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"title": "A Racist Past and Hotter Future Are Testing Western Water Like Never Before",
"headTitle": "A Racist Past and Hotter Future Are Testing Western Water Like Never Before | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>As droughts strain water supplies across Western states, some cities and farmers have struggled with mandatory cutbacks. Determining who gets cut is decided by the foundational pecking order of Western water: the older your claim to water, created as the country expanded westward, the better protected it is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When there’s a shortage, those with newer water rights have to cut back first, sometimes giving up their water completely before older claims lose a single drop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s known as “first in time, first in right.” But “first” is a relative term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“First in time, first in right is kind of laughable, because the ones that were here first were the indigenous people,” says Gary Mulcahy, government liaison for the Winnemem Wintu tribe in Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the climate gets hotter and further shrinks strained water supplies, Western states are grappling with whether a century-old water system created by white settlers can equitably handle a future of worsening droughts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rights to water have long been seen as sacrosanct by many. But after decades of exclusion, Native American tribes are helping lead the charge both in California and on the Colorado River, arguing for overhauling an arcane system they say is inherently racist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California lawmakers are debating whether to create new authority to rein in the oldest water users, who have long contended their rights can’t be constrained by the state. Cities like San Francisco and farming districts with senior water rights are lobbying hard against the bills, saying billions of dollars invested into the water system are at stake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The weight of the inequities is really stunning,” say Felicia Marcus, a fellow at Stanford University’s Water in the West program and a former California water regulator. “Folks are going to need to think about what are the alternatives to cure what might be a historic injustice, while also being aware of the equities of all the communities and people dependent on the system that we do have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983451\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983451\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/lfc_3672_custom-0e499fdf69d08753c0ceebb82b9c055dcfc1d402-s1600-c85-800x533.jpg\" alt='A group of 9 people stand in protest with signs reading \"Free the eel\" and \"Save the salmon\" in front of a building. A man on the far right holds a microphone.' width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/lfc_3672_custom-0e499fdf69d08753c0ceebb82b9c055dcfc1d402-s1600-c85-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/lfc_3672_custom-0e499fdf69d08753c0ceebb82b9c055dcfc1d402-s1600-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/lfc_3672_custom-0e499fdf69d08753c0ceebb82b9c055dcfc1d402-s1600-c85-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/lfc_3672_custom-0e499fdf69d08753c0ceebb82b9c055dcfc1d402-s1600-c85-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/lfc_3672_custom-0e499fdf69d08753c0ceebb82b9c055dcfc1d402-s1600-c85-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/lfc_3672_custom-0e499fdf69d08753c0ceebb82b9c055dcfc1d402-s1600-c85.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gary Mulcahy of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe (right) speaks at a rally for water rights and the environment at California’s state Capitol building. \u003ccite>(Tim Daw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>First in time, via a piece of paper on a tree\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>More than a century ago, San Francisco locked up a pristine water supply. The city was booming in the late 1800s, and officials knew that local supplies wouldn’t be enough for the growing population. They set their sights on a river high in the Sierra Nevada mountains, more than 150 miles away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To tap into that river, the city had to first officially file for a water right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It meant you write it on a piece of paper and nail it to a tree,” says Steve Ritchie, assistant general manager at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks to that piece of paper \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/books/edition/San_Francisco_Municipal_Reports/DHRFLjqZG3UC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=san+francisco+water+tree+tuolumne&pg=PA405&printsec=frontcover\">nailed to an 8-inch round oak tree\u003c/a> near the Tuolumne River in 1901, San Francisco has enjoyed a stable water supply ever since. During California’s most severe droughts, the city hasn’t had to make mandatory cutbacks, even when other cities and farms around the state saw their supplies dwindle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We and others have invested a lot of money in our systems to make them work based on the principle of first in time and first in right,” Ritchie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>For tribes, being first doesn’t mean you have water\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For California’s Native American tribes, which have largely been excluded from the water rights hierarchy, that focus on the history of settlers’ interests rings hollow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we say about the senior water rights holders is they all got their water through murder, mayhem, rape, theft and genocide,” Mulcahy says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The traditional land of the Winnemem Wintu tribe in Northern California was flooded in the 1940s when California built Shasta Dam, creating the largest reservoir in the state. Today, it’s one of the most valuable sources of water, supplying farms and cities that stretch hundreds of miles, all the way to Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983446\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983446\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A vast blue lake is seen with a large dam connecting to a reservoir. In the background are white clouds in blue skies with green mountains.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b-1920x1279.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lake Shasta in Northern California is one of the state’s most vital water supplies. When it was built in the 1940s, it also flooded the traditional homeland of the Wimmemem Wintu Tribe. \u003ccite>(Ken James/California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We have no water rights,” Mulcahy says. “We’re the Winnemem Wintu tribe. Winnemem means ‘middle water’– middle water people. That kind of tells you our culture, our spirituality is based on water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s tribes, like most across the West, were forced to sign treaties with the federal government, giving up their land in exchange for a reservation to live on. But the treaties with most California tribes were never ratified by the U.S. Senate and \u003ca href=\"https://www.archives.gov/files/publications/prologue/2013/fall-winter/treaties.pdf\">were lost for 50 years (PDF)\u003c/a>. As a result, the tribes have no federal recognition, giving them little standing to claim water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The water rights system absolutely totally needs to change for everybody’s right, for everybody’s health and well-being, and not just a select few who think that they are the gods of water and they can’t be touched,” Mulcahy says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>State bills would grant authority over senior rights\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California lawmakers are now debating whether to take some steps toward reform. State bills would give regulators more power to investigate the water use of senior rights holders, allow them to order those rights holders to stop using water when there’s a shortage, and to increase the fines against those who take water illegally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pushback has been swift from senior rights holders, which represent some of California’s wealthiest cities and farming areas. Many contend their water use can’t be curbed, since their rights were established before California created its regulatory water agency in 1914, the California State Water Resources Control Board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t think that curtailment should apply to us,” Ritchie says. “Water rights are basically a form of a property right. So having the uncertainty that that supply might be cut at some point, that is very troubling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983447\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983447\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two women are seen on a truck filling up large containers of water through a pipe. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965-1920x1279.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Women who belong to the Navajo Nation fill up their family’s water containers. Parts of the reservation still lack running water and the tribe has been pushing for rights to the Colorado River for decades. \u003ccite>(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During California’s last two droughts, state regulators struggled to order cutbacks among those with senior water rights, lacking data about how much water was being used and what rights were affected. When water users have defied orders to cut their use, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/11/california-ranchers-drought-fine/\">the state’s ability to levy fines has been minimal\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t mean to say it’s kind of a hot mess, but it’s kind of a mess,” Marcus says. “We have to figure out how to have a better way of allocating water more fairly according to set-upon rules that everybody can see.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Tribes push for water rights on the Colorado River\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Water cutbacks are also contentious on the Colorado River. There, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/06/09/1003424717/the-drought-in-the-western-u-s-is-getting-bad-climate-change-is-making-it-worse\">two-decades-long drought\u003c/a> is forcing states to face a harsh reality: the future will mean less water for everyone. But tribes on the river \u003ca href=\"https://www.kunc.org/thirstgap/2023-05-15/first-in-time\">have been left out from the very beginning\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/03/20/1164852475/supreme-court-navajo-nation-water-rights\">Navajo Nation has been battling with the state of Arizona\u003c/a> for decades over getting its water rights clarified on the river. Some parts of the reservation \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/01/06/374584452/for-many-of-navajo-nation-water-delivery-comes-monthly\">still lack running water\u003c/a>, forcing residents to get deliveries by truck. As a federally-recognized tribe, the Navajo Nation has rights to water as part of the “permanent home” the federal government granted with a treaty creating the reservation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The issue is that they haven’t been quantified and no one really knows what the scope of those rights look like,” says Dylan Hedden-Nicely, director of the Native American Law Program at the University of Idaho College of Law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, the Supreme Court ruled against the tribe, saying the federal government had no duty to support the investment needed to deliver a water supply. Still, after a long-fought battle, tribes are now \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/04/27/1172273665/tribal-nations-were-once-excluded-from-colorado-river-talks-now-theyre-key-playe\">being included in key negotiations\u003c/a> over the future of the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983448\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983448\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343-800x542.jpg\" alt=\"An image of a lake with a backdrop of mountain cliffs. Green trees, rocks and dirt surfaces are seen in the frame.\" width=\"800\" height=\"542\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343-800x542.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343-1020x692.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343-768x521.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343-1536x1041.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343-1920x1302.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In 1901, San Francisco claimed water from the Tuolumne River by nailing a piece of paper to a tree. The city has long contended that its senior water rights shouldn’t be constrained by the state. \u003ccite>(California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In cases where tribes have had their water rights spelled out, they’ve struck deals to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/colorado-river-water-tribes-climate-drought-540c7db3588b2369985351ac9e9114b1\">transfer some of that water\u003c/a> to alleviate the overall shortage for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those are the types of opportunities that exist if people can get over this historical paradigm that this is a zero-sum game – if you get anything, it’s coming out of my hide and therefore I’m going to fight you tooth and nail,” Hedden-Nicely says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the climate gets hotter, water supplies both on the Colorado River and in California \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/06/09/1003424717/the-drought-in-the-western-u-s-is-getting-bad-climate-change-is-making-it-worse\">are expected to shrink\u003c/a> and become more erratic. With the pressure mounting, the inequities in the system are becoming hard to ignore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think climate change is forcing these conversations that are uncomfortable because the water’s just not there,” Marcus says. “And we need to figure out what to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=A+racist+past+and+hotter+future+are+testing+Western+water+like+never+before&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "In Western states, the older a water claim, the more secure it is during a drought. Tribes have long been excluded from that system, and now, they're pushing for change.",
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"description": "In Western states, the older a water claim, the more secure it is during a drought. Tribes have long been excluded from that system, and now, they're pushing for change.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As droughts strain water supplies across Western states, some cities and farmers have struggled with mandatory cutbacks. Determining who gets cut is decided by the foundational pecking order of Western water: the older your claim to water, created as the country expanded westward, the better protected it is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When there’s a shortage, those with newer water rights have to cut back first, sometimes giving up their water completely before older claims lose a single drop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s known as “first in time, first in right.” But “first” is a relative term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“First in time, first in right is kind of laughable, because the ones that were here first were the indigenous people,” says Gary Mulcahy, government liaison for the Winnemem Wintu tribe in Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the climate gets hotter and further shrinks strained water supplies, Western states are grappling with whether a century-old water system created by white settlers can equitably handle a future of worsening droughts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rights to water have long been seen as sacrosanct by many. But after decades of exclusion, Native American tribes are helping lead the charge both in California and on the Colorado River, arguing for overhauling an arcane system they say is inherently racist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California lawmakers are debating whether to create new authority to rein in the oldest water users, who have long contended their rights can’t be constrained by the state. Cities like San Francisco and farming districts with senior water rights are lobbying hard against the bills, saying billions of dollars invested into the water system are at stake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The weight of the inequities is really stunning,” say Felicia Marcus, a fellow at Stanford University’s Water in the West program and a former California water regulator. “Folks are going to need to think about what are the alternatives to cure what might be a historic injustice, while also being aware of the equities of all the communities and people dependent on the system that we do have.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983451\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983451\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/lfc_3672_custom-0e499fdf69d08753c0ceebb82b9c055dcfc1d402-s1600-c85-800x533.jpg\" alt='A group of 9 people stand in protest with signs reading \"Free the eel\" and \"Save the salmon\" in front of a building. A man on the far right holds a microphone.' width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/lfc_3672_custom-0e499fdf69d08753c0ceebb82b9c055dcfc1d402-s1600-c85-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/lfc_3672_custom-0e499fdf69d08753c0ceebb82b9c055dcfc1d402-s1600-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/lfc_3672_custom-0e499fdf69d08753c0ceebb82b9c055dcfc1d402-s1600-c85-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/lfc_3672_custom-0e499fdf69d08753c0ceebb82b9c055dcfc1d402-s1600-c85-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/lfc_3672_custom-0e499fdf69d08753c0ceebb82b9c055dcfc1d402-s1600-c85-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/lfc_3672_custom-0e499fdf69d08753c0ceebb82b9c055dcfc1d402-s1600-c85.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gary Mulcahy of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe (right) speaks at a rally for water rights and the environment at California’s state Capitol building. \u003ccite>(Tim Daw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>First in time, via a piece of paper on a tree\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>More than a century ago, San Francisco locked up a pristine water supply. The city was booming in the late 1800s, and officials knew that local supplies wouldn’t be enough for the growing population. They set their sights on a river high in the Sierra Nevada mountains, more than 150 miles away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To tap into that river, the city had to first officially file for a water right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It meant you write it on a piece of paper and nail it to a tree,” says Steve Ritchie, assistant general manager at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks to that piece of paper \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/books/edition/San_Francisco_Municipal_Reports/DHRFLjqZG3UC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=san+francisco+water+tree+tuolumne&pg=PA405&printsec=frontcover\">nailed to an 8-inch round oak tree\u003c/a> near the Tuolumne River in 1901, San Francisco has enjoyed a stable water supply ever since. During California’s most severe droughts, the city hasn’t had to make mandatory cutbacks, even when other cities and farms around the state saw their supplies dwindle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We and others have invested a lot of money in our systems to make them work based on the principle of first in time and first in right,” Ritchie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>For tribes, being first doesn’t mean you have water\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For California’s Native American tribes, which have largely been excluded from the water rights hierarchy, that focus on the history of settlers’ interests rings hollow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we say about the senior water rights holders is they all got their water through murder, mayhem, rape, theft and genocide,” Mulcahy says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The traditional land of the Winnemem Wintu tribe in Northern California was flooded in the 1940s when California built Shasta Dam, creating the largest reservoir in the state. Today, it’s one of the most valuable sources of water, supplying farms and cities that stretch hundreds of miles, all the way to Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983446\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983446\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A vast blue lake is seen with a large dam connecting to a reservoir. In the background are white clouds in blue skies with green mountains.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b-1920x1279.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/2023_06_12_kj_2673_aerials_lake_levels_custom-66cec55890637f346881987a0f214049cc0f2d5b.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lake Shasta in Northern California is one of the state’s most vital water supplies. When it was built in the 1940s, it also flooded the traditional homeland of the Wimmemem Wintu Tribe. \u003ccite>(Ken James/California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We have no water rights,” Mulcahy says. “We’re the Winnemem Wintu tribe. Winnemem means ‘middle water’– middle water people. That kind of tells you our culture, our spirituality is based on water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s tribes, like most across the West, were forced to sign treaties with the federal government, giving up their land in exchange for a reservation to live on. But the treaties with most California tribes were never ratified by the U.S. Senate and \u003ca href=\"https://www.archives.gov/files/publications/prologue/2013/fall-winter/treaties.pdf\">were lost for 50 years (PDF)\u003c/a>. As a result, the tribes have no federal recognition, giving them little standing to claim water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The water rights system absolutely totally needs to change for everybody’s right, for everybody’s health and well-being, and not just a select few who think that they are the gods of water and they can’t be touched,” Mulcahy says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>State bills would grant authority over senior rights\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California lawmakers are now debating whether to take some steps toward reform. State bills would give regulators more power to investigate the water use of senior rights holders, allow them to order those rights holders to stop using water when there’s a shortage, and to increase the fines against those who take water illegally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pushback has been swift from senior rights holders, which represent some of California’s wealthiest cities and farming areas. Many contend their water use can’t be curbed, since their rights were established before California created its regulatory water agency in 1914, the California State Water Resources Control Board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t think that curtailment should apply to us,” Ritchie says. “Water rights are basically a form of a property right. So having the uncertainty that that supply might be cut at some point, that is very troubling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983447\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983447\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two women are seen on a truck filling up large containers of water through a pipe. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965-1920x1279.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/gettyimages-1153763326_custom-42a2dabb5e51047cf49fa272e6126303d6e5d965.