic corridors. People near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, downtown Los Angeles and parts of the Inland Empire are at risk of 350 to 500 cancer cases per million people because of diesel fumes, according to the analysis. That risk has dropped substantially in recent years as trucks get cleaner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11825555\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/datawrapper.dwcdn.net/PKart/full.png?w=780&ssl=1\" width=\"800\" height=\"628\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s clean truck rule is \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/barcu/regact/2022/acf22/isor2.pdf\">expected through 2050 to save $26.5 billion (PDF.)\u003c/a> in statewide health costs and save fleet owners $48 billion through reduced fuel and maintenance costs, according to the air board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The health benefits from eliminating the pollution (from diesel trucks) far exceed any cost the industry will bear,” said Adrian Martinez, an attorney for environmental group Earthjustice. “Trucking lobbyists and other folks are super loud and they’re going to focus on the difficulties of the transition. But millions of Californians affected by pollution from the freight industry is not acceptable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Lots of obstacles for emissions-free trucking\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>But a lack of fast, reliable charging stations and the vehicles’ limited ranges makes it difficult, even impossible, for trucks to transport goods long distances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Electric heavy-duty trucks have ranges up to 250 miles, while hydrogen-powered ones can drive about 500 miles on a full tank. They can use the same public fast chargers as cars, but that’s impractical because they take up too much space and charging can take up to six hours. For hydrogen, only 22 fueling stations for large trucks are operating or in development statewide, according to the California Energy Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Battery-powered trucks also are heavy, which means they can carry less cargo. As a result, companies have to charge more, which shippers aren’t usually willing to pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry also points to the substantial investment that is needed to expand the electric grid’s capacity to eventually charge thousands of battery-powered trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No one’s opposed” to cleaner air, said Matt Schrap head of the Harbor Trucking Association, which represents drayage truck companies. “It is about practical application and implementation of these rules. We have nowhere near enough infrastructure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air board’s mandate “is the epitome of ready, fire, aim,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air board officials stress that truck companies have time and flexible options to comply, and the state is working to \u003ca href=\"https://calfleetadvisor.org/who-we-are/\">help them understand and comply with the complex rules\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are worried, I get it. But (the deadline) is not tomorrow,” said Bruce Tuter, who oversees compliance and outreach at the air board. “Charging times, charging speeds, all of that needs to start building up where it gets quicker to charge a truck and where it’s more accessible to charge when you’re traveling long distances.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alammari, the truck company owner from Oakland, said he bought his two hydrogen trucks because he had interest from a shipping company that wanted to work with zero-emission vehicles. The profits Alammari would have made working with that company would have justified the added costs of operating a hydrogen fuel cell truck, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the last minute, however, the company chose to work with someone else. Without any customers willing to pay more to ship with his hydrogen trucks, he can’t use them. He’s doing his best to transition his entire fleet to zero-emission vehicles. He had even ordered three more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even with help from state grants, Alammari said it’s not enough to help him operate the zero-emission vehicles or buy more of them. He pays substantially more for insuring them, and it costs twice as much to fully fuel them with hydrogen compared to a diesel, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without companies willing to ship goods with zero-emission vehicles, early adopters of the technology, like his company, The Crew Transportation, Inc., are at a disadvantage until the mandate makes everyone comply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I don’t get customers to use these trucks, The Crew Transportation is not going to move forward to get the three remaining hydrogen trucks we ordered,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air board officials created the most stringent deadlines for drayage trucks partly because they travel near the most vulnerable communities — the low-income communities of color around the ports. They also tend to make shorter trips compared to other heavy-duty trucks, and ports are equipped with some fueling and charging stations, air board officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some companies that operate drayage trucks near disadvantaged communities may qualify for state grants of up to $336,000 toward the cost of a new hydrogen or electric truck. Under the regulation, they are able to keep their diesel trucks until they reach 800,000 miles or 18 years, whichever is earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, based on how many miles are already on his trucks, Alammari expects them to be unusable by 2028 under the mandate. As he sees it, the future of the company he’s worked so hard to build is at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017441\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017441\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image.jpg\" alt='Two images, on the left a man appears to be filling up a tank and on the right the words \"Hydrogen Fleet.\"' width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First: Khari Burton of IMC Logistics demonstrates how to charge a zero-emissions big rig. Last: A hydrogen-powered truck at IMC headquarters in Compton. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the Los Angeles area, Sandra Espinioza, a truck driver for IMC Logistics, drives seven miles between Lomita and Torrance several times a day before powering up at the WattEV charging station in Long Beach. It’s a short and easy work route that makes it easy for a battery-powered truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re really quiet, and a really smooth drive,” she said. “You don’t smell the fumes. When it’s (charged) 100%, you’re gonna be able to go through your day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the state’s truck fleets are considered “\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/advanced-clean-fleets-regulation-high-priority-and-federal-fleets-overview\">high priority\u003c/a>” — federal fleets, such as the post office, and companies with at least one vehicle in California and $50 million or more in gross annual revenue or 50 or more vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These large operators have two ways to comply. Most are choosing a phase-in option. Under that option, smaller vehicles, such as UPS or Amazon delivery vans and box trucks, must be 100% zero emissions by 2035. But long-distance, heavy-duty trucks get more time to comply: 10% must be zero emissions by 2030 and 100% by 2042.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11825555\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/datawrapper.dwcdn.net/dIQue/full.png?w=780&ssl=1\" width=\"800\" height=\"628\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jim Gillis, president of Compton-based IMC Logistics’ Pacific region, said the air board’s deadlines are so aggressive that it poses challenges to even large companies like his. His company has 319 diesel trucks, 50 hydrogen fuel cell trucks and six electric trucks in California. Installing a handful of charging stations at its headquarters was an investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gillis said trucking companies essentially are conducting research and development with these zero-emission technologies. The new trucks have frequent recalls and can make hauls more expensive. Battery-powered trucks have to be used for shorter trips because of their limited range.