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Women who belong to the Navajo Nation fill up their family’s water containers. Parts of the reservation still lack running water and the tribe has been pushing for rights to the Colorado River for decades. \u003ccite>(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During California’s last two droughts, state regulators struggled to order cutbacks among those with senior water rights, lacking data about how much water was being used and what rights were affected. When water users have defied orders to cut their use, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/11/california-ranchers-drought-fine/\">the state’s ability to levy fines has been minimal\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t mean to say it’s kind of a hot mess, but it’s kind of a mess,” Marcus says. “We have to figure out how to have a better way of allocating water more fairly according to set-upon rules that everybody can see.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Tribes push for water rights on the Colorado River\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Water cutbacks are also contentious on the Colorado River. There, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/06/09/1003424717/the-drought-in-the-western-u-s-is-getting-bad-climate-change-is-making-it-worse\">two-decades-long drought\u003c/a> is forcing states to face a harsh reality: the future will mean less water for everyone. But tribes on the river \u003ca href=\"https://www.kunc.org/thirstgap/2023-05-15/first-in-time\">have been left out from the very beginning\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/03/20/1164852475/supreme-court-navajo-nation-water-rights\">Navajo Nation has been battling with the state of Arizona\u003c/a> for decades over getting its water rights clarified on the river. Some parts of the reservation \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/01/06/374584452/for-many-of-navajo-nation-water-delivery-comes-monthly\">still lack running water\u003c/a>, forcing residents to get deliveries by truck. As a federally-recognized tribe, the Navajo Nation has rights to water as part of the “permanent home” the federal government granted with a treaty creating the reservation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The issue is that they haven’t been quantified and no one really knows what the scope of those rights look like,” says Dylan Hedden-Nicely, director of the Native American Law Program at the University of Idaho College of Law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, the Supreme Court ruled against the tribe, saying the federal government had no duty to support the investment needed to deliver a water supply. Still, after a long-fought battle, tribes are now \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/04/27/1172273665/tribal-nations-were-once-excluded-from-colorado-river-talks-now-theyre-key-playe\">being included in key negotiations\u003c/a> over the future of the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983448\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983448\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343-800x542.jpg\" alt=\"An image of a lake with a backdrop of mountain cliffs. Green trees, rocks and dirt surfaces are seen in the frame.\" width=\"800\" height=\"542\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343-800x542.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343-1020x692.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343-768x521.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343-1536x1041.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343-1920x1302.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/hetch_hetchy_18_custom-1b4a57f0d87c8b165d5278a110d6a170c8924343.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In 1901, San Francisco claimed water from the Tuolumne River by nailing a piece of paper to a tree. The city has long contended that its senior water rights shouldn’t be constrained by the state. \u003ccite>(California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In cases where tribes have had their water rights spelled out, they’ve struck deals to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/colorado-river-water-tribes-climate-drought-540c7db3588b2369985351ac9e9114b1\">transfer some of that water\u003c/a> to alleviate the overall shortage for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those are the types of opportunities that exist if people can get over this historical paradigm that this is a zero-sum game – if you get anything, it’s coming out of my hide and therefore I’m going to fight you tooth and nail,” Hedden-Nicely says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the climate gets hotter, water supplies both on the Colorado River and in California \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/06/09/1003424717/the-drought-in-the-western-u-s-is-getting-bad-climate-change-is-making-it-worse\">are expected to shrink\u003c/a> and become more erratic. With the pressure mounting, the inequities in the system are becoming hard to ignore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think climate change is forcing these conversations that are uncomfortable because the water’s just not there,” Marcus says. “And we need to figure out what to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=A+racist+past+and+hotter+future+are+testing+Western+water+like+never+before&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Record Lows to Near Brimming: North Bay Reservoirs Stage Remarkable Recovery",
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"content": "\u003cp>Two North Bay reservoirs are flush with water just a year after their levels fell to record-setting lows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heading into the second week of July, Lake Sonoma and Lake Mendocino — at 66% and 79% full, respectively — are both well \u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/reportapp/javareports?name=RES\">above their average levels for this time of year\u003c/a>, and roughly twice as full as they were last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unless you count the first year it was filled, Lake Sonoma had dropped to the lowest level ever,” said David Rabbitt, a Sonoma County supervisor and a Sonoma Water director. “To rebound like that in one year was beyond anyone’s imagination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983352\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983352\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two photos of the a lake with low water levels. On the left, a bridge crosses a span where the banks of the lake are so low that the lake bed has been exposed. On the right, the same is the case but boats are also seen in dock.\" width=\"2500\" height=\"827\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED-800x265.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED-768x254.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED-1536x508.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED-2048x677.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED-1920x635.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: A view of the Warm Springs Creek Bridge from the Lake Sonoma Overlook on the southeastern coast of the lake on June 11, 2021. Right: A view of the Lake Sonoma Resort Area from the Lake Sonoma Overlook on the southeastern coast of the lake on June 11, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As the summer heats up, \u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/reportapp/javareports?name=RES\">reservoir levels statewide are collectively at around 87%\u003c/a>, the result of the massive amount of precipitation that storms dumped on the state this year. But while other reservoirs across California depend on runoff from the Sierra Nevada snowpack, Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma — serving over 600,000 customers in Sonoma and Marin counties — rely on seasonal rains in the hills above the Russian River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And although this flash-in-the-pan system normally goes through wet-to-dry extremes, human-caused climate change has significantly widened that chasm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The weather patterns are so volatile,” said Rabbitt. “Three years of drought can be followed by one year of intense rainfall can be followed by three or more years of drought again. And we seem to be in this pattern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983333\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983333\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two people stand in the middle of a dried out lake bed.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two people and a dog wade near the coast of Lake Mendocino on June 11, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He notes that even with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982822/6-common-misconceptions-about-el-nino-and-its-impact-on-california-weather\">grand reentrance of El Niño this summer\u003c/a> — which could usher in another wet, stormy winter — his agency has to prepare for what may be a dry year ahead.[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation=\"Supervisor David Rabbitt, Sonoma County\"]‘The weather patterns are so volatile. Three years of drought can be followed by one year of intense rainfall can be followed by three or more years of drought again.’[/pullquote]Regardless of what comes from the skies, Sonoma Water, which collectively manages both reservoirs with the Army Corps of Engineers, uses satellite forecasting to watch for coming storms to decide in real time when to release water. When a storm is on its way, the agency can decide to let water out or keep it in the reservoir if there is no storm on track. While it sounds like a no-brainer, the concept is new to how the reservoirs are managed because of rules set up decades ago. This practice allowed the agencies to keep 19,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Sonoma and 5,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mendocino this winter, instead of releasing it into the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While we think of Lake Sonoma as a large reservoir, compared to some of the others in the state, it’s not,” said Nicholas Malasavage, chief of the operations and readiness division at the Army Corps’ San Francisco office. “Imagine the amount of water that could be saved if [the state] utilized that tool to its fullest potential.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983350\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983350\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two photos of the boat dock at different points in time. On the left, the dock sits on the floor of the dried out lake bed. On the right, it floats on top of the water.\" width=\"2500\" height=\"827\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED-800x265.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED-768x254.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED-1536x508.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED-2048x677.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED-1920x635.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A boat dock at Lake Mendocino on June 11, 2021 (left) and July 5, 2023 (right). \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sonoma Water also uses a series of stationary radar units across the Bay Area to better understand where these storms will drop the majority of their rainfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Malasavage said fuller reservoirs and the possibility of another wet year also raise a concern that was avoided last winter along the Russian River: disastrous flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Last year we were just hoping for rain,” he said. But this year, with reservoirs fuller, the agency has “to be more methodical and more mindful” of potential flooding when winter begins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983339\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983339\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing a baseball cap wades into water holding a fishing rod in their hands.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sean Adams stands on a partially submerged park bench to fish at the Lake Mendocino South Ramp on July 5, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During the rainy season, managers in charge of flows from the reservoirs also allowed farmers to use excess water from the Russian River to submerge their land, a process meant to slowly recharge groundwater aquifers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were just simulating what naturally would have been a rainy season,” said Elizabeth Salomone, general manager for the Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District. “Some of these farmers who did that saw better yields in 2022. Word of mouth got around and now folks are opening up a lot more to it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even with all the rain this year, Salomone said she is worried about both too much and too little rainfall next winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983351\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983351\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two photos of the same iron bridge at different moments in time. On the left, there are standing pools of water in the river bed. On the right, the banks of the river brim with flowing water.\" width=\"2500\" height=\"827\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED-800x265.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED-768x254.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED-1536x508.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED-2048x677.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED-1920x635.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Memorial Bridge over the Russian River near Healdsburg on June 3, 2021 (left), and July 5, 2023 (right). \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images (left), Beth LaBerge/KQED (right))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I need to dust off my crystal ball because as a water supplier, I always have to consider the worst-case scenario,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says she gets calls from farmers all the time asking whether the drought is over, and tells them they’re asking the wrong question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to stop focusing on whether we are out of a drought, but instead, ask this question: What if it doesn’t rain when we expect it to rain?” Salomone said. “Because one thing we can expect is that it’s likely not going to occur the way we have expected it to in the past. The historical patterns of precipitation are no more.”[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Two North Bay reservoirs are flush with water just a year after their levels fell to record-setting lows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heading into the second week of July, Lake Sonoma and Lake Mendocino — at 66% and 79% full, respectively — are both well \u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/reportapp/javareports?name=RES\">above their average levels for this time of year\u003c/a>, and roughly twice as full as they were last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unless you count the first year it was filled, Lake Sonoma had dropped to the lowest level ever,” said David Rabbitt, a Sonoma County supervisor and a Sonoma Water director. “To rebound like that in one year was beyond anyone’s imagination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983352\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983352\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two photos of the a lake with low water levels. On the left, a bridge crosses a span where the banks of the lake are so low that the lake bed has been exposed. On the right, the same is the case but boats are also seen in dock.\" width=\"2500\" height=\"827\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED-800x265.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED-768x254.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED-1536x508.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED-2048x677.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-1-KQED-1920x635.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: A view of the Warm Springs Creek Bridge from the Lake Sonoma Overlook on the southeastern coast of the lake on June 11, 2021. Right: A view of the Lake Sonoma Resort Area from the Lake Sonoma Overlook on the southeastern coast of the lake on June 11, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As the summer heats up, \u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/reportapp/javareports?name=RES\">reservoir levels statewide are collectively at around 87%\u003c/a>, the result of the massive amount of precipitation that storms dumped on the state this year. But while other reservoirs across California depend on runoff from the Sierra Nevada snowpack, Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma — serving over 600,000 customers in Sonoma and Marin counties — rely on seasonal rains in the hills above the Russian River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And although this flash-in-the-pan system normally goes through wet-to-dry extremes, human-caused climate change has significantly widened that chasm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The weather patterns are so volatile,” said Rabbitt. “Three years of drought can be followed by one year of intense rainfall can be followed by three or more years of drought again. And we seem to be in this pattern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983333\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983333\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two people stand in the middle of a dried out lake bed.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS49925_029_MendocinoCounty_LakeMendocinoDrought_06112021-KQED-1920x1278.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two people and a dog wade near the coast of Lake Mendocino on June 11, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He notes that even with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982822/6-common-misconceptions-about-el-nino-and-its-impact-on-california-weather\">grand reentrance of El Niño this summer\u003c/a> — which could usher in another wet, stormy winter — his agency has to prepare for what may be a dry year ahead.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Regardless of what comes from the skies, Sonoma Water, which collectively manages both reservoirs with the Army Corps of Engineers, uses satellite forecasting to watch for coming storms to decide in real time when to release water. When a storm is on its way, the agency can decide to let water out or keep it in the reservoir if there is no storm on track. While it sounds like a no-brainer, the concept is new to how the reservoirs are managed because of rules set up decades ago. This practice allowed the agencies to keep 19,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Sonoma and 5,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mendocino this winter, instead of releasing it into the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While we think of Lake Sonoma as a large reservoir, compared to some of the others in the state, it’s not,” said Nicholas Malasavage, chief of the operations and readiness division at the Army Corps’ San Francisco office. “Imagine the amount of water that could be saved if [the state] utilized that tool to its fullest potential.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983350\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983350\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two photos of the boat dock at different points in time. On the left, the dock sits on the floor of the dried out lake bed. On the right, it floats on top of the water.\" width=\"2500\" height=\"827\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED-800x265.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED-768x254.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED-1536x508.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED-2048x677.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-2-KQED-1920x635.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A boat dock at Lake Mendocino on June 11, 2021 (left) and July 5, 2023 (right). \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sonoma Water also uses a series of stationary radar units across the Bay Area to better understand where these storms will drop the majority of their rainfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Malasavage said fuller reservoirs and the possibility of another wet year also raise a concern that was avoided last winter along the Russian River: disastrous flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Last year we were just hoping for rain,” he said. But this year, with reservoirs fuller, the agency has “to be more methodical and more mindful” of potential flooding when winter begins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983339\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983339\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing a baseball cap wades into water holding a fishing rod in their hands.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/RS66732_230705-LakeMendocino-21-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sean Adams stands on a partially submerged park bench to fish at the Lake Mendocino South Ramp on July 5, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During the rainy season, managers in charge of flows from the reservoirs also allowed farmers to use excess water from the Russian River to submerge their land, a process meant to slowly recharge groundwater aquifers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were just simulating what naturally would have been a rainy season,” said Elizabeth Salomone, general manager for the Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District. “Some of these farmers who did that saw better yields in 2022. Word of mouth got around and now folks are opening up a lot more to it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even with all the rain this year, Salomone said she is worried about both too much and too little rainfall next winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983351\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983351\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Two photos of the same iron bridge at different moments in time. On the left, there are standing pools of water in the river bed. On the right, the banks of the river brim with flowing water.\" width=\"2500\" height=\"827\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED-800x265.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED-768x254.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED-1536x508.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED-2048x677.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/071023-Lakes-Sonoma-Mendocino-Diptych-3-KQED-1920x635.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Memorial Bridge over the Russian River near Healdsburg on June 3, 2021 (left), and July 5, 2023 (right). \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images (left), Beth LaBerge/KQED (right))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I need to dust off my crystal ball because as a water supplier, I always have to consider the worst-case scenario,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says she gets calls from farmers all the time asking whether the drought is over, and tells them they’re asking the wrong question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to stop focusing on whether we are out of a drought, but instead, ask this question: What if it doesn’t rain when we expect it to rain?” Salomone said. “Because one thing we can expect is that it’s likely not going to occur the way we have expected it to in the past. The historical patterns of precipitation are no more.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco’s future looks a whole lot wetter, thanks in part to human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s according to a new city-funded study that predicts that San Francisco will be hit by\u003ca href=\"https://sfpuc.org/about-us/reports/san-francisco-bay-area-precipitation-warmer-world\"> increasingly intense storms in the coming decades\u003c/a>, and needs to dramatically update its stormwater infrastructure to try to handle the deluge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re gonna see more areas that flood that have never flooded before,” said Kris May, founder of the Pathways Climate Institute, a San Francisco-based consulting firm, who helped lead the study. “I don’t think we have nomenclature anymore for what is coming with climate change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report, which was released weeks after KQED filed a public records request about it, predicts that storms in San Francisco, and throughout the Bay Area, could become 37% wetter by the end of this century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our infrastructure is not designed for these big storms, and we’re never going to really be able to design it to handle them,” said May, noting that the study stops short of recommending how the city should adapt its sewer system and water-related infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know how to solve this yet and that’s what’s scary for most of the folks I’ve been working with,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While San Francisco has its own unique challenges, May added, it’s among scores of coastal cities that are now being forced to address storm-related threats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think any city is really in the shape to prepare for the storms that are coming,” May said. “It’s just going to be a big change that the country as a whole has to deal with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"more on climate adaptation\" tag=\"climate-change-adaptation\"]Unlike typical climate studies that cover larger geographic areas, this report focuses on only 3 kilometers (just under 2 miles), in an effort to identify which parts of the city are most vulnerable to flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It enables us to look at extreme weather in ways we hadn’t before,” said study co-author Michael Wehner, a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “If you use the old techniques, you’re underestimating how bad the future is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For San Francisco, that future periodically brings the heightened risk of intense flooding in a city with aging infrastructure that’s bordered by water on three sides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The public needs to know that dangerous climate change is already here,” he said, pointing to the intense atmospheric river storms that battered the city earlier this year. “This is not our grandchildren’s problem or our children’s problem. It’s ours.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to overall wetter conditions, the study predicts increasingly intense bursts of heavy rain during storms — up to two-thirds wetter by the end of the century — the type of brief torrents that can easily overwhelm sewer systems, swamp cars and cause significant property damage and even loss of life, said Michael Mak, a Pathways water resources engineer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco got a preview of that this winter, when massive amounts of rainfall in short periods left thousands without power, turned roads into rivers and downed scores of trees across the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the city does not adapt, “we’re going to see more events like we saw over the past few months, except it might be much more frequent than once every few decades and might be every other year, or it might be multiple times a season,” said Mak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Mak, San Francisco’s sewer system and flood infrastructure, designed to clean and push water out to the bay during storms, simply don’t have the capacity to handle the extreme influxes of water that are expected to become more frequent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At first, it was like, ‘Wow, OK, these extreme storms are going to be much more extreme than what we’ve seen,’” said Brian Strong, San Francisco’s chief resilience officer. “Then this past year, we’ve seen some of that come true.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Strong, whose office helped commission the study, recognizes there are limits to how San Francisco can physically adapt its infrastructure to deal with substantially more rainfall. But he hopes the study will help guide future development decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t build streets without thinking about where the water is going to go,” he said. “We can’t completely engineer our way out of all of these things. So, we will have to work together and figure out how to do a better job capturing water and reducing runoff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New infrastructure, Strong said, can only help so much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t make sense to keep building a bigger pipe if, ultimately, it’s still not going to be big enough,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco’s future looks a whole lot wetter, thanks in part to human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s according to a new city-funded study that predicts that San Francisco will be hit by\u003ca href=\"https://sfpuc.org/about-us/reports/san-francisco-bay-area-precipitation-warmer-world\"> increasingly intense storms in the coming decades\u003c/a>, and needs to dramatically update its stormwater infrastructure to try to handle the deluge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re gonna see more areas that flood that have never flooded before,” said Kris May, founder of the Pathways Climate Institute, a San Francisco-based consulting firm, who helped lead the study. “I don’t think we have nomenclature anymore for what is coming with climate change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report, which was released weeks after KQED filed a public records request about it, predicts that storms in San Francisco, and throughout the Bay Area, could become 37% wetter by the end of this century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our infrastructure is not designed for these big storms, and we’re never going to really be able to design it to handle them,” said May, noting that the study stops short of recommending how the city should adapt its sewer system and water-related infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know how to solve this yet and that’s what’s scary for most of the folks I’ve been working with,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While San Francisco has its own unique challenges, May added, it’s among scores of coastal cities that are now being forced to address storm-related threats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think any city is really in the shape to prepare for the storms that are coming,” May said. “It’s just going to be a big change that the country as a whole has to deal with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Unlike typical climate studies that cover larger geographic areas, this report focuses on only 3 kilometers (just under 2 miles), in an effort to identify which parts of the city are most vulnerable to flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It enables us to look at extreme weather in ways we hadn’t before,” said study co-author Michael Wehner, a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “If you use the old techniques, you’re underestimating how bad the future is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For San Francisco, that future periodically brings the heightened risk of intense flooding in a city with aging infrastructure that’s bordered by water on three sides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The public needs to know that dangerous climate change is already here,” he said, pointing to the intense atmospheric river storms that battered the city earlier this year. “This is not our grandchildren’s problem or our children’s problem. It’s ours.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to overall wetter conditions, the study predicts increasingly intense bursts of heavy rain during storms — up to two-thirds wetter by the end of the century — the type of brief torrents that can easily overwhelm sewer systems, swamp cars and cause significant property damage and even loss of life, said Michael Mak, a Pathways water resources engineer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco got a preview of that this winter, when massive amounts of rainfall in short periods left thousands without power, turned roads into rivers and downed scores of trees across the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the city does not adapt, “we’re going to see more events like we saw over the past few months, except it might be much more frequent than once every few decades and might be every other year, or it might be multiple times a season,” said Mak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Mak, San Francisco’s sewer system and flood infrastructure, designed to clean and push water out to the bay during storms, simply don’t have the capacity to handle the extreme influxes of water that are expected to become more frequent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At first, it was like, ‘Wow, OK, these extreme storms are going to be much more extreme than what we’ve seen,’” said Brian Strong, San Francisco’s chief resilience officer. “Then this past year, we’ve seen some of that come true.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Strong, whose office helped commission the study, recognizes there are limits to how San Francisco can physically adapt its infrastructure to deal with substantially more rainfall. But he hopes the study will help guide future development decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t build streets without thinking about where the water is going to go,” he said. “We can’t completely engineer our way out of all of these things. So, we will have to work together and figure out how to do a better job capturing water and reducing runoff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New infrastructure, Strong said, can only help so much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t make sense to keep building a bigger pipe if, ultimately, it’s still not going to be big enough,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Ford, General Motors OK California's Plan to Ban New Diesel Big Rig Sales",
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"content": "\u003cp>Ford, General Motors and several other large-truck manufacturers announced an agreement today with California over its clean truck rules, including a ban on the sale of new diesel big rigs by 2036, which the state passed in an attempt to fight air pollution and climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carbon pollution wafting from cars and trucks remains the state’s largest source of planet-warming emissions, and transportation has been one of the trickiest sectors for the state to decarbonize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state’s powerful Air Resources Board solidified two nation-leading clean truck rules this year. The new agreement is an industry stamp of approval on those plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last March, the Biden administration approved California’s plan to require truck makers to ramp up the sale of electric, heavy-duty trucks by 2035. Next year, the state will require truck manufacturers to begin to sell more and more electric models. By 2045, most heavy-duty vehicles on the road must be electric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in April, California banned the sale of combustion engine trucks by 2036.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those rules are likely to face legal challenges from Republican-led states or industry groups, but the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association agreed to follow them anyway. And the large-truck manufacturers say they are committed to electrification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded the agreement in a statement that said: “Today, truck manufacturers join our urgent efforts to slash air pollution, showing the rest of the country that we can both cut dangerous pollution and build the economy of the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Gov. Gavin Newsom\"]‘Today, truck manufacturers join our urgent efforts to slash air pollution, showing the rest of the country that we can both cut dangerous pollution and build the economy of the future.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jed Mandel, president of the manufacturing association, said in a statement that the agreement is evidence of the group’s “commitment to reducing emissions and to a zero-emissions commercial vehicle future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He touted it as an example of industry and California’s air regulators working together, although truck makers had previously fought these clean truck rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mandel’s manufacturers association and several truck companies, including Volvo, Daimler Truck, Volkswagen and PACCAR, had opposed clean truck rules on the federal and state level while they were publicly promoting zero-emissions fleets, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/08/1141303693/truck-makers-lobby-to-weaken-u-s-climate-policies-report-finds\">KQED’s Laura Klivans reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sasan Sadaat, a senior researcher and policy analyst with the environmental law organization Earth Justice, said the manufacturing association has for years actively fought against clean trucks in California and across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At every turn, whether it’s the Advanced Clean Truck rule, the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, the Heavy Duty NOx rule, challenging California’s authority to pass its own regulations, countering the stringency of EPA’s regulations, they’ve been the greatest barrier to more ambitious rules in slashing air pollution from trucks.” he said. “That’s their record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the new agreement, California will adopt some of the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s less-strict rules on nitrogen oxide emissions and provide several years of lead time before passing new regulations.[aside label='More on Climate Change' tag='climate-change']“Through this agreement, we have aligned on a single nationwide nitrogen oxide emissions standard, secured needed lead time and stability for manufacturers, and agreed on regulatory changes that will ensure continued availability of commercial vehicles,” Mandel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Trucking Associations has said that California’s regulations are too costly and will be burdensome for businesses to adopt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry group did not appear to approve of the agreement and issued a statement Thursday that said that while it has long advocated for harmonious regulations between California and the federal government, “the trucking industry shouldn’t be strong armed by the government into an agreement with such terms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our association represents motor carrier members — the paying customers who will inherit the costs of this agreement — and we will not roll over nor relinquish our right to litigate with any party when our interests are threatened,” the statement said. “It is clear that America has lost its way when the government bullies the private sector to succumb to unachievable timelines, targets and technologies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pact will have national implications, as other states typically follow California’s rules. Several other states adopted some of California’s earlier truck rules, representing more than one-fifth of the U.S. truck market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal government sets emissions standards by law, but the EPA has allowed California to pass tighter rules on cars and trucks that the federal government eventually adopts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last March, the Biden administration approved California’s plan to require truck makers to ramp up the sale of electric, heavy-duty trucks by 2035. Next year, the state will require truck manufacturers to begin to sell more and more electric models. By 2045, most heavy-duty vehicles on the road must be electric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in April, California banned the sale of combustion engine trucks by 2036.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those rules are likely to face legal challenges from Republican-led states or industry groups, but the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association agreed to follow them anyway. And the large-truck manufacturers say they are committed to electrification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded the agreement in a statement that said: “Today, truck manufacturers join our urgent efforts to slash air pollution, showing the rest of the country that we can both cut dangerous pollution and build the economy of the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jed Mandel, president of the manufacturing association, said in a statement that the agreement is evidence of the group’s “commitment to reducing emissions and to a zero-emissions commercial vehicle future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He touted it as an example of industry and California’s air regulators working together, although truck makers had previously fought these clean truck rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mandel’s manufacturers association and several truck companies, including Volvo, Daimler Truck, Volkswagen and PACCAR, had opposed clean truck rules on the federal and state level while they were publicly promoting zero-emissions fleets, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/12/08/1141303693/truck-makers-lobby-to-weaken-u-s-climate-policies-report-finds\">KQED’s Laura Klivans reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sasan Sadaat, a senior researcher and policy analyst with the environmental law organization Earth Justice, said the manufacturing association has for years actively fought against clean trucks in California and across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At every turn, whether it’s the Advanced Clean Truck rule, the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, the Heavy Duty NOx rule, challenging California’s authority to pass its own regulations, countering the stringency of EPA’s regulations, they’ve been the greatest barrier to more ambitious rules in slashing air pollution from trucks.” he said. “That’s their record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the new agreement, California will adopt some of the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s less-strict rules on nitrogen oxide emissions and provide several years of lead time before passing new regulations.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Through this agreement, we have aligned on a single nationwide nitrogen oxide emissions standard, secured needed lead time and stability for manufacturers, and agreed on regulatory changes that will ensure continued availability of commercial vehicles,” Mandel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Trucking Associations has said that California’s regulations are too costly and will be burdensome for businesses to adopt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry group did not appear to approve of the agreement and issued a statement Thursday that said that while it has long advocated for harmonious regulations between California and the federal government, “the trucking industry shouldn’t be strong armed by the government into an agreement with such terms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our association represents motor carrier members — the paying customers who will inherit the costs of this agreement — and we will not roll over nor relinquish our right to litigate with any party when our interests are threatened,” the statement said. “It is clear that America has lost its way when the government bullies the private sector to succumb to unachievable timelines, targets and technologies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pact will have national implications, as other states typically follow California’s rules. Several other states adopted some of California’s earlier truck rules, representing more than one-fifth of the U.S. truck market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal government sets emissions standards by law, but the EPA has allowed California to pass tighter rules on cars and trucks that the federal government eventually adopts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Mayra Gudiño walked across the central schoolyard at Bridges Academy at Melrose, a public elementary school in East Oakland last fall. It’s a familiar place, where Gudiño has sent all three of her children for their education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Mayra Gudiño, parent\"]‘They don’t have green areas, they don’t have shade. Everything is cement, children get hurt very often.’[/pullquote]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the yard didn’t look much like one, it was closer to an enormous parking lot, surrounded by blue, one-story school buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve always said Bridges is my second home and the second home of my children,” Gudiño said in Spanish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Gudiño said it looks sad. She’d like something far happier for her kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They don’t have green areas, they don’t have shade. Everything is cement, children get hurt very often,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983205\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983205\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59505_036_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Children wearing masks play in a schoolyard on asphalt.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59505_036_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59505_036_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59505_036_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59505_036_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59505_036_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59505_036_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play in the schoolyard at Bridges Academy at Melrose in Oakland on Oct. 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And even on a mild morning, the blacktop beneath Gudiño’s feet was getting warm. Asphalt and other surfaces made from petroleum (asphalt is a byproduct of refining crude oil) heat up far beyond the temperature of the surrounding air, especially in the direct sun. As the world warms, schoolyards like this one are becoming a safety hazard due to extreme heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sharon Danks is the founder and CEO of \u003ca href=\"https://www.greenschoolyards.org/\">Green Schoolyards America\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that works to transform asphalt playgrounds into ones teeming with nature. She said asphalt-based schoolyards are common: “It’s the standard way our schools have been built: Take out the trees, flatten the site, build your school.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[ad fullwidth]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and her colleagues are concerned about the effect extreme heat from these schoolyards will have on the young bodies running across them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Danks has taken many schoolyard heat measurements in her years in this field. “On a 90-degree day when we’ve measured temperatures with our surface thermometers, rubber safety surfaces are 165 degrees and asphalt is a mere 140,” she said. Rubber safety surfaces are spongy materials sometimes made from recycled tires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those temperatures can overheat or burn a young body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grass, on the other hand, is typically just above air temperature in the sun, and below it in the shade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983207\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983207\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.11.36-PM-800x447-1.png\" alt=\"An infographic slide showing side by side thermal imaging of a playground and a regular photo of a playground.\" width=\"800\" height=\"447\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.11.36-PM-800x447-1.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.11.36-PM-800x447-1-160x89.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.11.36-PM-800x447-1-768x429.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The nonprofit Green Schoolyards America regularly finds that asphalt and rubber surfaces in full sun greatly exceed the temperature of the air, as seen in this image taken with a thermal camera. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Green Schoolyards America)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Using geographic information system (GIS) mapping, Danks and colleagues at the mapping service \u003ca href=\"https://www.greeninfo.org/\">GreenInfo Network\u003c/a> found that the average California school has just 9% of tree cover. And those trees are typically in places where students are not, like outside the front entrance, or by a parking lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All this asphalt can contribute to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/climate-change-and-heat-islands\">urban heat island effect\u003c/a>, in which structures like buildings and roads absorb and reemit the sun’s heat more than natural landscapes like forests or bodies of water, leading to higher-than-average temperatures in urban areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California invests in greening schoolyards\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last year, California earmarked $150 million for green schoolyards. One initiative pushing the work forward is called the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.greenschoolyards.org/ca-schoolyard-forests\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California Schoolyard Forest System\u003c/a>,” a collaboration between the California Department of Education, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), nonprofits Green Schoolyards America and Ten Strands, school districts and county offices of education.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Walter Passmore, CAL FIRE State Urban Forester\"]‘Our big, green audacious goal is to plant enough trees by 2035 so that when mature, they’ll provide 30% shade cover to child-accessible areas.’[/pullquote]“Our big, green audacious goal is to plant enough trees by 2035 so that when mature, they’ll provide 30% shade cover to child-accessible areas,” said Walter Passmore, a State Urban Forester with CAL FIRE.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Passmore said the money is just a drop in the bucket when you consider the state’s more than 10,000 public schools, roughly 130,000 acres of land, and nearly 6 million students. The program will prioritize schools in communities with high poverty levels, minimal tree cover and hot climates. Passmore hopes the initial funding will be a “down payment,” with more to come in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State legislators also sent a bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom to \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2566\">codify a grant program for school greening projects\u003c/a>. Newsom vetoed the bill in September, stating it would put “cost pressure” on the state with an “ongoing commitment not provided for in the budget.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State lawmakers are working on various bills to accelerate the greening of schoolyards. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB527\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">One bill\u003c/a> aims to codify a grant program for school greening projects (a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2566\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">similar bill\u003c/a> was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year, in which he stated it would put cost pressure on the state with an “ongoing commitment not provided for in the budget”). \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB499\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Another\u003c/a> focuses on creating extreme heat plans for schools and includes planting shade trees and gardens. And \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB394\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a third\u003c/a> would require various state agencies to build a “master plan for healthy, sustainable, and climate resilient schools.” There are others in the works, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nationally, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico introduced the \u003ca href=\"https://www.heinrich.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/heinrich-introduces-legislation-to-help-schools-re-envision-build-outdoor-learning-spaces\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Living Schoolyards Act\u003c/a> in May, legislation that, if passed, would fund outdoor classrooms and other greening projects through the U.S. Department of Education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983208\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1238px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983208\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.13.19-PM.png\" alt=\"Children playing on equipment in a schoolyard.\" width=\"1238\" height=\"822\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.13.19-PM.png 1238w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.13.19-PM-800x531.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.13.19-PM-1020x677.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.13.19-PM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.13.19-PM-768x510.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1238px) 100vw, 1238px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play on the newly renovated ‘green’ schoolyard at Oakland Unified School District’s Cesar Chavez campus in East Oakland. Fence-to-fence asphalt a few years ago, the schoolyard is now home to 64 new trees. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>An urban oasis\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Just a few miles away from the asphalt schoolyard at Bridges Academy at Melrose is an outdoor space that’s quite the opposite. Oakland Unified School District’s Cesar Chavez campus houses two elementary schools, and nature abounds outside its classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kira Maritano is a senior program manager for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.tpl.org/\">Trust for Public Land\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that has partnered with the district to pilot a handful of green schoolyards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maritano points out some of the 64 new trees on this campus: Catalina ironwoods, southern live oaks, red maples and Chinese evergreen elms. She said they were chosen for a host of reasons, like how fast they grow, how much heat they can tolerate, and how much carbon they can sequester.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This schoolyard is now built to get cooler and cooler every year as we see the effects of climate change increase,” Maritano said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trees shade the yard and building. They cool the air around them through evapotranspiration: water evaporating from their leaves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are still sections of asphalt. Maritano explains that they’re needed for the myriad functions a schoolyard serves. But these paved surfaces make up far less of the overall outdoor footprint. A few years ago, the asphalt was fence-to-fence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983209\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983209\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59531_031_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A display in both English and Spanish on the schoolyard.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59531_031_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59531_031_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59531_031_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59531_031_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59531_031_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59531_031_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students play near a sign describing the living schoolyard at International Community School in Oakland on Oct. 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now children swing on ropes attached to logs above wood chips, two girls wander across a “bioswale” — a curving ditch, now dry, which collects stormwater when it rains — and a group of boys play soccer on a grass field. There’s an enormous garden and a fruit tree orchard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Giving kids the opportunity to have a tangible relationship with these natural materials is really important,” Maritano said. “A lot of these kids don’t have a chance in their day-to-day life, in their urban environment, to climb on a tree. Just knowing what that feels like starts to break down outdoor equity gaps.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A green schoolyard is also more permeable than one covered in asphalt or rubber safety tiles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is basically a stormwater sink,” Maritano said, referring to a woodchip-covered play area. “As much as possible, if we can remove asphalt and sink that water back into the earth, we’re benefiting the environment,” and avoiding putting pressure on public utilities like sewer systems, she adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983210\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983210\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59518_016_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Children running after a soccer ball on a grassy school yard.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59518_016_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59518_016_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59518_016_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59518_016_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59518_016_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59518_016_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students play soccer in a grass field at International Community School in Oakland on Oct. 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Benefits for health, gender equality\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Proponents of green schoolyards throw around the word “co-benefits” with regularity. One of the co-benefits of such a yard, beyond cooling a school and even a neighborhood, is better human health.[aside label='More on Climate Change' tag='climate-change']“Our immune system becomes more robust and stronger against infectious agents when we spend time digging in the dirt, when we have regular exposure to vitamin D from sunlight, and when we engage in physical activity on a regular basis,” said Marcella Raney, of the Office of Well-Being at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said for many kids, their schoolyard is one of the only places to exercise and be outside — and, to combat issues like obesity, it’s important that their schoolyard be an inviting place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raney has also found \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016920462200281X\">differences in how boys and girls use schoolyards\u003c/a>: Kids who identify as boys are more active on asphalt schoolyards than kids who identify as girls. That’s because asphalt schoolyards are typically designed for “ball-based” games such as basketball, kickball and dodgeball — larger group sports that are competitive — and, Raney said, these games appeal most to boys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Green schoolyards appeal to both genders, however.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Girls are going to be a lot more active on a green schoolyard than they are on an asphalt schoolyard,” Raney said. “When we compare girls versus boys in green spaces, their activity levels are the same.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983211\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983211\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59515_007_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A group of children play on equipment in a school yard.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59515_007_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59515_007_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59515_007_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59515_007_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59515_007_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59515_007_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students play in the schoolyard at International Community School in Oakland on Oct. 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Raney has observed that girls favor smaller group activities and want to challenge themselves by climbing, jumping and swinging. A green schoolyard is designed to promote more of these activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, better physical activity for kids tends to mean better school performance.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Barriers to change\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For many, green schoolyards are a no-brainer, but there are hurdles to overcome before they’re widely adopted. One such hurdle, according to Cal Poly Pomona landscape architecture professor Claire Latané, is that decision-makers in schools and cities often work in silos, with very specific responsibilities like curriculum design, mental health or maintenance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But “when we do get people together to have those conversations and really talk about the multiple benefits [of green schoolyards], that conversation changes dramatically, because when thinking about the big picture, everyone wants what’s best for students and the community,” Latané said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Districts are also hesitant to jump into large projects spearheaded by one “champion,” Latané said, for fear no one will maintain the work when that individual moves on. Schools are understandably risk-averse, and a schoolyard of abandoned trees can become a liability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Latané said another challenge is that “schools have always been strained for finances in terms of maintenance. And asphalt is seen as a really low-maintenance material,” despite studies showing that over the long term,\u003ca href=\"https://www.planetizen.com/news/2022/05/117296-social-and-economic-benefits-green-schoolyards\"> green schoolyards are actually less expensive than asphalt ones\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983212\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983212\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59528_025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A monarch butterfly rests on a plant outside.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59528_025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59528_025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59528_025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59528_025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59528_025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59528_025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A monarch butterfly lands on a plant growing in the schoolyard at International Community School in Oakland on Oct. 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>LaMonte Douglas was a maintenance project manager for the Los Angeles Unified School District for 35 years. He has since retired. He says that when LA started greening schools, he saw the directive as “yet another thing on the plate to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when he learned of and saw the benefits of a green schoolyard, he said it became a no-brainer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He remembers a day he planted a bush at a school site and, immediately, he said, “Some exotic bird came and landed right by that bush. I’ve never seen that type of bird before. And it was almost like the bird was saying, ‘Well, finally, you give me a place to rest.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Schoolyard as community space\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At Bridges Academy at Melrose in Oakland, Mayra Gudiño lays out a vision for the transformation she wants for her kids’ asphalt schoolyard: trees, green spaces and more color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983213\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983213\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59504_033_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Two women walking on a schoolyard with children playing in the background.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59504_033_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59504_033_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59504_033_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59504_033_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59504_033_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59504_033_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayra Gudiño walks through the schoolyard with her daughter at Bridges Academy at Melrose in Oakland on Oct. 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It turns out they’ll get it. Through Gudiño and other parents, teacher and administrative activism, the school has received funding to transform their schoolyard: to rip up asphalt and plant trees. They broke ground early this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One condition of their funding is that they keep the schoolyard open for community use on nights and weekends, a boon for their neighborhood without nearby parks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gudiño said they deserve it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "With $150 million dedicated to green schoolyards over the next 2 years under the California Schoolyard Forest System, Oakland campuses are already feeling the impact.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Mayra Gudiño walked across the central schoolyard at Bridges Academy at Melrose, a public elementary school in East Oakland last fall. It’s a familiar place, where Gudiño has sent all three of her children for their education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the yard didn’t look much like one, it was closer to an enormous parking lot, surrounded by blue, one-story school buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve always said Bridges is my second home and the second home of my children,” Gudiño said in Spanish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Gudiño said it looks sad. She’d like something far happier for her kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They don’t have green areas, they don’t have shade. Everything is cement, children get hurt very often,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983205\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983205\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59505_036_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Children wearing masks play in a schoolyard on asphalt.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59505_036_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59505_036_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59505_036_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59505_036_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59505_036_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59505_036_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play in the schoolyard at Bridges Academy at Melrose in Oakland on Oct. 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And even on a mild morning, the blacktop beneath Gudiño’s feet was getting warm. Asphalt and other surfaces made from petroleum (asphalt is a byproduct of refining crude oil) heat up far beyond the temperature of the surrounding air, especially in the direct sun. As the world warms, schoolyards like this one are becoming a safety hazard due to extreme heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sharon Danks is the founder and CEO of \u003ca href=\"https://www.greenschoolyards.org/\">Green Schoolyards America\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that works to transform asphalt playgrounds into ones teeming with nature. She said asphalt-based schoolyards are common: “It’s the standard way our schools have been built: Take out the trees, flatten the site, build your school.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She and her colleagues are concerned about the effect extreme heat from these schoolyards will have on the young bodies running across them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Danks has taken many schoolyard heat measurements in her years in this field. “On a 90-degree day when we’ve measured temperatures with our surface thermometers, rubber safety surfaces are 165 degrees and asphalt is a mere 140,” she said. Rubber safety surfaces are spongy materials sometimes made from recycled tires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those temperatures can overheat or burn a young body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grass, on the other hand, is typically just above air temperature in the sun, and below it in the shade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983207\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983207\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.11.36-PM-800x447-1.png\" alt=\"An infographic slide showing side by side thermal imaging of a playground and a regular photo of a playground.\" width=\"800\" height=\"447\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.11.36-PM-800x447-1.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.11.36-PM-800x447-1-160x89.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.11.36-PM-800x447-1-768x429.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The nonprofit Green Schoolyards America regularly finds that asphalt and rubber surfaces in full sun greatly exceed the temperature of the air, as seen in this image taken with a thermal camera. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Green Schoolyards America)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Using geographic information system (GIS) mapping, Danks and colleagues at the mapping service \u003ca href=\"https://www.greeninfo.org/\">GreenInfo Network\u003c/a> found that the average California school has just 9% of tree cover. And those trees are typically in places where students are not, like outside the front entrance, or by a parking lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All this asphalt can contribute to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/climate-change-and-heat-islands\">urban heat island effect\u003c/a>, in which structures like buildings and roads absorb and reemit the sun’s heat more than natural landscapes like forests or bodies of water, leading to higher-than-average temperatures in urban areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California invests in greening schoolyards\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last year, California earmarked $150 million for green schoolyards. One initiative pushing the work forward is called the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.greenschoolyards.org/ca-schoolyard-forests\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California Schoolyard Forest System\u003c/a>,” a collaboration between the California Department of Education, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), nonprofits Green Schoolyards America and Ten Strands, school districts and county offices of education.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Our big, green audacious goal is to plant enough trees by 2035 so that when mature, they’ll provide 30% shade cover to child-accessible areas.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Our big, green audacious goal is to plant enough trees by 2035 so that when mature, they’ll provide 30% shade cover to child-accessible areas,” said Walter Passmore, a State Urban Forester with CAL FIRE.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Passmore said the money is just a drop in the bucket when you consider the state’s more than 10,000 public schools, roughly 130,000 acres of land, and nearly 6 million students. The program will prioritize schools in communities with high poverty levels, minimal tree cover and hot climates. Passmore hopes the initial funding will be a “down payment,” with more to come in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State legislators also sent a bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom to \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2566\">codify a grant program for school greening projects\u003c/a>. Newsom vetoed the bill in September, stating it would put “cost pressure” on the state with an “ongoing commitment not provided for in the budget.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State lawmakers are working on various bills to accelerate the greening of schoolyards. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB527\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">One bill\u003c/a> aims to codify a grant program for school greening projects (a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2566\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">similar bill\u003c/a> was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year, in which he stated it would put cost pressure on the state with an “ongoing commitment not provided for in the budget”). \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB499\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Another\u003c/a> focuses on creating extreme heat plans for schools and includes planting shade trees and gardens. And \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB394\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a third\u003c/a> would require various state agencies to build a “master plan for healthy, sustainable, and climate resilient schools.” There are others in the works, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nationally, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico introduced the \u003ca href=\"https://www.heinrich.