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gillis said the federal government’s delay in approving a waiver for California’s truck rule doesn’t help his company, since it already bought the clean trucks and has to compete with other companies. But he said IMC is large enough that it can absorb the costs without much consequence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Electric and hydrogen trucks are the future, Gillis said, adding that large companies like his have a responsibility to show the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to do it now,” Gillis said. “The more we try to delay this, it’s just going to be more painful down the road. Every mile that I put on a hydrogen truck today is going to benefit somebody down the road.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘A literal case of life and death’ in communities\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>As fleet owners struggle with the transition to clean fuels, families near freeways and ports throughout California suffer the consequences of inhaling toxic fumes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ulloa looks out of his bedroom window toward Drumm Avenue in Wilmington and sees diesel trucks hauling cargo from the Port of Los Angeles lined up on his street. To feel any relief, he confines himself in this room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he’s at work in Costa Mesa, his asthma symptoms don’t bother him. But he said his coughing starts as soon as he’s home. Last year, during Thanksgiving dinner, he was hospitalized for three days before his asthma could be stabilized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As soon as I get home from work the smell of diesel fumes and the dirt makes me cough,” Jose said. “I have to lock myself in my room with my air purifier and humidifier on. As soon as I go outside, I start coughing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017445\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017445\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11.jpg\" alt=\"A man with a hat uses an inhaler while sitting on a bed.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jose Ulloa inhales from a medical vaporizer at his home in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles where commercial trucks pass by in numbers. Dec. 2, 2024. Photo by Carlin Stiehl for CalMatters \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The family has lived there for almost 30 years, long before the trucks serving the port started coming through their neighborhood. Antonio Ulloa, Jose and Imelda’s son remembers being a child and playing with other kids in the street. They’d play tag, skateboard and shoot basketballs into a hoop set up on the street, without any fear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, at 31, Antonio sees no kids outside. Families keep their children indoors and shut all the windows to keep the pollution and noise out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Antonio’s nephew visits the family home, just a few hours playing in the front yard will give him nosebleeds. “It’s depressing,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilmington has long been known as one of the areas most affected by the air pollution. Community members report allergies, nosebleeds and the need for supplemental oxygen. About 12% of children in Wilmington have been diagnosed with asthma as of 2023, according to data from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People living near the ports of LA and Long Beach breathe the highest concentrations of diesel exhaust in the Los Angeles basin, which raises their risk of lung cancer. Out of every million people chronically exposed to diesel fumes in West Long Beach, \u003ca href=\"http://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/planning/mates-v/mates-v-final-report-9-24-21.pdf?sfvrsn=6\">more than 350 people could contract cancer (PDF.)\u003c/a>, according to South Coast Air Quality Management District analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a literal case of life and death for a lot of our community members and our loved ones,” said Paola Vargas, a Carson resident and organizer with nonprofit East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every day matters. Every day we don’t have those (truck emissions) rules and they aren’t passed is a day wasted and a day of harmful impacts for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017442\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017442\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside.jpg\" alt='Two images, the first shows several trucks lined up in a row and the second shows a dog peaking out of a window with bars with a sign underneath saying \"No more trucks, pollution, excessive noise.\"' width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First: Diesel trucks pass in front of homes on Drumm Avenue in Wilmington. Last: A sign under Jose Ulloa’s window in Wilmington protests the truck traffic. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>UC Irvine researchers \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1361920923000135\">reported last year\u003c/a> that even considering new vehicle technology and the state mandate, heavy-duty drayage trucks will still cause an estimated 2,142 asthma attacks and 106 premature deaths and $1.31 billion in health costs in 2035. That is a dramatic improvement, though, as trucks have gotten cleaner under air board rules: In 2012, they caused an estimated 15,468 asthma attacks, 483 premature deaths and $5.59 billion in health costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the asthma cases and deaths will be in disadvantaged communities along highway routes between the ports and Inland Empire warehouses, according to the study. The researchers concluded that it is worth paying truck companies more than a billion dollars to replace diesels expected to be on the road in 2035 because of the health effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is not going to solve itself,” said Jean-Daniel Saphores, chair of UC Irvine’s department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and an author of the study. “These trucks are still doing a lot of harm and they’re disproportionately harming disadvantaged groups, even with all the regulation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The harm to disadvantaged communities extends to the Inland Empire, where an abundance of land is spurring warehouse development that draws more truck traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Bernardino County’s nearly 2,500 warehouses, for instance, generate 362,000 truck trips a day, according to data by \u003ca href=\"https://radicalresearch.shinyapps.io/WarehouseCITY/\">Warehouse CITY\u003c/a>, a tool created in collaboration with Pitzer College and research agency Radical Research. In Los Angeles County, 16,600 warehouses generate 267,000 daily truck trips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MaCarmen Gonzalez, a San Bernardino resident, said she noticed that many young children in her community carry inhalers. After learning about the impacts of diesel pollution, she became an activist for clean air, including the state’s zero-emissions truck rule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t see (the exhaust), but it’s killing you,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents struggle to find places for their children to play outdoors in neighborhoods near the Port of LA. On a recent sunny afternoon, Brittany Guevarra played with her three-year-old son at the Wilmington Waterfront Park playground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the background, on Harry Bridges Boulevard, a long line of diesel trucks passed by. The strong smell of diesel exhaust occasionally wafted through the park as children played to the rumble of traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Guevarra used to live in San Pedro, but the cost of housing was too high. She was drawn to Wilmington by cheaper rent. At the time, the trucks and port pollution didn’t cross her mind. Now, it’s inescapable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Afterward I thought about it and I was like, ‘dang,’” Guevarra said. “I do worry. That’s why I keep (my son) inside. I know it’s bad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the seemingly endless stream of trucks kept coming, Guevarra walked her son home after playing in the park. She doesn’t think she’ll ever return.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "California has an aggressive mandate for zero-emission trucks, which are powered by electricity or hydrogen. But trucking companies face big obstacles — and people are still breathing dangerous diesel exhaust.