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/heinrich-introduces-legislation-to-help-schools-re-envision-build-outdoor-learning-spaces\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Living Schoolyards Act\u003c/a> in May, legislation that, if passed, would fund outdoor classrooms and other greening projects through the U.S. Department of Education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983208\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1238px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983208\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.13.19-PM.png\" alt=\"Children playing on equipment in a schoolyard.\" width=\"1238\" height=\"822\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.13.19-PM.png 1238w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.13.19-PM-800x531.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.13.19-PM-1020x677.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.13.19-PM-160x106.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2022-11-30-at-2.13.19-PM-768x510.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1238px) 100vw, 1238px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play on the newly renovated ‘green’ schoolyard at Oakland Unified School District’s Cesar Chavez campus in East Oakland. Fence-to-fence asphalt a few years ago, the schoolyard is now home to 64 new trees. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>An urban oasis\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Just a few miles away from the asphalt schoolyard at Bridges Academy at Melrose is an outdoor space that’s quite the opposite. Oakland Unified School District’s Cesar Chavez campus houses two elementary schools, and nature abounds outside its classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kira Maritano is a senior program manager for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.tpl.org/\">Trust for Public Land\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that has partnered with the district to pilot a handful of green schoolyards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maritano points out some of the 64 new trees on this campus: Catalina ironwoods, southern live oaks, red maples and Chinese evergreen elms. She said they were chosen for a host of reasons, like how fast they grow, how much heat they can tolerate, and how much carbon they can sequester.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This schoolyard is now built to get cooler and cooler every year as we see the effects of climate change increase,” Maritano said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trees shade the yard and building. They cool the air around them through evapotranspiration: water evaporating from their leaves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are still sections of asphalt. Maritano explains that they’re needed for the myriad functions a schoolyard serves. But these paved surfaces make up far less of the overall outdoor footprint. A few years ago, the asphalt was fence-to-fence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983209\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983209\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59531_031_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A display in both English and Spanish on the schoolyard.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59531_031_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59531_031_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59531_031_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59531_031_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59531_031_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59531_031_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students play near a sign describing the living schoolyard at International Community School in Oakland on Oct. 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now children swing on ropes attached to logs above wood chips, two girls wander across a “bioswale” — a curving ditch, now dry, which collects stormwater when it rains — and a group of boys play soccer on a grass field. There’s an enormous garden and a fruit tree orchard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Giving kids the opportunity to have a tangible relationship with these natural materials is really important,” Maritano said. “A lot of these kids don’t have a chance in their day-to-day life, in their urban environment, to climb on a tree. Just knowing what that feels like starts to break down outdoor equity gaps.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A green schoolyard is also more permeable than one covered in asphalt or rubber safety tiles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is basically a stormwater sink,” Maritano said, referring to a woodchip-covered play area. “As much as possible, if we can remove asphalt and sink that water back into the earth, we’re benefiting the environment,” and avoiding putting pressure on public utilities like sewer systems, she adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983210\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983210\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59518_016_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Children running after a soccer ball on a grassy school yard.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59518_016_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59518_016_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59518_016_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59518_016_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59518_016_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59518_016_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students play soccer in a grass field at International Community School in Oakland on Oct. 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Benefits for health, gender equality\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Proponents of green schoolyards throw around the word “co-benefits” with regularity. One of the co-benefits of such a yard, beyond cooling a school and even a neighborhood, is better human health.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Our immune system becomes more robust and stronger against infectious agents when we spend time digging in the dirt, when we have regular exposure to vitamin D from sunlight, and when we engage in physical activity on a regular basis,” said Marcella Raney, of the Office of Well-Being at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said for many kids, their schoolyard is one of the only places to exercise and be outside — and, to combat issues like obesity, it’s important that their schoolyard be an inviting place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raney has also found \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016920462200281X\">differences in how boys and girls use schoolyards\u003c/a>: Kids who identify as boys are more active on asphalt schoolyards than kids who identify as girls. That’s because asphalt schoolyards are typically designed for “ball-based” games such as basketball, kickball and dodgeball — larger group sports that are competitive — and, Raney said, these games appeal most to boys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Green schoolyards appeal to both genders, however.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Girls are going to be a lot more active on a green schoolyard than they are on an asphalt schoolyard,” Raney said. “When we compare girls versus boys in green spaces, their activity levels are the same.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983211\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983211\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59515_007_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A group of children play on equipment in a school yard.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59515_007_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59515_007_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59515_007_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59515_007_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59515_007_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59515_007_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students play in the schoolyard at International Community School in Oakland on Oct. 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Raney has observed that girls favor smaller group activities and want to challenge themselves by climbing, jumping and swinging. A green schoolyard is designed to promote more of these activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, better physical activity for kids tends to mean better school performance.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Barriers to change\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For many, green schoolyards are a no-brainer, but there are hurdles to overcome before they’re widely adopted. One such hurdle, according to Cal Poly Pomona landscape architecture professor Claire Latané, is that decision-makers in schools and cities often work in silos, with very specific responsibilities like curriculum design, mental health or maintenance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But “when we do get people together to have those conversations and really talk about the multiple benefits [of green schoolyards], that conversation changes dramatically, because when thinking about the big picture, everyone wants what’s best for students and the community,” Latané said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Districts are also hesitant to jump into large projects spearheaded by one “champion,” Latané said, for fear no one will maintain the work when that individual moves on. Schools are understandably risk-averse, and a schoolyard of abandoned trees can become a liability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Latané said another challenge is that “schools have always been strained for finances in terms of maintenance. And asphalt is seen as a really low-maintenance material,” despite studies showing that over the long term,\u003ca href=\"https://www.planetizen.com/news/2022/05/117296-social-and-economic-benefits-green-schoolyards\"> green schoolyards are actually less expensive than asphalt ones\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983212\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983212\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59528_025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A monarch butterfly rests on a plant outside.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59528_025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59528_025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59528_025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59528_025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59528_025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59528_025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A monarch butterfly lands on a plant growing in the schoolyard at International Community School in Oakland on Oct. 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>LaMonte Douglas was a maintenance project manager for the Los Angeles Unified School District for 35 years. He has since retired. He says that when LA started greening schools, he saw the directive as “yet another thing on the plate to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when he learned of and saw the benefits of a green schoolyard, he said it became a no-brainer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He remembers a day he planted a bush at a school site and, immediately, he said, “Some exotic bird came and landed right by that bush. I’ve never seen that type of bird before. And it was almost like the bird was saying, ‘Well, finally, you give me a place to rest.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Schoolyard as community space\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At Bridges Academy at Melrose in Oakland, Mayra Gudiño lays out a vision for the transformation she wants for her kids’ asphalt schoolyard: trees, green spaces and more color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983213\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983213\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59504_033_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"Two women walking on a schoolyard with children playing in the background.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59504_033_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59504_033_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59504_033_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59504_033_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59504_033_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS59504_033_KQEDScience_BridgesAcademyOakland_10202022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayra Gudiño walks through the schoolyard with her daughter at Bridges Academy at Melrose in Oakland on Oct. 20, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It turns out they’ll get it. Through Gudiño and other parents, teacher and administrative activism, the school has received funding to transform their schoolyard: to rip up asphalt and plant trees. They broke ground early this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One condition of their funding is that they keep the schoolyard open for community use on nights and weekends, a boon for their neighborhood without nearby parks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gudiño said they deserve it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "What California's Wet Winter Means for Fire Season",
"headTitle": "What California’s Wet Winter Means for Fire Season | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The series of 31 atmospheric rivers that drenched California this past winter has wildfire officials and scientists breathing sighs of relief — for the most part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a coalition of state and federal fire directors, which puts out regular \u003ca href=\"https://gacc.nifc.gov/oncc/predictive/outlooks/Outlook_NOps.pdf\">predictions about wildfire season in Northern California (PDF)\u003c/a>, the potential for significant fires this year is normal to below normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That Northern California Geographic Area Coordination Center’s prediction comes from a compilation of factors, chief among them weather (past, present and future) and fuel moisture (how much water trees and plants are holding onto). Given the wet, cool winter and spring months, this year’s fire season is off to a slow start. The ground is still wet and grasses, shrubs and trees are holding onto that moisture, making them less likely to burn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the same thing as when you try to start a campfire: You don’t use wet wood. It’s very hard to get wet wood to ignite,” said Craig Clements, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sjsu.edu/wildfire/team/faculty.php\">director\u003c/a> of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center at San José State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"California Statewide Rainfall/Acres Burned (2000-2022) \" aria-label=\"Scatter Plot\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-61l7B\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/61l7B/4/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>But what about all that extra vegetation?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Maybe you’ve heard that all that rain means more vegetation, and that more vegetation means more fuel for wildfires. That’s true — but only in certain ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, you might’ve noticed grasses are extra tall this year due to all the rain. Grassland ecosystems are certainly more dense this year and once those grasses cure, they’ll be primed for burning. Thus, if conditions are ripe for fires in August, September and October, grassy environments could be at increased risk. That risk could spill over into next year, too, depending on the weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year is going to be more a function of the soil moisture content being so high,” said Clements. In other words, because grasses, shrubs and trees are holding onto their moisture longer than usual, the window for them to cure — and for severe wildfire risk — is narrower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, Clements added, grass fires are among the least concerning to firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re dangerous, they spread rapidly, but aircraft suppression works really well on grass fires,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire ramped up its flight suppression last year, which the agency said helped prevent wildfires from blazing out of control.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>So where will fires be worst this year?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In short: likely in the coastal grasslands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we do get significant heat waves or wind events in August, September and October, there could be a high level of fire activity in [the grasslands],” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a recent live YouTube \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E45I9YeO0ek\">video\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the Bay Area is considered coastal grassland and, depending on the late summer weather — particularly heat waves followed by gusty, dry offshore winds — the region could see increased fire activity later this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, forest and mountain ecosystems like the Sierra Nevada are still blanketed in snow, which could mean they’ll be spared this fire season. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/03/30/california-snowpack-record-sierra/\">record-breaking snowpack in the mountains is lingering into the summer months\u003c/a>, thereby decreasing fire danger. Even when it all melts later this summer, the fuel moisture will likely stay high enough to ward off any severe burning.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How will this summer’s weather factor in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Of course all of these predictions are contingent upon the weather, which in California is notoriously fickle. June has already been cooler and wetter than usual, and with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982822/6-common-misconceptions-about-el-nino-and-its-impact-on-california-weather\">El\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982822/6-common-misconceptions-about-el-nino-and-its-impact-on-california-weather\">Niño\u003c/a> conditions here, that trend is likely to continue later on this year. That narrows the window for high fire danger conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that window will still exist. Although fuel moisture is higher than normal right now, the tall grasses and shrubs will cure at some point this summer, likely in August, and will be ready to burn. August, September and October are notoriously hot, dry and windy across California, and even the dozens of atmospheric rivers from the previous winter won’t be enough to quell the fire season entirely. That’s thanks in part to climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re getting more fire weather days and worse high fire risk days because of climate change,” said Clements. “It’s day-to-day weather that really drives fire behavior on the ground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One heatwave can drastically change the fire danger outlook. “It can happen just in a matter of days,” said Clements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s too soon to know how those late summer months will play out weather-wise, but one thing is for sure: There will be fires in California this year. Because fire is a natural part of the state’s landscape, and many ecosystems are adapted to it and even need it to survive and thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A group of fire directors say the potential for big fires this year is much less than in recent years. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The series of 31 atmospheric rivers that drenched California this past winter has wildfire officials and scientists breathing sighs of relief — for the most part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a coalition of state and federal fire directors, which puts out regular \u003ca href=\"https://gacc.nifc.gov/oncc/predictive/outlooks/Outlook_NOps.pdf\">predictions about wildfire season in Northern California (PDF)\u003c/a>, the potential for significant fires this year is normal to below normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That Northern California Geographic Area Coordination Center’s prediction comes from a compilation of factors, chief among them weather (past, present and future) and fuel moisture (how much water trees and plants are holding onto). Given the wet, cool winter and spring months, this year’s fire season is off to a slow start. The ground is still wet and grasses, shrubs and trees are holding onto that moisture, making them less likely to burn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the same thing as when you try to start a campfire: You don’t use wet wood. It’s very hard to get wet wood to ignite,” said Craig Clements, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sjsu.edu/wildfire/team/faculty.php\">director\u003c/a> of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center at San José State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"California Statewide Rainfall/Acres Burned (2000-2022) \" aria-label=\"Scatter Plot\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-61l7B\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/61l7B/4/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>But what about all that extra vegetation?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Maybe you’ve heard that all that rain means more vegetation, and that more vegetation means more fuel for wildfires. That’s true — but only in certain ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, you might’ve noticed grasses are extra tall this year due to all the rain. Grassland ecosystems are certainly more dense this year and once those grasses cure, they’ll be primed for burning. Thus, if conditions are ripe for fires in August, September and October, grassy environments could be at increased risk. That risk could spill over into next year, too, depending on the weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year is going to be more a function of the soil moisture content being so high,” said Clements. In other words, because grasses, shrubs and trees are holding onto their moisture longer than usual, the window for them to cure — and for severe wildfire risk — is narrower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, Clements added, grass fires are among the least concerning to firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re dangerous, they spread rapidly, but aircraft suppression works really well on grass fires,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire ramped up its flight suppression last year, which the agency said helped prevent wildfires from blazing out of control.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>So where will fires be worst this year?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In short: likely in the coastal grasslands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we do get significant heat waves or wind events in August, September and October, there could be a high level of fire activity in [the grasslands],” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a recent live YouTube \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E45I9YeO0ek\">video\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the Bay Area is considered coastal grassland and, depending on the late summer weather — particularly heat waves followed by gusty, dry offshore winds — the region could see increased fire activity later this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, forest and mountain ecosystems like the Sierra Nevada are still blanketed in snow, which could mean they’ll be spared this fire season. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/03/30/california-snowpack-record-sierra/\">record-breaking snowpack in the mountains is lingering into the summer months\u003c/a>, thereby decreasing fire danger. Even when it all melts later this summer, the fuel moisture will likely stay high enough to ward off any severe burning.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How will this summer’s weather factor in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Of course all of these predictions are contingent upon the weather, which in California is notoriously fickle. June has already been cooler and wetter than usual, and with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982822/6-common-misconceptions-about-el-nino-and-its-impact-on-california-weather\">El\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1982822/6-common-misconceptions-about-el-nino-and-its-impact-on-california-weather\">Niño\u003c/a> conditions here, that trend is likely to continue later on this year. That narrows the window for high fire danger conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that window will still exist. Although fuel moisture is higher than normal right now, the tall grasses and shrubs will cure at some point this summer, likely in August, and will be ready to burn. August, September and October are notoriously hot, dry and windy across California, and even the dozens of atmospheric rivers from the previous winter won’t be enough to quell the fire season entirely. That’s thanks in part to climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re getting more fire weather days and worse high fire risk days because of climate change,” said Clements. “It’s day-to-day weather that really drives fire behavior on the ground.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One heatwave can drastically change the fire danger outlook. “It can happen just in a matter of days,” said Clements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s too soon to know how those late summer months will play out weather-wise, but one thing is for sure: There will be fires in California this year. Because fire is a natural part of the state’s landscape, and many ecosystems are adapted to it and even need it to survive and thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "This Fishing Gear Can Help Save Whales. What Will It Take for Fishermen to Use It?",