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Standing in his front yard in Wilmington, Jose Ulloa can’t get a sentence out without coughing. Heavy-duty trucks, headed to and from the Port of Los Angeles, pass in front of his home all day, their engines roaring and their exhaust spewing into the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ulloa, who was diagnosed with asthma a few years ago, suffers frequent breathing problems and was hospitalized after one attack. The truck traffic is likely a trigger since health officials say diesel exhaust is known to cause \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/overview-diesel-exhaust-and-health\">asthma attacks and other respiratory problems\u003c/a>, including lung cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parade of big rigs in his neighborhood started four years ago after a series of traffic pattern changes altered their route.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Imelda, his wife, sweeps the yard and cleans the home nonstop, but black dust still collects on every surface of their home within hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you blow your nose, black dust will come out,” she said. “It’s a terrible life living here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Oakland, Mashhoor Alammari, who runs a small fleet of drayage trucks that haul cargo to and from the port, wants to do his part to help clean the air of dangerous diesel exhaust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His company, The Crew Transportation, Inc., bought two new zero-emission big rigs at a cost of more than $900,000. But the trucks, powered by hydrogen fuel cells, are expensive to operate and there are few if any fueling stations along their routes. The new trucks have been sitting in the parking lot most of the time since he bought them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to put myself into a financial hole,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The experiences of the Wilmington family and the Oakland truck company illustrate the frustrations and obstacles that Californians face as state officials pursue an aggressive and controversial mandate to clean the air by phasing out diesel-powered big rigs and other trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s mandate, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/climate-change/2023/04/california-phases-out-diesel-trucks/\">approved by the Air Resources Board last year\u003c/a>, is the first in the world to ban new diesel trucks and require a switch to zero-emission vehicles, which are powered by electricity or hydrogen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Companies \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/advanced-clean-fleets-regulation-overview\">face varying deadlines\u003c/a> for ending their use of diesel, which for decades has been an efficient powerhouse fueling the economy and transport of goods. Starting in 2036, no new fossil-fueled medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks can be sold in California, and by 2042, large companies must convert their trucks to zero-emission models.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trucking industry said the regulation is unreasonable and will wreak havoc on the economy, making it difficult to make long-haul shipments. The California Trucking Association and a collective of 17 states, including Nebraska, Alabama and New Mexico, \u003ca href=\"https://environmentalenergybrief.sidley.com/2024/05/23/17-states-file-complaint-challenging-constitutionality-of-californias-advanced-clean-fleets-regulation/\">have sued the state\u003c/a>, alleging the rule oversteps state power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017438\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017438\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14.jpg\" alt=\"A large white truck in the foreground with big shipping containers in the background.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_20224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_14-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Commercial trucks pass by a warehouse in front of a residential neighborhood along Drumm Avenue in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles on Dec. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>From big rigs to garbage trucks and delivery vans, the rules will dramatically change the 1.8 million commercial trucks driven on California’s roads over the next two decades. Sales already are accelerating even though no deadlines have kicked in yet. Last year, one out of every six trucks sold in the state — more than 18,000 — were zero emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s mandate is in flux because the state still needs a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before it can start enforcing them. President-elect Donald Trump has criticized California’s electric car mandates and in the past tried to revoke the state’s authority to set its own vehicle standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One deadline already has passed: All new drayage trucks, which are used to haul containers from ports, were supposed to be zero emissions by last October. But that deadline is not yet being enforced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Truck companies like Alammari’s that took a risk to be early adopters of clean trucks are now in limbo, swallowing high operating costs and competing with cheaper diesel-only companies in an already struggling industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, California’s most vulnerable residents who live near roads with heavy diesel truck traffic may have to wait longer for a solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The dangers of diesel\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Diesel trucks are among the state’s biggest sources of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2024/02/california-new-soot-standards/\">microscopic particles of soot\u003c/a>, which can damage lungs and trigger asthma attacks and heart attacks. They also play an outsized role in California’s smog: While they make up just 6% of all vehicles on California’s roads, they are responsible for 72% of nitrogen oxides, a key ingredient of smog, emitted by on-road vehicles, according to the air board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition, health officials declared diesel exhaust, which contains dozens of toxic gases, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr213_E.pdf\">human carcinogen (PDF.)\u003c/a> several decades ago because of studies linking it to lung cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Los Angeles basin, diesel exhaust is responsible for more than two-thirds of the cancer risk posed by air pollution, according to \u003ca href=\"http://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/planning/mates-v/mates-v-final-report-9-24-21.pdf?sfvrsn=6\">a risk analysis by the South Coast Air Quality Management District\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biggest dangers from diesels are in communities near high-traffic corridors. People near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, downtown Los Angeles and parts of the Inland Empire are at risk of 350 to 500 cancer cases per million people because of diesel fumes, according to the analysis. That risk has dropped substantially in recent years as trucks get cleaner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11825555\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/datawrapper.dwcdn.net/PKart/full.png?w=780&ssl=1\" width=\"800\" height=\"628\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s clean truck rule is \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/barcu/regact/2022/acf22/isor2.pdf\">expected through 2050 to save $26.5 billion (PDF.)\u003c/a> in statewide health costs and save fleet owners $48 billion through reduced fuel and maintenance costs, according to the air board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The health benefits from eliminating the pollution (from diesel trucks) far exceed any cost the industry will bear,” said Adrian Martinez, an attorney for environmental group Earthjustice. “Trucking lobbyists and other folks are super loud and they’re going to focus on the difficulties of the transition. But millions of Californians affected by pollution from the freight industry is not acceptable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Lots of obstacles for emissions-free trucking\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>But a lack of fast, reliable charging stations and the vehicles’ limited ranges makes it difficult, even impossible, for trucks to transport goods long distances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Electric heavy-duty trucks have ranges up to 250 miles, while hydrogen-powered ones can drive about 500 miles on a full tank. They can use the same public fast chargers as cars, but that’s impractical because they take up too much space and charging can take up to six hours. For hydrogen, only 22 fueling stations for large trucks are operating or in development statewide, according to the California Energy Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Battery-powered