"headTitle": "This Fishing Gear Can Help Save Whales. What Will It Take for Fishermen to Use It? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Fishing boats would normally still be unloading Dungeness crabs at San Francisco’s fisherman’s wharf in May. This year, the docks were quiet, except for one berth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re the only boat right now,” says Brand Little, standing next to a large tank of bright red crabs on the deck of his boat, the Pale Horse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State regulators closed the Dungeness season two months early this year, due to the arrival of humpback whales in the area. On both the East and West Coasts, crab and lobster fishermen are \u003ca href=\"https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/02/01/massachusetts-lobster-crab-fishing-banned-restriction-noaa-whale\">seeing their fishing seasons shrink\u003c/a> over concerns that whales are getting entangled in the long ropes attached to their gear, accidents that often end up injuring or killing the animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983168\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983168 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc04615_custom-1696faf5fb1bdfd3e39e5bf9e6318eb2ccb805aa-s1300-c85-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"A fisherman wearing a black baseball cap, black sweater, and black shorts is standing at a fishery posing for a photo. There is a large blue bin next to him on the far right of the photo. The fisherman's right hand is rested on a large white compartment that is half opened. \" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc04615_custom-1696faf5fb1bdfd3e39e5bf9e6318eb2ccb805aa-s1300-c85-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc04615_custom-1696faf5fb1bdfd3e39e5bf9e6318eb2ccb805aa-s1300-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc04615_custom-1696faf5fb1bdfd3e39e5bf9e6318eb2ccb805aa-s1300-c85-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc04615_custom-1696faf5fb1bdfd3e39e5bf9e6318eb2ccb805aa-s1300-c85-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc04615_custom-1696faf5fb1bdfd3e39e5bf9e6318eb2ccb805aa-s1300-c85.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Despite the early closure of the Dungeness crab fishery, fisherman Brand Little has been able to keep fishing using pop-up gear, designed to avoid entangling whales. \u003ccite>(Lauren Summer/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But Little is still fishing, because he’s trying out a system that many hope will be a technological fix to the problem: \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/marine-mammal-protection/developing-viable-demand-gear-systems\">“pop-up” fishing gear\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Normally, crab and lobster traps sit on the bottom of the ocean and are tethered to the surface by a rope that can stretch hundreds of feet. Pop-up fishing gear, also known as on-demand or ropeless gear, keeps the rope and buoy stowed on the ocean floor, until the fisherman comes to retrieve it. This spring, a dozen lobstermen were also permitted to fish in closed areas off Massachusetts and Rhode Island with pop-up gear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983156\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983156 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a black and gray baseball cap is wearing a red t-shirt and brown pants. He wears orange gloves and is holding a circular shaped crab trap.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d-1536x1151.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d-1920x1439.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Deckhand Justin Middleton pulls in a crab trap off San Francisco, where new pop-up fishing gear is being piloted. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Brand Little)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The new gear has the potential to help whales and fishermen alike, but it isn’t a quick fix. There are technical issues to iron out, including ensuring the gear can be used in crowded areas. The cost for each pop-up system can also run thousands of dollars, a massive expenditure for boats that would need to buy hundreds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within the fishing community, there’s also reluctance to even test the equipment because many fishermen fear government regulators will mandate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the urgency to make the gear work is growing, as fishermen keep taking financial hits and whales remain at risk. On the East Coast, North Atlantic right whales are dangerously close to extinction and more than 85% show injuries from being entangled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983169\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983169 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc2058_custom-bb7e686498dea94d5c8feb848702d71d513b0f78-s1300-c85-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"An orange float is seen floating in the dark ocean with clear blue and cloudy skies at the top.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc2058_custom-bb7e686498dea94d5c8feb848702d71d513b0f78-s1300-c85-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc2058_custom-bb7e686498dea94d5c8feb848702d71d513b0f78-s1300-c85-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc2058_custom-bb7e686498dea94d5c8feb848702d71d513b0f78-s1300-c85-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc2058_custom-bb7e686498dea94d5c8feb848702d71d513b0f78-s1300-c85-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc2058_custom-bb7e686498dea94d5c8feb848702d71d513b0f78-s1300-c85.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">With ropeless technology, orange markers rise to the surface of the water at the traps once they are triggered remotely. \u003ccite>(Claire Harbage/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think this on-demand system, this ropeless fishing, is a very human way to tackle the problem because it’s technology,” says Mark Baumgartner, senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “What we’re good at is coming up with technology to solve problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Testing pop-up gear in the water\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>On a Saturday morning, a steady stream of customers stop by Little’s boat to snag a few crabs. Little’s catch is far less than he’d get at the peak of crab season, but his goal is to test the pop-up fishing gear and look for pitfalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s what fishermen need to do — be part of the development of it or take what’s handed to you,” he says. “And 90% of what’s out there I would not want to be handed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The system works like this: The large round crab trap is tossed overboard along with a coiled rope, buoy and inflatable bag. After it’s collected crabs on the seafloor, Little returns, finding the trap on an app. He hits a button, sending an acoustic signal to release the rope and buoy, which rise to the surface. Other gear manufacturers have different variations of this system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little says he was skeptical at first, but has found the gear has potential. The last few years have been tough on him and the rest of California’s crab fleet. The season opening was also delayed several times in recent years, after humpback whales returned to coastal waters on their yearly migration in the winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983170\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983170 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_2944_custom-0a14d18f1ff372add0dfaf81a0bcac4ca091561c-s1300-c85-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"A person in orange overalls is holding a large shrimp in their hands. The person is on a boat.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_2944_custom-0a14d18f1ff372add0dfaf81a0bcac4ca091561c-s1300-c85-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_2944_custom-0a14d18f1ff372add0dfaf81a0bcac4ca091561c-s1300-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_2944_custom-0a14d18f1ff372add0dfaf81a0bcac4ca091561c-s1300-c85-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_2944_custom-0a14d18f1ff372add0dfaf81a0bcac4ca091561c-s1300-c85-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_2944_custom-0a14d18f1ff372add0dfaf81a0bcac4ca091561c-s1300-c85.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lobster fishermen on the East Coast have faced closures over North Atlantic right whales. Only around 340 right whales remain in the population. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Ryan Kellman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lobster fishermen on the East Coast have faced similar closures over North Atlantic right whales. Only around 340 right whales remain in the population and federal officials \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/2017-2023-north-atlantic-right-whale-unusual-mortality-event\">have documented dozens of entanglements since 2017\u003c/a>. The whales feed by swimming slowly with open mouths, making them vulnerable to long ropes hanging in the water. The injuries can be grisly. Ropes dig into the whale’s flesh, exhausting or killing whales after they drag the gear for miles. Earlier this year, rescuers worked for 3 days to \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/north-atlantic-right-whale-updates#entanglement-response-mounted-for-newly-entangled-right-whale,-argo-(#1218)\">remove more than 150 feet of rope\u003c/a> from a whale, equipment later linked to the Canadian fishing industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Concerns about whales led Whole Foods to announce last spring that it would \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/11/30/1139876157/whole-foods-maine-lobster-north-atlantic-right-whale\">no longer sell live lobsters from Maine\u003c/a>. The controversy has been intense, with Maine’s lobster industry contending that no whale deaths have been linked to their fishery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s challenging for regulators to determine exactly where whales are being entangled. Many injured whales are found after the ropes have fallen off, and federal rules only recently required fishermen to put \u003ca href=\"https://www.mainepublic.org/environment-and-outdoors/2023-04-13/right-whales-arent-having-a-good-year-the-pressure-is-on-to-save-this-hard-to-track-species\">color coding on their ropes\u003c/a> to better identify where they came from. As the oceans get hotter with climate change, \u003ca href=\"https://apps.npr.org/arctic-ice-melting-climate-change/greenland-whales.html\">right whales have also been shifting their migration\u003c/a>, spending less time in Maine waters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983171\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983171\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/11468719096_f7acc916b7_k_custom-ae5d1a61371fef3c6991ec8d352ce37fd353a5d9-s1300-c85-800x422.jpg\" alt=\"An image of a whale swimming in dark green waters.\" width=\"800\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/11468719096_f7acc916b7_k_custom-ae5d1a61371fef3c6991ec8d352ce37fd353a5d9-s1300-c85-800x422.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/11468719096_f7acc916b7_k_custom-ae5d1a61371fef3c6991ec8d352ce37fd353a5d9-s1300-c85-1020x538.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/11468719096_f7acc916b7_k_custom-ae5d1a61371fef3c6991ec8d352ce37fd353a5d9-s1300-c85-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/11468719096_f7acc916b7_k_custom-ae5d1a61371fef3c6991ec8d352ce37fd353a5d9-s1300-c85-768x405.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/11468719096_f7acc916b7_k_custom-ae5d1a61371fef3c6991ec8d352ce37fd353a5d9-s1300-c85.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Entangled North Atlantic right whales can drag fishing gear hundreds of miles, like this whale off of Florida. The injuries can be life-threatening. \u003ccite>(NOAA News Archive 123110)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Some fishermen hesitant to dive in\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>On social media, Little has been posting when “whale-safe” crab is available to help customers understand what fishermen are doing about the problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For me, it’s adapt or die,” he says. “You gotta roll with the punches. This problem isn’t going away without changing the way we do stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, his willingness to test out the new fishing gear has not made him popular at the docks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I get a lot of flack,” Little says. “There’s a lot of guys really upset with me for doing this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the East Coast, gear testing has faced a similar atmosphere of doubt. Dave Casoni, who has been lobstering off Cape Cod for five decades, said he’s tested pop-up gear, but there’s a fair amount of peer pressure to steer clear over worries it will bring more regulation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Maybe it would send a message that: See, the industry did it, therefore they were in favor of it,” Casoni says. “I was accused of that and I had not intended to do that. I intended to find the shortfalls.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center has created a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/marine-mammal-protection/borrow-northeast-fisheries-science-center-gear\">library of ropeless gear\u003c/a>, where fishermen can test gear in the water and help provide feedback to manufacturers. But of more than 5,000 lobstermen in New England, only 50 have used the library since it was created several years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983172\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983172\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc1970_custom-2b5f7edde43a70922a02d838f137c4d3c3f6e628-s1300-c85-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"A white woman in a gray baseball cap, light blue t-shirt, blue jeans, and gray sneakers stands on a wooden surface next to a white boat. The backdrop is a lakeside with houses in front of the lake.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc1970_custom-2b5f7edde43a70922a02d838f137c4d3c3f6e628-s1300-c85-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc1970_custom-2b5f7edde43a70922a02d838f137c4d3c3f6e628-s1300-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc1970_custom-2b5f7edde43a70922a02d838f137c4d3c3f6e628-s1300-c85-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc1970_custom-2b5f7edde43a70922a02d838f137c4d3c3f6e628-s1300-c85-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc1970_custom-2b5f7edde43a70922a02d838f137c4d3c3f6e628-s1300-c85.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patrice McCarron of the Maine Lobsterman’s Association says the fear among fishermen is that if regulators see them using pop-up gear, they’ll mandate it year-round. \u003ccite>(Claire Harbage/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Patrice Maccarron, policy director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, says the fear among fishermen is that if regulators see them using pop-up gear, they’ll mandate it year-round, even when whales are not present. But some lobstermen are still trying to be part of the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They tend to be younger people with families who want to be in the fishery,” Maccarron says. “And they’re thinking, you know, I don’t want to do this. This is going to be really hard. But I also don’t want my livelihood to be removed and to reach a point where we don’t have options.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the fishery closures have mounted, hitting the more than $500 million lobster industry, the conversation is shifting, albeit slowly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we’re now seeing a lot more willingness to try this, a lot more feedback, a lot more people who are understanding that we’re simply trying to provide fishermen a tool so they can access these closed areas,” says Henry Milliken, who helps run the gear library at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983173\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983173\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/2014summerswans-181-4c921061ff7d5c703fd8d037747254058a049943-s1300-c85-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A boat with a blue sail is seen on the waters during the early hours of the morning.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/2014summerswans-181-4c921061ff7d5c703fd8d037747254058a049943-s1300-c85-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/2014summerswans-181-4c921061ff7d5c703fd8d037747254058a049943-s1300-c85-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/2014summerswans-181-4c921061ff7d5c703fd8d037747254058a049943-s1300-c85-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/2014summerswans-181-4c921061ff7d5c703fd8d037747254058a049943-s1300-c85-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/2014summerswans-181-4c921061ff7d5c703fd8d037747254058a049943-s1300-c85.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A boat is prepared for a day at sea. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Ryan Kellman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Technical issues still remain\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Pop-up gear may work well in tests, but many fishermen worry it could be a different story when hundreds of boats use it during a busy commercial fishing season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buoys on the surface normally mark where traps are located, so fishermen can avoid putting their traps on top of someone else’s. With pop-up gear, fishermen would need to use an app or their onboard navigation system to see where traps already are on the seafloor. And some worry there could be conflict when boats are working close together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very, very congested,” Casoni says. “So I think the fear is it would create more problems amongst each other just fishing. It’s a very busy, dangerous operation to begin with, and we don’t need to add that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To prevent problems, fishing gear made by different manufacturers needs to show up on the same maps, just as cell phones from different carriers can all use the same network. NOAA plans on holding a workshop this fall to develop universal technical standards for manufacturers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the question how much slower it is to use pop-up gear. Dick Ogg, a crab fisherman from Bodega Bay, California, says he’s tested the gear. He points out that fishermen work with hundreds of traps during already grueling work days, and adding any extra time with new gear would be an economic hit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The process is very fast and it’s important to understand if we alter any of this, it has to be comparable,” Ogg says. “If I do one extra minute on my pot allocation, that’s an extra 5.8 hours a day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983174\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983174\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/ogg1_custom-394b757826fc16c16c2af78babed56b7be77eca0-s1300-c85-800x599.jpg\" alt=\"A fisherman with gray hair is wearing a gray sweater and sunglasses poses for a photo in front of some fishing gear.\" width=\"800\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/ogg1_custom-394b757826fc16c16c2af78babed56b7be77eca0-s1300-c85-800x599.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/ogg1_custom-394b757826fc16c16c2af78babed56b7be77eca0-s1300-c85-1020x763.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/ogg1_custom-394b757826fc16c16c2af78babed56b7be77eca0-s1300-c85-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/ogg1_custom-394b757826fc16c16c2af78babed56b7be77eca0-s1300-c85-768x575.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/ogg1_custom-394b757826fc16c16c2af78babed56b7be77eca0-s1300-c85.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dick Ogg, a crab fisherman from Bodega Bay, California, says he’s tested the gear, but since fishermen work with hundreds of traps during already grueling work days, adding any extra time would be an economic hit. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The price tag for pop-up systems can cost from hundreds to thousands of dollars per unit, which adds up for boats with hundreds of traps. To deploy the gear in a fishery equitably, boats would likely need grants or loans to defray the costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we bring in a capital-intensive model, we know our small boats don’t have that sort of operating capital,” McCarron says. “And, you know, there’s a very, very strong concern that we’re going to lose them and there won’t be a place for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>New resources to make pop-up gear work\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>To accelerate the process, the federal government is putting almost $68 million toward efforts to help North Atlantic right whales this year, funding that comes from the Inflation Reduction Act and the omnibus spending bill passed in December. Of that, $27 million will go to new kinds of fishing gear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a very significant investment that we haven’t seen before to address the issues that are facing North Atlantic right whales,” says Kim Damon-Randall, director of NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources. “If we can develop on-demand technology for gear in the Northeast, that technology can be applied elsewhere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fishermen on both coasts are able to use pop-up gear voluntarily now, and lobstermen on the East Coast aren’t facing imminent rules mandating the gear. While NOAA had developed new regulations that would close fishing grounds and limit the number of traps in the water, a last-minute Congressional effort in December \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/01/04/1146637583/maine-lobster-industry-wins-reprieve-but-environmentalists-say-whales-will-die\">delayed those rules for six years\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983175\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983175\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_3876-2_custom-5b88e265b16803d0d69913005aeed519cf012d80-s1300-c85-1-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing purple gloves and an orange fishing overall carries a blue tub that is filled with large shrimp.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_3876-2_custom-5b88e265b16803d0d69913005aeed519cf012d80-s1300-c85-1-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_3876-2_custom-5b88e265b16803d0d69913005aeed519cf012d80-s1300-c85-1-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_3876-2_custom-5b88e265b16803d0d69913005aeed519cf012d80-s1300-c85-1-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_3876-2_custom-5b88e265b16803d0d69913005aeed519cf012d80-s1300-c85-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_3876-2_custom-5b88e265b16803d0d69913005aeed519cf012d80-s1300-c85-1.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Federal officials say pop-up gear technology being piloted in the lobster industry could lead the way for other fisheries around the world that risk entangling whales. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Ryan Kellman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>No matter what side of the issue, most agree that pop-up gear will take some time, both to iron out the technical issues and to work on acceptance in the fishing industry. In the Northeast, a group of manufacturers, fishermen and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, known as the \u003ca href=\"https://ropeless.org/\">Ropeless Consortium\u003c/a>, is working together on improving the technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything just needs to happen faster,” Baumgartner says. “So more focus and more resources are what’s needed. Those are coming but it’s been slow in coming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=This+fishing+gear+can+help+save+whales.+What+will+it+take+for+fishermen+to+use+it%3F&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "On both the East and West coasts, whales are at risk of being entangled and injured by ropes used by fishermen. Fishing grounds are being closed, but new technology could help avoid that. ",