trucks also are heavy, which means they can carry less cargo. As a result, companies have to charge more, which shippers aren’t usually willing to pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry also points to the substantial investment that is needed to expand the electric grid’s capacity to eventually charge thousands of battery-powered trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No one’s opposed” to cleaner air, said Matt Schrap head of the Harbor Trucking Association, which represents drayage truck companies. “It is about practical application and implementation of these rules. We have nowhere near enough infrastructure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air board’s mandate “is the epitome of ready, fire, aim,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air board officials stress that truck companies have time and flexible options to comply, and the state is working to \u003ca href=\"https://calfleetadvisor.org/who-we-are/\">help them understand and comply with the complex rules\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are worried, I get it. But (the deadline) is not tomorrow,” said Bruce Tuter, who oversees compliance and outreach at the air board. “Charging times, charging speeds, all of that needs to start building up where it gets quicker to charge a truck and where it’s more accessible to charge when you’re traveling long distances.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alammari, the truck company owner from Oakland, said he bought his two hydrogen trucks because he had interest from a shipping company that wanted to work with zero-emission vehicles. The profits Alammari would have made working with that company would have justified the added costs of operating a hydrogen fuel cell truck, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the last minute, however, the company chose to work with someone else. Without any customers willing to pay more to ship with his hydrogen trucks, he can’t use them. He’s doing his best to transition his entire fleet to zero-emission vehicles. He had even ordered three more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even with help from state grants, Alammari said it’s not enough to help him operate the zero-emission vehicles or buy more of them. He pays substantially more for insuring them, and it costs twice as much to fully fuel them with hydrogen compared to a diesel, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without companies willing to ship goods with zero-emission vehicles, early adopters of the technology, like his company, The Crew Transportation, Inc., are at a disadvantage until the mandate makes everyone comply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I don’t get customers to use these trucks, The Crew Transportation is not going to move forward to get the three remaining hydrogen trucks we ordered,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air board officials created the most stringent deadlines for drayage trucks partly because they travel near the most vulnerable communities — the low-income communities of color around the ports. They also tend to make shorter trips compared to other heavy-duty trucks, and ports are equipped with some fueling and charging stations, air board officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some companies that operate drayage trucks near disadvantaged communities may qualify for state grants of up to $336,000 toward the cost of a new hydrogen or electric truck. Under the regulation, they are able to keep their diesel trucks until they reach 800,000 miles or 18 years, whichever is earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, based on how many miles are already on his trucks, Alammari expects them to be unusable by 2028 under the mandate. As he sees it, the future of the company he’s worked so hard to build is at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017441\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017441\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image.jpg\" alt='Two images, on the left a man appears to be filling up a tank and on the right the words \"Hydrogen Fleet.\"' width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/01_KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First: Khari Burton of IMC Logistics demonstrates how to charge a zero-emissions big rig. Last: A hydrogen-powered truck at IMC headquarters in Compton. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the Los Angeles area, Sandra Espinioza, a truck driver for IMC Logistics, drives seven miles between Lomita and Torrance several times a day before powering up at the WattEV charging station in Long Beach. It’s a short and easy work route that makes it easy for a battery-powered truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re really quiet, and a really smooth drive,” she said. “You don’t smell the fumes. When it’s (charged) 100%, you’re gonna be able to go through your day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the state’s truck fleets are considered “\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/advanced-clean-fleets-regulation-high-priority-and-federal-fleets-overview\">high priority\u003c/a>” — federal fleets, such as the post office, and companies with at least one vehicle in California and $50 million or more in gross annual revenue or 50 or more vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These large operators have two ways to comply. Most are choosing a phase-in option. Under that option, smaller vehicles, such as UPS or Amazon delivery vans and box trucks, must be 100% zero emissions by 2035. But long-distance, heavy-duty trucks get more time to comply: 10% must be zero emissions by 2030 and 100% by 2042.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11825555\" src=\"https://i0.wp.com/datawrapper.dwcdn.net/dIQue/full.png?w=780&ssl=1\" width=\"800\" height=\"628\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jim Gillis, president of Compton-based IMC Logistics’ Pacific region, said the air board’s deadlines are so aggressive that it poses challenges to even large companies like his. His company has 319 diesel trucks, 50 hydrogen fuel cell trucks and six electric trucks in California. Installing a handful of charging stations at its headquarters was an investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gillis said trucking companies essentially are conducting research and development with these zero-emission technologies. The new trucks have frequent recalls and can make hauls more expensive. Battery-powered trucks have to be used for shorter trips because of their limited range.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gillis said the federal government’s delay in approving a waiver for California’s truck rule doesn’t help his company, since it already bought the clean trucks and has to compete with other companies. But he said IMC is large enough that it can absorb the costs without much consequence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Electric and hydrogen trucks are the future, Gillis said, adding that large companies like his have a responsibility to show the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to do it now,” Gillis said. “The more we try to delay this, it’s just going to be more painful down the road. Every mile that I put on a hydrogen truck today is going to benefit somebody down the road.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘A literal case of life and death’ in communities\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>As fleet owners struggle with the transition to clean fuels, families near freeways and ports throughout California suffer the consequences of inhaling toxic fumes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ulloa looks out of his bedroom window toward Drumm Avenue in Wilmington and sees diesel trucks hauling cargo from the Port of Los Angeles lined up on his street. To feel any relief, he confines himself in this room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he’s at work in Costa Mesa, his asthma symptoms don’t bother him. But he said his coughing starts as soon as he’s home. Last year, during Thanksgiving dinner, he was hospitalized for three days before his asthma could be stabilized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As soon as I get home from work the smell of diesel fumes and the dirt makes me cough,” Jose said. “I have to lock myself in my room with my air purifier and humidifier on. As soon as I go outside, I start coughing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017445\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017445\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11.jpg\" alt=\"A man with a hat uses an inhaler while sitting on a bed.