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"description": "On both the East and West coasts, whales are at risk of being entangled and injured by ropes used by fishermen. Fishing grounds are being closed, but new technology could help avoid that. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Fishing boats would normally still be unloading Dungeness crabs at San Francisco’s fisherman’s wharf in May. This year, the docks were quiet, except for one berth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re the only boat right now,” says Brand Little, standing next to a large tank of bright red crabs on the deck of his boat, the Pale Horse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State regulators closed the Dungeness season two months early this year, due to the arrival of humpback whales in the area. On both the East and West Coasts, crab and lobster fishermen are \u003ca href=\"https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/02/01/massachusetts-lobster-crab-fishing-banned-restriction-noaa-whale\">seeing their fishing seasons shrink\u003c/a> over concerns that whales are getting entangled in the long ropes attached to their gear, accidents that often end up injuring or killing the animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983168\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983168 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc04615_custom-1696faf5fb1bdfd3e39e5bf9e6318eb2ccb805aa-s1300-c85-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"A fisherman wearing a black baseball cap, black sweater, and black shorts is standing at a fishery posing for a photo. There is a large blue bin next to him on the far right of the photo. The fisherman's right hand is rested on a large white compartment that is half opened. \" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc04615_custom-1696faf5fb1bdfd3e39e5bf9e6318eb2ccb805aa-s1300-c85-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc04615_custom-1696faf5fb1bdfd3e39e5bf9e6318eb2ccb805aa-s1300-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc04615_custom-1696faf5fb1bdfd3e39e5bf9e6318eb2ccb805aa-s1300-c85-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc04615_custom-1696faf5fb1bdfd3e39e5bf9e6318eb2ccb805aa-s1300-c85-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc04615_custom-1696faf5fb1bdfd3e39e5bf9e6318eb2ccb805aa-s1300-c85.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Despite the early closure of the Dungeness crab fishery, fisherman Brand Little has been able to keep fishing using pop-up gear, designed to avoid entangling whales. \u003ccite>(Lauren Summer/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But Little is still fishing, because he’s trying out a system that many hope will be a technological fix to the problem: \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/marine-mammal-protection/developing-viable-demand-gear-systems\">“pop-up” fishing gear\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Normally, crab and lobster traps sit on the bottom of the ocean and are tethered to the surface by a rope that can stretch hundreds of feet. Pop-up fishing gear, also known as on-demand or ropeless gear, keeps the rope and buoy stowed on the ocean floor, until the fisherman comes to retrieve it. This spring, a dozen lobstermen were also permitted to fish in closed areas off Massachusetts and Rhode Island with pop-up gear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983156\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983156 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a black and gray baseball cap is wearing a red t-shirt and brown pants. He wears orange gloves and is holding a circular shaped crab trap.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d-1536x1151.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d-1920x1439.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/348274596_6193085530739907_7897540296190815100_n_custom-30c3cb9e5b3f2cf30b41e5dba60414747cbeb77d.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Deckhand Justin Middleton pulls in a crab trap off San Francisco, where new pop-up fishing gear is being piloted. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Brand Little)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The new gear has the potential to help whales and fishermen alike, but it isn’t a quick fix. There are technical issues to iron out, including ensuring the gear can be used in crowded areas. The cost for each pop-up system can also run thousands of dollars, a massive expenditure for boats that would need to buy hundreds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within the fishing community, there’s also reluctance to even test the equipment because many fishermen fear government regulators will mandate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the urgency to make the gear work is growing, as fishermen keep taking financial hits and whales remain at risk. On the East Coast, North Atlantic right whales are dangerously close to extinction and more than 85% show injuries from being entangled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983169\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983169 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc2058_custom-bb7e686498dea94d5c8feb848702d71d513b0f78-s1300-c85-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"An orange float is seen floating in the dark ocean with clear blue and cloudy skies at the top.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc2058_custom-bb7e686498dea94d5c8feb848702d71d513b0f78-s1300-c85-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc2058_custom-bb7e686498dea94d5c8feb848702d71d513b0f78-s1300-c85-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc2058_custom-bb7e686498dea94d5c8feb848702d71d513b0f78-s1300-c85-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc2058_custom-bb7e686498dea94d5c8feb848702d71d513b0f78-s1300-c85-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc2058_custom-bb7e686498dea94d5c8feb848702d71d513b0f78-s1300-c85.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">With ropeless technology, orange markers rise to the surface of the water at the traps once they are triggered remotely. \u003ccite>(Claire Harbage/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think this on-demand system, this ropeless fishing, is a very human way to tackle the problem because it’s technology,” says Mark Baumgartner, senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “What we’re good at is coming up with technology to solve problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Testing pop-up gear in the water\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>On a Saturday morning, a steady stream of customers stop by Little’s boat to snag a few crabs. Little’s catch is far less than he’d get at the peak of crab season, but his goal is to test the pop-up fishing gear and look for pitfalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s what fishermen need to do — be part of the development of it or take what’s handed to you,” he says. “And 90% of what’s out there I would not want to be handed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The system works like this: The large round crab trap is tossed overboard along with a coiled rope, buoy and inflatable bag. After it’s collected crabs on the seafloor, Little returns, finding the trap on an app. He hits a button, sending an acoustic signal to release the rope and buoy, which rise to the surface. Other gear manufacturers have different variations of this system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little says he was skeptical at first, but has found the gear has potential. The last few years have been tough on him and the rest of California’s crab fleet. The season opening was also delayed several times in recent years, after humpback whales returned to coastal waters on their yearly migration in the winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983170\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983170 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_2944_custom-0a14d18f1ff372add0dfaf81a0bcac4ca091561c-s1300-c85-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"A person in orange overalls is holding a large shrimp in their hands. The person is on a boat.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_2944_custom-0a14d18f1ff372add0dfaf81a0bcac4ca091561c-s1300-c85-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_2944_custom-0a14d18f1ff372add0dfaf81a0bcac4ca091561c-s1300-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_2944_custom-0a14d18f1ff372add0dfaf81a0bcac4ca091561c-s1300-c85-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_2944_custom-0a14d18f1ff372add0dfaf81a0bcac4ca091561c-s1300-c85-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_2944_custom-0a14d18f1ff372add0dfaf81a0bcac4ca091561c-s1300-c85.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lobster fishermen on the East Coast have faced closures over North Atlantic right whales. Only around 340 right whales remain in the population. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Ryan Kellman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lobster fishermen on the East Coast have faced similar closures over North Atlantic right whales. Only around 340 right whales remain in the population and federal officials \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/2017-2023-north-atlantic-right-whale-unusual-mortality-event\">have documented dozens of entanglements since 2017\u003c/a>. The whales feed by swimming slowly with open mouths, making them vulnerable to long ropes hanging in the water. The injuries can be grisly. Ropes dig into the whale’s flesh, exhausting or killing whales after they drag the gear for miles. Earlier this year, rescuers worked for 3 days to \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/north-atlantic-right-whale-updates#entanglement-response-mounted-for-newly-entangled-right-whale,-argo-(#1218)\">remove more than 150 feet of rope\u003c/a> from a whale, equipment later linked to the Canadian fishing industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Concerns about whales led Whole Foods to announce last spring that it would \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/11/30/1139876157/whole-foods-maine-lobster-north-atlantic-right-whale\">no longer sell live lobsters from Maine\u003c/a>. The controversy has been intense, with Maine’s lobster industry contending that no whale deaths have been linked to their fishery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s challenging for regulators to determine exactly where whales are being entangled. Many injured whales are found after the ropes have fallen off, and federal rules only recently required fishermen to put \u003ca href=\"https://www.mainepublic.org/environment-and-outdoors/2023-04-13/right-whales-arent-having-a-good-year-the-pressure-is-on-to-save-this-hard-to-track-species\">color coding on their ropes\u003c/a> to better identify where they came from. As the oceans get hotter with climate change, \u003ca href=\"https://apps.npr.org/arctic-ice-melting-climate-change/greenland-whales.html\">right whales have also been shifting their migration\u003c/a>, spending less time in Maine waters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983171\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983171\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/11468719096_f7acc916b7_k_custom-ae5d1a61371fef3c6991ec8d352ce37fd353a5d9-s1300-c85-800x422.jpg\" alt=\"An image of a whale swimming in dark green waters.\" width=\"800\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/11468719096_f7acc916b7_k_custom-ae5d1a61371fef3c6991ec8d352ce37fd353a5d9-s1300-c85-800x422.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/11468719096_f7acc916b7_k_custom-ae5d1a61371fef3c6991ec8d352ce37fd353a5d9-s1300-c85-1020x538.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/11468719096_f7acc916b7_k_custom-ae5d1a61371fef3c6991ec8d352ce37fd353a5d9-s1300-c85-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/11468719096_f7acc916b7_k_custom-ae5d1a61371fef3c6991ec8d352ce37fd353a5d9-s1300-c85-768x405.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/11468719096_f7acc916b7_k_custom-ae5d1a61371fef3c6991ec8d352ce37fd353a5d9-s1300-c85.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Entangled North Atlantic right whales can drag fishing gear hundreds of miles, like this whale off of Florida. The injuries can be life-threatening. \u003ccite>(NOAA News Archive 123110)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Some fishermen hesitant to dive in\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>On social media, Little has been posting when “whale-safe” crab is available to help customers understand what fishermen are doing about the problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For me, it’s adapt or die,” he says. “You gotta roll with the punches. This problem isn’t going away without changing the way we do stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, his willingness to test out the new fishing gear has not made him popular at the docks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I get a lot of flack,” Little says. “There’s a lot of guys really upset with me for doing this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the East Coast, gear testing has faced a similar atmosphere of doubt. Dave Casoni, who has been lobstering off Cape Cod for five decades, said he’s tested pop-up gear, but there’s a fair amount of peer pressure to steer clear over worries it will bring more regulation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Maybe it would send a message that: See, the industry did it, therefore they were in favor of it,” Casoni says. “I was accused of that and I had not intended to do that. I intended to find the shortfalls.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center has created a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/marine-mammal-protection/borrow-northeast-fisheries-science-center-gear\">library of ropeless gear\u003c/a>, where fishermen can test gear in the water and help provide feedback to manufacturers. But of more than 5,000 lobstermen in New England, only 50 have used the library since it was created several years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983172\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983172\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc1970_custom-2b5f7edde43a70922a02d838f137c4d3c3f6e628-s1300-c85-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"A white woman in a gray baseball cap, light blue t-shirt, blue jeans, and gray sneakers stands on a wooden surface next to a white boat. The backdrop is a lakeside with houses in front of the lake.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc1970_custom-2b5f7edde43a70922a02d838f137c4d3c3f6e628-s1300-c85-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc1970_custom-2b5f7edde43a70922a02d838f137c4d3c3f6e628-s1300-c85-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc1970_custom-2b5f7edde43a70922a02d838f137c4d3c3f6e628-s1300-c85-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc1970_custom-2b5f7edde43a70922a02d838f137c4d3c3f6e628-s1300-c85-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/dsc1970_custom-2b5f7edde43a70922a02d838f137c4d3c3f6e628-s1300-c85.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patrice McCarron of the Maine Lobsterman’s Association says the fear among fishermen is that if regulators see them using pop-up gear, they’ll mandate it year-round. \u003ccite>(Claire Harbage/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Patrice Maccarron, policy director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, says the fear among fishermen is that if regulators see them using pop-up gear, they’ll mandate it year-round, even when whales are not present. But some lobstermen are still trying to be part of the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They tend to be younger people with families who want to be in the fishery,” Maccarron says. “And they’re thinking, you know, I don’t want to do this. This is going to be really hard. But I also don’t want my livelihood to be removed and to reach a point where we don’t have options.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the fishery closures have mounted, hitting the more than $500 million lobster industry, the conversation is shifting, albeit slowly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we’re now seeing a lot more willingness to try this, a lot more feedback, a lot more people who are understanding that we’re simply trying to provide fishermen a tool so they can access these closed areas,” says Henry Milliken, who helps run the gear library at NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983173\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983173\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/2014summerswans-181-4c921061ff7d5c703fd8d037747254058a049943-s1300-c85-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A boat with a blue sail is seen on the waters during the early hours of the morning.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/2014summerswans-181-4c921061ff7d5c703fd8d037747254058a049943-s1300-c85-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/2014summerswans-181-4c921061ff7d5c703fd8d037747254058a049943-s1300-c85-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/2014summerswans-181-4c921061ff7d5c703fd8d037747254058a049943-s1300-c85-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/2014summerswans-181-4c921061ff7d5c703fd8d037747254058a049943-s1300-c85-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/2014summerswans-181-4c921061ff7d5c703fd8d037747254058a049943-s1300-c85.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A boat is prepared for a day at sea. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Ryan Kellman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Technical issues still remain\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Pop-up gear may work well in tests, but many fishermen worry it could be a different story when hundreds of boats use it during a busy commercial fishing season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buoys on the surface normally mark where traps are located, so fishermen can avoid putting their traps on top of someone else’s. With pop-up gear, fishermen would need to use an app or their onboard navigation system to see where traps already are on the seafloor. And some worry there could be conflict when boats are working close together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very, very congested,” Casoni says. “So I think the fear is it would create more problems amongst each other just fishing. It’s a very busy, dangerous operation to begin with, and we don’t need to add that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To prevent problems, fishing gear made by different manufacturers needs to show up on the same maps, just as cell phones from different carriers can all use the same network. NOAA plans on holding a workshop this fall to develop universal technical standards for manufacturers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the question how much slower it is to use pop-up gear. Dick Ogg, a crab fisherman from Bodega Bay, California, says he’s tested the gear. He points out that fishermen work with hundreds of traps during already grueling work days, and adding any extra time with new gear would be an economic hit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The process is very fast and it’s important to understand if we alter any of this, it has to be comparable,” Ogg says. “If I do one extra minute on my pot allocation, that’s an extra 5.8 hours a day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983174\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983174\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/ogg1_custom-394b757826fc16c16c2af78babed56b7be77eca0-s1300-c85-800x599.jpg\" alt=\"A fisherman with gray hair is wearing a gray sweater and sunglasses poses for a photo in front of some fishing gear.\" width=\"800\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/ogg1_custom-394b757826fc16c16c2af78babed56b7be77eca0-s1300-c85-800x599.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/ogg1_custom-394b757826fc16c16c2af78babed56b7be77eca0-s1300-c85-1020x763.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/ogg1_custom-394b757826fc16c16c2af78babed56b7be77eca0-s1300-c85-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/ogg1_custom-394b757826fc16c16c2af78babed56b7be77eca0-s1300-c85-768x575.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/ogg1_custom-394b757826fc16c16c2af78babed56b7be77eca0-s1300-c85.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dick Ogg, a crab fisherman from Bodega Bay, California, says he’s tested the gear, but since fishermen work with hundreds of traps during already grueling work days, adding any extra time would be an economic hit. \u003ccite>(Lauren Sommer/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The price tag for pop-up systems can cost from hundreds to thousands of dollars per unit, which adds up for boats with hundreds of traps. To deploy the gear in a fishery equitably, boats would likely need grants or loans to defray the costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we bring in a capital-intensive model, we know our small boats don’t have that sort of operating capital,” McCarron says. “And, you know, there’s a very, very strong concern that we’re going to lose them and there won’t be a place for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>New resources to make pop-up gear work\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>To accelerate the process, the federal government is putting almost $68 million toward efforts to help North Atlantic right whales this year, funding that comes from the Inflation Reduction Act and the omnibus spending bill passed in December. Of that, $27 million will go to new kinds of fishing gear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a very significant investment that we haven’t seen before to address the issues that are facing North Atlantic right whales,” says Kim Damon-Randall, director of NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources. “If we can develop on-demand technology for gear in the Northeast, that technology can be applied elsewhere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fishermen on both coasts are able to use pop-up gear voluntarily now, and lobstermen on the East Coast aren’t facing imminent rules mandating the gear. While NOAA had developed new regulations that would close fishing grounds and limit the number of traps in the water, a last-minute Congressional effort in December \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/01/04/1146637583/maine-lobster-industry-wins-reprieve-but-environmentalists-say-whales-will-die\">delayed those rules for six years\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983175\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983175\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_3876-2_custom-5b88e265b16803d0d69913005aeed519cf012d80-s1300-c85-1-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing purple gloves and an orange fishing overall carries a blue tub that is filled with large shrimp.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_3876-2_custom-5b88e265b16803d0d69913005aeed519cf012d80-s1300-c85-1-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_3876-2_custom-5b88e265b16803d0d69913005aeed519cf012d80-s1300-c85-1-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_3876-2_custom-5b88e265b16803d0d69913005aeed519cf012d80-s1300-c85-1-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_3876-2_custom-5b88e265b16803d0d69913005aeed519cf012d80-s1300-c85-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/mg_3876-2_custom-5b88e265b16803d0d69913005aeed519cf012d80-s1300-c85-1.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Federal officials say pop-up gear technology being piloted in the lobster industry could lead the way for other fisheries around the world that risk entangling whales. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Ryan Kellman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>No matter what side of the issue, most agree that pop-up gear will take some time, both to iron out the technical issues and to work on acceptance in the fishing industry. In the Northeast, a group of manufacturers, fishermen and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, known as the \u003ca href=\"https://ropeless.org/\">Ropeless Consortium\u003c/a>, is working together on improving the technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything just needs to happen faster,” Baumgartner says. “So more focus and more resources are what’s needed. Those are coming but it’s been slow in coming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=This+fishing+gear+can+help+save+whales.+What+will+it+take+for+fishermen+to+use+it%3F&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "MAP: More Than 5,000 Toxic Sites Along SF Bay Threatened by Rising Groundwater, New Study Finds",