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/04_120224_Drumm-Avenue_CS_CM_11-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jose Ulloa inhales from a medical vaporizer at his home in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles where commercial trucks pass by in numbers. Dec. 2, 2024. Photo by Carlin Stiehl for CalMatters \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The family has lived there for almost 30 years, long before the trucks serving the port started coming through their neighborhood. Antonio Ulloa, Jose and Imelda’s son remembers being a child and playing with other kids in the street. They’d play tag, skateboard and shoot basketballs into a hoop set up on the street, without any fear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, at 31, Antonio sees no kids outside. Families keep their children indoors and shut all the windows to keep the pollution and noise out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Antonio’s nephew visits the family home, just a few hours playing in the front yard will give him nosebleeds. “It’s depressing,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilmington has long been known as one of the areas most affected by the air pollution. Community members report allergies, nosebleeds and the need for supplemental oxygen. About 12% of children in Wilmington have been diagnosed with asthma as of 2023, according to data from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People living near the ports of LA and Long Beach breathe the highest concentrations of diesel exhaust in the Los Angeles basin, which raises their risk of lung cancer. Out of every million people chronically exposed to diesel fumes in West Long Beach, \u003ca href=\"http://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/planning/mates-v/mates-v-final-report-9-24-21.pdf?sfvrsn=6\">more than 350 people could contract cancer (PDF.)\u003c/a>, according to South Coast Air Quality Management District analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a literal case of life and death for a lot of our community members and our loved ones,” said Paola Vargas, a Carson resident and organizer with nonprofit East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every day matters. Every day we don’t have those (truck emissions) rules and they aren’t passed is a day wasted and a day of harmful impacts for us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017442\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12017442\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside.jpg\" alt='Two images, the first shows several trucks lined up in a row and the second shows a dog peaking out of a window with bars with a sign underneath saying \"No more trucks, pollution, excessive noise.\"' width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/02_KQEDsidebyside-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">First: Diesel trucks pass in front of homes on Drumm Avenue in Wilmington. Last: A sign under Jose Ulloa’s window in Wilmington protests the truck traffic. \u003ccite>(Carlin Stiehl/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>UC Irvine researchers \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1361920923000135\">reported last year\u003c/a> that even considering new vehicle technology and the state mandate, heavy-duty drayage trucks will still cause an estimated 2,142 asthma attacks and 106 premature deaths and $1.31 billion in health costs in 2035. That is a dramatic improvement, though, as trucks have gotten cleaner under air board rules: In 2012, they caused an estimated 15,468 asthma attacks, 483 premature deaths and $5.59 billion in health costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the asthma cases and deaths will be in disadvantaged communities along highway routes between the ports and Inland Empire warehouses, according to the study. The researchers concluded that it is worth paying truck companies more than a billion dollars to replace diesels expected to be on the road in 2035 because of the health effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is not going to solve itself,” said Jean-Daniel Saphores, chair of UC Irvine’s department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and an author of the study. “These trucks are still doing a lot of harm and they’re disproportionately harming disadvantaged groups, even with all the regulation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The harm to disadvantaged communities extends to the Inland Empire, where an abundance of land is spurring warehouse development that draws more truck traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Bernardino County’s nearly 2,500 warehouses, for instance, generate 362,000 truck trips a day, according to data by \u003ca href=\"https://radicalresearch.shinyapps.io/WarehouseCITY/\">Warehouse CITY\u003c/a>, a tool created in collaboration with Pitzer College and research agency Radical Research. In Los Angeles County, 16,600 warehouses generate 267,000 daily truck trips.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MaCarmen Gonzalez, a San Bernardino resident, said she noticed that many young children in her community carry inhalers. After learning about the impacts of diesel pollution, she became an activist for clean air, including the state’s zero-emissions truck rule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t see (the exhaust), but it’s killing you,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Parents struggle to find places for their children to play outdoors in neighborhoods near the Port of LA. On a recent sunny afternoon, Brittany Guevarra played with her three-year-old son at the Wilmington Waterfront Park playground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the background, on Harry Bridges Boulevard, a long line of diesel trucks passed by. The strong smell of diesel exhaust occasionally wafted through the park as children played to the rumble of traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Guevarra used to live in San Pedro, but the cost of housing was too high. She was drawn to Wilmington by cheaper rent. At the time, the trucks and port pollution didn’t cross her mind. Now, it’s inescapable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Afterward I thought about it and I was like, ‘dang,’” Guevarra said. “I do worry. That’s why I keep (my son) inside. I know it’s bad.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the seemingly endless stream of trucks kept coming, Guevarra walked her son home after playing in the park. She doesn’t think she’ll ever return.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>Update 9 a.m. Monday\u003c/b>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Monday morning, air quality has improved substantially across the entire Bay Area, with AQI mainly in the “Good” category/ Visibility is clear outside of any localized valley fog, with little to no haze, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Original story, 1 p.m., Sunday\u003c/b>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials issued a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sparetheair.org/\">Spare the Air Alert\u003c/a> through Sunday as large parts of the Bay Area experienced a second day of hazy skies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The haze, which started Saturday, was caused by a combination of pollution in the Central Valley and smoke from winter wood burning, both brought into the region by Saturday’s easterly winds, according to Aaron Richardson, a spokesperson for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. The air quality is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, including seniors, young children, and people with respiratory illnesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both sources, Richardson said, led to high levels of fine particle pollution in the evening and overnight that was expected to clear up Sunday, but “that didn’t happen as expected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the easterly and northerly winds had a bit of a stalemate overnight,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air quality has been impacted on the Peninsula, Santa Clara Valley, Alameda County, West Contra Costa County and parts of the North Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not a wildfire, this is seasonal,” said Richardson. “Wood burning is sort of the number one source of fine particle pollution in the wintertime. There’s automobile exhaust combustion and various things like that, but we are also getting [the pollution] because of the weather patterns.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the National Weather Service, a combination of low temperatures and weak winds are contributing to the hazy conditions across the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://x.com/NWSBayArea/status/1865826326160244747\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air quality is anticipated to gradually improve Sunday, with light winds picking up from the north in the afternoon and evening.[aside postID=\"science_1926793,news_11834305\" label=\"Related Stories\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the Spare the Air Alert is in effect, all use of wood-burning devices in the Bay Area are prohibited, including fireplaces, wood stoves, pellet stoves and outdoor fire pits. Electric fireplaces, natural gas, and propane are still allowed as well as exemptions for homes without permanently installed heating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alerts from the district may be called up to three days in advance to prevent air pollution from exceeding federal standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Sara Hossaini and Spencer Whitney contributed reporting to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Update 9 a.m. Monday\u003c/b>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Monday morning, air quality has improved substantially across the entire Bay Area, with AQI mainly in the “Good” category/ Visibility is clear outside of any localized valley fog, with little to no haze, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Original story, 1 p.m., Sunday\u003c/b>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials issued a \u003ca href=\"https://www.sparetheair.org/\">Spare the Air Alert\u003c/a> through Sunday as large parts of the Bay Area experienced a second day of hazy skies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The haze, which started Saturday, was caused by a combination of pollution in the Central Valley and smoke from winter wood burning, both brought into the region by Saturday’s easterly winds, according to Aaron Richardson, a spokesperson for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. The air quality is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, including seniors, young children, and people with respiratory illnesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both sources, Richardson said, led to high levels of fine particle pollution in the evening and overnight that was expected to clear up Sunday, but “that didn’t happen as expected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the easterly and northerly winds had a bit of a stalemate overnight,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Air quality has been impacted on the Peninsula, Santa Clara Valley, Alameda County, West Contra Costa County and parts of the North Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not a wildfire, this is seasonal,” said Richardson. “Wood burning is sort of the number one source of fine particle pollution in the wintertime. There’s automobile exhaust combustion and various things like that, but we are also getting [the pollution] because of the weather patterns.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the National Weather Service, a combination of low temperatures and weak winds are contributing to the hazy conditions across the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the Spare the Air Alert is in effect, all use of wood-burning devices in the Bay Area are prohibited, including fireplaces, wood stoves, pellet stoves and outdoor fire pits. Electric fireplaces, natural gas, and propane are still allowed as well as exemptions for homes without permanently installed heating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alerts from the district may be called up to three days in advance to prevent air pollution from exceeding federal standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Sara Hossaini and Spencer Whitney contributed reporting to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Brian Garcia, a warning coordination meteorologist for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/national-weather-service\">National Weather Service\u003c/a> based in Monterey, was in the East Bay on Thursday morning when an earthquake alert, then a tsunami alert, hit his phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He rushed to San Francisco’s Office of Emergency Services to confer with officials as they assessed the local threat from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12016827/pair-of-large-earthquakes-rattle-northern-california-and-trigger-tsunami-warning\">a 7.0-magnitude quake\u003c/a> off the coast of Humboldt County. About an hour after the tsunami warning went out, it was canceled — but not before many coastal communities had already started evacuating people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garcia talked to KQED’s Dan Brekke about the reasons for the dire-sounding advisories issued by the National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska and what officials hope to learn from the episode.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for length and clarity. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke:\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>So let me ask you about the warning. The warning that went out from NWS Bay Area seemed to use very general but also very alarming language about the potential threat to life and property. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>And I wonder if — given the reaction in the city of Berkeley for instance, where the warning prompted mandatory evacuations — was that an appropriate warning to put out there given the history of tsunamis in this part of the coast?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Brian Garcia\u003c/strong>: So the language that’s used in the Wireless Emergency Alert is a prescriptive language that goes out with all the warnings. And when we’re talking [about] \u003ca href=\"https://tsunami.gov/?page=message_definitions\">a warning-level tsunami\u003c/a>, we’re talking 3-plus feet of tsunami amplitude coming in, and in this scenario here, we were looking at an upcoming [high] tide as well — so that had been on top of the already increasing tide. So this definitely could have had some pretty significant consequences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anytime we’re talking about a warning, we’re talking a threat to life. Whenever we’re telling people to get out of harm’s way, that it’s a threat, immediate threat to their life, we’re not kidding. We don’t want to mince words in these situations. We want to make sure that people have the requisite information to get out of the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016885\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12016885\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241205-Tsunami-JY-007.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241205-Tsunami-JY-007.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241205-Tsunami-JY-007-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241205-Tsunami-JY-007-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241205-Tsunami-JY-007-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241205-Tsunami-JY-007-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241205-Tsunami-JY-007-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A SFFD firefighter warns surfers in the water to evacuate for a tsunami warning at Ocean Beach in San Francisco on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>To what extent are you dependent on information from the National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska? \u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>That’s one place I went to myself just to see if they had forecast any particular wave heights, and I never saw that they did.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12016827 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/EarthquakeSukeyLewis-1020x765.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Tsunami Warning Center is one of our centers under the National Weather Service umbrella, and we are wholly and completely dependent on them. They are the experts when it comes to tsunamis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are the ones actually, when they issue a tsunami warning, it triggers the Wireless Emergency Alert that hits your phones immediately from their office. So it doesn’t even come to our local office before it hits the Wireless Emergency Alerts across phones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>There was some estimate or projection out there that this event off the coast of Humboldt County could have created a wave height difference that would have been 3 feet above normal. Is that right? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anytime we have a warning-level event, that means that the tsunami amplitude is expected to be 3 feet or above. So today, for example, we were going to have a 5-foot high tide. That would have been our highest tide, but another 3 feet on top of that. So now we have an 8-foot water level compared to that normal mean low or low water datum that’s used for the tides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>I’ve been here since the mid-1970s, and of course, with large earthquakes around the Pacific Basin, tsunami warnings happen — they’re not unheard of. I have to say, in all that time, the one time that a perceptible tsunami actually showed up here in the Bay Area was, of course, in March 2011 after the earthquake off northeastern Japan. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>I guess why I’m mentioning this is that when I heard the warnings and saw what the reaction was — the evacuation orders in Berkeley, for instance — I thought they were ridiculous. Am I wrong that the warning was overblown and really not consistent with our actual tsunami history, which includes lots of big earthquakes off of Humboldt County, by the way?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is really an imperfect science in this type of scenario and trying to nail down exactly where it occurred, whether it was on\u003ca href=\"https://www.earthscope-program-2003-2018.org/research/synthesis_workshops/mtjo.html\"> the Gorda Plate or the Cascadia subduction zone\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this event in particular, the earthquake location was close enough to the subduction zone that it created a risk, and we just weren’t willing to take that risk from the Weather Service side to say, “You know what, we’re going to wait and see a little bit more data,” because from that location, the travel time is in tsunami terms negligible to get potentially tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people out of harm’s way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017096\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12017096\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Daily_Independent_Journal_1964_03_30_Page_4-800x767.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"767\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Daily_Independent_Journal_1964_03_30_Page_4-800x767.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Daily_Independent_Journal_1964_03_30_Page_4-1020x978.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Daily_Independent_Journal_1964_03_30_Page_4-160x153.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Daily_Independent_Journal_1964_03_30_Page_4-1536x1473.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Daily_Independent_Journal_1964_03_30_Page_4-1920x1841.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Daily_Independent_Journal_1964_03_30_Page_4.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marin County’s Daily Independent Journal reported extensive damage to dock facilities and boats in Sausalito and San Rafael after a tsunami generated by the 1964 Alaska earthquake swept into San Francisco Bay. \u003ccite>(Daily Independent Journal/Newspapers.com)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And so we want to make sure that our emergency management partners across the area can work with our local law enforcement to enact evacuations out of areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I know you’re kind of a buff of the history of tsunamis here, and in \u003ca href=\"https://www.usgs.gov/centers/alaska-science-center/science/1964-great-alaska-earthquake-and-tsunami\">1964 with the Alaska earthquake and tsunami\u003c/a> we had impacts in bayside Marin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So whenever we think of potential impacts for our friends and family and our residents around the Bay Area, we want to make sure that the information is clear … that they have something that they can say, “OK, there’s a tsunami warning, I’m going to get to high ground,” and they know that it’s only going to be a matter of a couple of hours because of the distance that the tsunami would have to travel in this scenario.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, for instance, what ultimately happened was as more data came in, it showed that [the earthquake epicenter] was actually on a strike-slip fault and we became more comfortable with saying that the odds of generating an appreciable tsunami are becoming less and less plausible. And all that is to say we’re always going to err on the side of protection of life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you have any concern about people going through something like this, seeing that nothing happens, and then that desensitizes them to the danger the next time something like this happens?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah, absolutely. There’s always the concern about desensitization to warning-level events. We see that in Tornado Alley when people get so many tornado warnings. The next one there, they’re just ignoring it because all the other ones before haven’t manifested in a tornado at their location. But that doesn’t negate our responsibility to issue the warnings based off the scientific data that we have at that time, and as soon as we know more data, we update that information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What kinds of lessons might forecasters and local officials take from what happened with this warning? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the things that we talk about often internally with the sciences and the response agencies is, you know, these things are now forefront of mind. We have our media partners doing stories on it. We have photos of \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/RobinBuller/status/1864766166465671563\">kids on parking garages\u003c/a>. We’re going to have a lot of after-action reviews and \u003ca href=\"https://www.alertmedia.com/blog/hot-wash/\">hot washes\u003c/a> within these agencies, and we can’t let these events go to waste. We’ve got to look at them and say, “OK, what could I, as a resident of San Francisco or Berkeley or whatever, what could I have done different in this scenario? What do I need to be ready for, for the next one?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, if there’s one thing to learn from this, it’s what we say after every earthquake: Have a plan, have your go bag, have your kit ready to go at a moment’s notice, so that you can be ready for when the next one happens. We live in a dynamic environment. And we need to be ready for anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Brian Garcia, a warning coordination meteorologist for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/national-weather-service\">National Weather Service\u003c/a> based in Monterey, was in the East Bay on Thursday morning when an earthquake alert, then a tsunami alert, hit his phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He rushed to San Francisco’s Office of Emergency Services to confer with officials as they assessed the local threat from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12016827/pair-of-large-earthquakes-rattle-northern-california-and-trigger-tsunami-warning\">a 7.0-magnitude quake\u003c/a> off the coast of Humboldt County. About an hour after the tsunami warning went out, it was canceled — but not before many coastal communities had already started evacuating people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garcia talked to KQED’s Dan Brekke about the reasons for the dire-sounding advisories issued by the National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska and what officials hope to learn from the episode.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This interview has been edited for length and clarity. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke:\u003c/strong> \u003cstrong>So let me ask you about the warning. The warning that went out from NWS Bay Area seemed to use very general but also very alarming language about the potential threat to life and property. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>And I wonder if — given the reaction in the city of Berkeley for instance, where the warning prompted mandatory evacuations — was that an appropriate warning to put out there given the history of tsunamis in this part of the coast?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Brian Garcia\u003c/strong>: So the language that’s used in the Wireless Emergency Alert is a prescriptive language that goes out with all the warnings. And when we’re talking [about] \u003ca href=\"https://tsunami.gov/?page=message_definitions\">a warning-level tsunami\u003c/a>, we’re talking 3-plus feet of tsunami amplitude coming in, and in this scenario here, we were looking at an upcoming [high] tide as well — so that had been on top of the already increasing tide. So this definitely could have had some pretty significant consequences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anytime we’re talking about a warning, we’re talking a threat to life. Whenever we’re telling people to get out of harm’s way, that it’s a threat, immediate threat to their life, we’re not kidding. We don’t want to mince words in these situations. We want to make sure that people have the requisite information to get out of the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016885\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12016885\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241205-Tsunami-JY-007.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241205-Tsunami-JY-007.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241205-Tsunami-JY-007-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241205-Tsunami-JY-007-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241205-Tsunami-JY-007-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241205-Tsunami-JY-007-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/20241205-Tsunami-JY-007-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A SFFD firefighter warns surfers in the water to evacuate for a tsunami warning at Ocean Beach in San Francisco on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>To what extent are you dependent on information from the National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska? \u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>That’s one place I went to myself just to see if they had forecast any particular wave heights, and I never saw that they did.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Tsunami Warning Center is one of our centers under the National Weather Service umbrella, and we are wholly and completely dependent on them. They are the experts when it comes to tsunamis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They are the ones actually, when they issue a tsunami warning, it triggers the Wireless Emergency Alert that hits your phones immediately from their office. So it doesn’t even come to our local office before it hits the Wireless Emergency Alerts across phones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>There was some estimate or projection out there that this event off the coast of Humboldt County could have created a wave height difference that would have been 3 feet above normal. Is that right? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anytime we have a warning-level event, that means that the tsunami amplitude is expected to be 3 feet or above. So today, for example, we were going to have a 5-foot high tide. That would have been our highest tide, but another 3 feet on top of that. So now we have an 8-foot water level compared to that normal mean low or low water datum that’s used for the tides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>I’ve been here since the mid-1970s, and of course, with large earthquakes around the Pacific Basin, tsunami warnings happen — they’re not unheard of. I have to say, in all that time, the one time that a perceptible tsunami actually showed up here in the Bay Area was, of course, in March 2011 after the earthquake off northeastern Japan. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>I guess why I’m mentioning this is that when I heard the warnings and saw what the reaction was — the evacuation orders in Berkeley, for instance — I thought they were ridiculous. Am I wrong that the warning was overblown and really not consistent with our actual tsunami history, which includes lots of big earthquakes off of Humboldt County, by the way?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is really an imperfect science in this type of scenario and trying to nail down exactly where it occurred, whether it was on\u003ca href=\"https://www.earthscope-program-2003-2018.org/research/synthesis_workshops/mtjo.html\"> the Gorda Plate or the Cascadia subduction zone\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this event in particular, the earthquake location was close enough to the subduction zone that it created a risk, and we just weren’t willing to take that risk from the Weather Service side to say, “You know what, we’re going to wait and see a little bit more data,” because from that location, the travel time is in tsunami terms negligible to get potentially tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people out of harm’s way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12017096\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12017096\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Daily_Independent_Journal_1964_03_30_Page_4-800x767.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"767\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Daily_Independent_Journal_1964_03_30_Page_4-800x767.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Daily_Independent_Journal_1964_03_30_Page_4-1020x978.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Daily_Independent_Journal_1964_03_30_Page_4-160x153.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Daily_Independent_Journal_1964_03_30_Page_4-1536x1473.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Daily_Independent_Journal_1964_03_30_Page_4-1920x1841.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/Daily_Independent_Journal_1964_03_30_Page_4.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marin County’s Daily Independent Journal reported extensive damage to dock facilities and boats in Sausalito and San Rafael after a tsunami generated by the 1964 Alaska earthquake swept into San Francisco Bay. \u003ccite>(Daily Independent Journal/Newspapers.com)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And so we want to make sure that our emergency management partners across the area can work with our local law enforcement to enact evacuations out of areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I know you’re kind of a buff of the history of tsunamis here, and in \u003ca href=\"https://www.usgs.gov/centers/alaska-science-center/science/1964-great-alaska-earthquake-and-tsunami\">1964 with the Alaska earthquake and tsunami\u003c/a> we had impacts in bayside Marin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So whenever we think of potential impacts for our friends and family and our residents around the Bay Area, we want to make sure that the information is clear … that they have something that they can say, “OK, there’s a tsunami warning, I’m going to get to high ground,” and they know that it’s only going to be a matter of a couple of hours because of the distance that the tsunami would have to travel in this scenario.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, for instance, what ultimately happened was as more data came in, it showed that [the earthquake epicenter] was actually on a strike-slip fault and we became more comfortable with saying that the odds of generating an appreciable tsunami are becoming less and less plausible. And all that is to say we’re always going to err on the side of protection of life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you have any concern about people going through something like this, seeing that nothing happens, and then that desensitizes them to the danger the next time something like this happens?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah, absolutely. There’s always the concern about desensitization to warning-level events. We see that in Tornado Alley when people get so many tornado warnings. The next one there, they’re just ignoring it because all the other ones before haven’t manifested in a tornado at their location. But that doesn’t negate our responsibility to issue the warnings based off the scientific data that we have at that time, and as soon as we know more data, we update that information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What kinds of lessons might forecasters and local officials take from what happened with this warning? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the things that we talk about often internally with the sciences and the response agencies is, you know, these things are now forefront of mind. We have our media partners doing stories on it. We have photos of \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/RobinBuller/status/1864766166465671563\">kids on parking garages\u003c/a>. We’re going to have a lot of after-action reviews and \u003ca href=\"https://www.alertmedia.com/blog/hot-wash/\">hot washes\u003c/a> within these agencies, and we can’t let these events go to waste. We’ve got to look at them and say, “OK, what could I, as a resident of San Francisco or Berkeley or whatever, what could I have done different in this scenario? What do I need to be ready for, for the next one?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, if there’s one thing to learn from this, it’s what we say after every earthquake: Have a plan, have your go bag, have your kit ready to go at a moment’s notice, so that you can be ready for when the next one happens. We live in a dynamic environment. And we need to be ready for anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
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"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"perspectives": {
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
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},
"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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