"headTitle": "MAP: More Than 5,000 Toxic Sites Along SF Bay Threatened by Rising Groundwater, New Study Finds | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>More than 5,200 toxic sites buried along the lip of San Francisco Bay could be impacted by rising groundwater levels over the next century, posing potentially severe risks to human and environmental health, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/06/20/rising-groundwater-threatens-thousands-of-toxic-sites-in-the-bay-area/\">recently released study\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s more than 10 times as many potentially at-risk Bay Area sites as had been identified in previous reports. A disproportionate number are located in lower-income communities of color, including in low-lying areas of San Francisco, Richmond, West Oakland and East Palo Alto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The higher the social vulnerability, the higher the density of contaminated sites,” said Kristina Hill, director of UC Berkeley’s Institute of Urban and Regional Development, who co-authored the study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike much lower tallies from the federal and state agencies that oversee these sites, Hill’s study includes 1,480 open sites, which are in the process of being cleaned up or have not yet been cleaned up, as well as an additional 3,817 closed sites where some level of cleanup work may have been conducted, but that may still contain residual contaminants and be vulnerable to rising groundwater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The map below shows the more than 5,000 open (orange circle) and closed (black square) contaminated sites in the Bay Area that UC Berkeley Institute of Urban and Regional Development researchers identified as being potentially at risk of inundation by rising groundwater over the next century. Open sites include areas where cleanup has yet to begin or is still in progress. Closed sites include areas where cleanup has been completed but may still contain harmful toxins. For more information on each toxic site and the agency overseeing its cleanup, visit either of these searchable databases: \u003ca href=\"https://www.envirostor.dtsc.ca.gov/public/\">Envirostor\u003c/a> (from California’s Department of Toxics Control) or \u003ca href=\"https://geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/\">GeoTracker\u003c/a> (from the state Water Resources Control Board).\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv style=\"width: 100%;\" align=\"center\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" marginheight=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" title=\"Contaminated sites\" src=\"//www.arcgis.com/apps/Embed/index.html?webmap=35ac1447ecd04b8faa3429f3e8fa429e&extent=-123.928,37.114,-120.4481,38.5586&home=true&zoom=true&previewImage=false&scale=true&search=true&searchextent=true&details=true&legendlayers=true&active_panel=legend&disable_scroll=false&theme=light\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv align=\"left\">\u003csmall>\u003ci>Map by Matthew Green/KQED\u003c/i>\u003c/small>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sites are contaminated with everything from radioactive materials and small underground petroleum tanks to toxic chemicals that can vaporize into pipes leading directly to homes, Hill said. Some sites date to the 19th century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like a graveyard,” Hill said. “Everything we’ve done in the past is coming up with that groundwater to haunt us in the present.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1979645/see-a-map-of-hazardous-sites-at-risk-from-rising-seas\">other studies have identified toxic sites at risk of coastal flooding\u003c/a> due to climate change, this is the first to comprehensively pinpoint areas where rising groundwater is likely to come into contact with contaminants and potentially move them toward both the bay and people’s homes. Twice as much land in the Bay Area could be affected by groundwater rise compared to coastal flooding, according to the new study, which is currently in the process of peer review (a \u003ca href=\"https://essopenarchive.org/users/621729/articles/645176-rising-coastal-groundwater-as-a-result-of-sea-level-rise-will-influence-contaminated-coastal-sites-and-underground-infrastructure\">preprint\u003c/a> and preliminary data are publicly available).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hill found that in nearly all Bay Area counties, the impact from rising groundwater along the bay will be more severe than from the more than three feet of sea level that could take place by mid-century. She said additional research is needed to better understand the risks those contaminants pose to human health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the study, Hill found that in all but one Bay Area county (Santa Clara County), the impact from rising groundwater along the bay will be more severe than that from rising seas. She said additional research is needed to better understand the risks those contaminants pose to human health.[aside label=\"More on toxic sites\" postID=\"science_1979645,science_1980255,science_1979092\"]The risk of potential contamination from groundwater rise is notably higher in California as compared to most other states because of its vast coastline and sheer number of vulnerable sites, she noted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hill said that rising groundwater — potentially made worse during atmospheric river storms and rising tides — is “already moving contaminants”\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1981077/state-regulators-scrutinize-climate-plan-for-controversial-richmond-housing-development\">\u003cb> toward homes and businesses from toxic sites in places like Richmond.\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two state agencies in charge of enforcing cleanup of the sites, Hill said, need “to flip a switch” to the default goal of removing or neutralizing contaminants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a solvable problem. But it requires us to dig up the graves,” she said, emphasizing the need to consider rising groundwater levels in future climate adaptation plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea is not to run away from these places,” she added. “The idea is to make them safe and healthy again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cleanup of toxic sites can range from digging up contaminants and trucking debris to contained locations, treating toxics directly on-site, or capping the pollutants in the ground with materials like cement to prevent them from leaking. That third option, Hill said, is likely not a good long-term solution because groundwater rise will generally circumvent barriers over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new findings presented in the study are revelatory and underscore the urgency of the situation, said Todd Sax, deputy director of site mitigation and restoration with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, or DTSC, one of the agencies tasked with holding polluters accountable for cleaning up at-risk contaminated areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sax said his agency has identified about 300 particularly vulnerable toxic sites in the Bay Area and has set the goal of shoring them up to withstand 3.5 feet of sea level rise by 2050 and 6 feet by 2100. On a rolling basis, the agency is beginning to require known polluters to \u003ca href=\"https://dtsc.ca.gov/climate-change/\">assess the risks posed by sea-level and groundwater rise\u003c/a> at those sites and perform the necessary cleanups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bottom line is the polluter will pay for the vulnerability assessment unless the site does not have a responsible party,” Sax said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he noted that a site cleanup doesn’t always mean polluters will be required to remove all contamination, even after a vulnerability assessment. He said that sometimes trucking contaminants out of a community can be more harmful to human health and the bay than leaving them in the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There aren’t any magic bullets to help solve the environmental contamination problem,” he said. “The best we can do is remove or treat the contamination where we can and then to engineer robust solutions that protect public health and the environment into the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, which oversees cleanup operations in some 1,000 vulnerable toxic sites in the region, has only begun enforcing groundwater rise assessment in a tiny percentage of cleanup plans, said Alec Naugle, the agency’s toxics cleanup division manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to act more quickly on the most vulnerable sites,” he said, stressing the need for more caseworkers to manage the cleanups. He said the agency recently began requiring landfill operators to account for groundwater rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The public can understand that this isn’t going ignored,” he said. “It is a sort of a slow-moving train and, at the same time, we need to have eyes on it now because the remedy is going to be costly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Naugle and Sax note that the number of toxic sites identified in this study is substantially larger than the number their agencies oversee, due largely to Hill’s inclusion of closed sites, which could pose a lower risk to public health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, both agencies said they are assessing Hill’s data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What Dr. Hill’s study points out, is that fundamentally, there’s going to be issues with these sites into the future,” Sax said.[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>More than 5,200 toxic sites buried along the lip of San Francisco Bay could be impacted by rising groundwater levels over the next century, posing potentially severe risks to human and environmental health, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/06/20/rising-groundwater-threatens-thousands-of-toxic-sites-in-the-bay-area/\">recently released study\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s more than 10 times as many potentially at-risk Bay Area sites as had been identified in previous reports. A disproportionate number are located in lower-income communities of color, including in low-lying areas of San Francisco, Richmond, West Oakland and East Palo Alto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The higher the social vulnerability, the higher the density of contaminated sites,” said Kristina Hill, director of UC Berkeley’s Institute of Urban and Regional Development, who co-authored the study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike much lower tallies from the federal and state agencies that oversee these sites, Hill’s study includes 1,480 open sites, which are in the process of being cleaned up or have not yet been cleaned up, as well as an additional 3,817 closed sites where some level of cleanup work may have been conducted, but that may still contain residual contaminants and be vulnerable to rising groundwater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The map below shows the more than 5,000 open (orange circle) and closed (black square) contaminated sites in the Bay Area that UC Berkeley Institute of Urban and Regional Development researchers identified as being potentially at risk of inundation by rising groundwater over the next century. Open sites include areas where cleanup has yet to begin or is still in progress. Closed sites include areas where cleanup has been completed but may still contain harmful toxins. For more information on each toxic site and the agency overseeing its cleanup, visit either of these searchable databases: \u003ca href=\"https://www.envirostor.dtsc.ca.gov/public/\">Envirostor\u003c/a> (from California’s Department of Toxics Control) or \u003ca href=\"https://geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/\">GeoTracker\u003c/a> (from the state Water Resources Control Board).\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv style=\"width: 100%;\" align=\"center\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" marginheight=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" title=\"Contaminated sites\" src=\"//www.arcgis.com/apps/Embed/index.html?webmap=35ac1447ecd04b8faa3429f3e8fa429e&extent=-123.928,37.114,-120.4481,38.5586&home=true&zoom=true&previewImage=false&scale=true&search=true&searchextent=true&details=true&legendlayers=true&active_panel=legend&disable_scroll=false&theme=light\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv align=\"left\">\u003csmall>\u003ci>Map by Matthew Green/KQED\u003c/i>\u003c/small>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sites are contaminated with everything from radioactive materials and small underground petroleum tanks to toxic chemicals that can vaporize into pipes leading directly to homes, Hill said. Some sites date to the 19th century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like a graveyard,” Hill said. “Everything we’ve done in the past is coming up with that groundwater to haunt us in the present.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1979645/see-a-map-of-hazardous-sites-at-risk-from-rising-seas\">other studies have identified toxic sites at risk of coastal flooding\u003c/a> due to climate change, this is the first to comprehensively pinpoint areas where rising groundwater is likely to come into contact with contaminants and potentially move them toward both the bay and people’s homes. Twice as much land in the Bay Area could be affected by groundwater rise compared to coastal flooding, according to the new study, which is currently in the process of peer review (a \u003ca href=\"https://essopenarchive.org/users/621729/articles/645176-rising-coastal-groundwater-as-a-result-of-sea-level-rise-will-influence-contaminated-coastal-sites-and-underground-infrastructure\">preprint\u003c/a> and preliminary data are publicly available).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hill found that in nearly all Bay Area counties, the impact from rising groundwater along the bay will be more severe than from the more than three feet of sea level that could take place by mid-century. She said additional research is needed to better understand the risks those contaminants pose to human health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the study, Hill found that in all but one Bay Area county (Santa Clara County), the impact from rising groundwater along the bay will be more severe than that from rising seas. She said additional research is needed to better understand the risks those contaminants pose to human health.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The risk of potential contamination from groundwater rise is notably higher in California as compared to most other states because of its vast coastline and sheer number of vulnerable sites, she noted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hill said that rising groundwater — potentially made worse during atmospheric river storms and rising tides — is “already moving contaminants”\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1981077/state-regulators-scrutinize-climate-plan-for-controversial-richmond-housing-development\">\u003cb> toward homes and businesses from toxic sites in places like Richmond.\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two state agencies in charge of enforcing cleanup of the sites, Hill said, need “to flip a switch” to the default goal of removing or neutralizing contaminants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a solvable problem. But it requires us to dig up the graves,” she said, emphasizing the need to consider rising groundwater levels in future climate adaptation plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea is not to run away from these places,” she added. “The idea is to make them safe and healthy again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cleanup of toxic sites can range from digging up contaminants and trucking debris to contained locations, treating toxics directly on-site, or capping the pollutants in the ground with materials like cement to prevent them from leaking. That third option, Hill said, is likely not a good long-term solution because groundwater rise will generally circumvent barriers over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new findings presented in the study are revelatory and underscore the urgency of the situation, said Todd Sax, deputy director of site mitigation and restoration with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, or DTSC, one of the agencies tasked with holding polluters accountable for cleaning up at-risk contaminated areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sax said his agency has identified about 300 particularly vulnerable toxic sites in the Bay Area and has set the goal of shoring them up to withstand 3.5 feet of sea level rise by 2050 and 6 feet by 2100. On a rolling basis, the agency is beginning to require known polluters to \u003ca href=\"https://dtsc.ca.gov/climate-change/\">assess the risks posed by sea-level and groundwater rise\u003c/a> at those sites and perform the necessary cleanups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bottom line is the polluter will pay for the vulnerability assessment unless the site does not have a responsible party,” Sax said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he noted that a site cleanup doesn’t always mean polluters will be required to remove all contamination, even after a vulnerability assessment. He said that sometimes trucking contaminants out of a community can be more harmful to human health and the bay than leaving them in the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There aren’t any magic bullets to help solve the environmental contamination problem,” he said. “The best we can do is remove or treat the contamination where we can and then to engineer robust solutions that protect public health and the environment into the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, which oversees cleanup operations in some 1,000 vulnerable toxic sites in the region, has only begun enforcing groundwater rise assessment in a tiny percentage of cleanup plans, said Alec Naugle, the agency’s toxics cleanup division manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to act more quickly on the most vulnerable sites,” he said, stressing the need for more caseworkers to manage the cleanups. He said the agency recently began requiring landfill operators to account for groundwater rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The public can understand that this isn’t going ignored,” he said. “It is a sort of a slow-moving train and, at the same time, we need to have eyes on it now because the remedy is going to be costly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Naugle and Sax note that the number of toxic sites identified in this study is substantially larger than the number their agencies oversee, due largely to Hill’s inclusion of closed sites, which could pose a lower risk to public health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, both agencies said they are assessing Hill’s data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What Dr. Hill’s study points out, is that fundamentally, there’s going to be issues with these sites into the future,” Sax said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "3 Lessons From the Western US for Dealing With Wildfire Smoke",
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"content": "\u003cp>When New York City’s skyline turned an eerie orange color with smoke from widespread wildfires in Canada, it was an all-too-familiar sight for residents of the Western U.S. In recent years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/search?q=wildfires&site=all\">record-setting wildfires\u003c/a> have darkened the sky for weeks at a time with unhealthy air, upending life for Westerners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hazardous wildfire smoke is becoming an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11890211/dangerous%E2%80%91air%E2%80%91as%E2%80%91california%E2%80%91burns%E2%80%91america%E2%80%91breathes%E2%80%91toxic%E2%80%91smoke.\">increasing problem around the country\u003c/a>, as NPR’s California Newsroom has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11890211/dangerous%E2%80%91air%E2%80%91as%E2%80%91california%E2%80%91burns%E2%80%91america%E2%80%91breathes%E2%80%91toxic%E2%80%91smoke.\">reported\u003c/a>. The risk is only expected to rise, as a hotter climate helps create bigger and more severe fires that can take months to contain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tiny particles in smoke can go deep in the lungs, increasing the risk of asthma, heart attack and stroke. One scientific study found wildfire smoke is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/03/05/973848360/study-finds-wildfire-smoke-more-harmful-to-humans-than-pollution-from-cars\">even more dangerous\u003c/a> than pollution from cars and trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across the West, schools districts, businesses and families have had to grapple with how to live with smoke. Here’s what they’ve learned.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>1. Everyone needs to protect themselves, even when they’re indoors\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When wildfires raged in California in the summer of 2020, the air was choked with smoke for weeks. Many residents tracked the air quality in real-time on \u003ca href=\"https://www2.purpleair.com/\">Purple Air\u003c/a>, a crowd-sourced network of sensors that shows pollution readings across a city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On those same maps, pollution also spiked inside people’s homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some households had installed sensors indoors to track air quality levels. Researchers at the University of California Berkeley studied the data from 1,400 sensors in San Francisco and Los Angeles and found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/1034895514/sheltering-inside-may-not-protect-you-from-the-dangers-of-wildfire-smoke\">even indoors, air pollution tripled during the fires\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lesson: just going inside isn’t enough. Invisible particles in smoke, known as particulate matter or PM 2.5, can seep in through doors and cracks in windows. In older homes and substandard housing, the infiltration can be even worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, researchers found the households that took action fared much better. Those that closed their windows, had air purifiers or ran central air conditioners had lower levels of indoor pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Covid-19 pandemic has made portable indoor air purifiers a much more common item, but when smoke fills the skies, it can be tough to find one in a store. So, plans to build more affordable DIY air purifiers have proliferated online where \u003ca href=\"https://aghealth.ucdavis.edu/news/corsi-rosenthal-box-diy-box-fan-air-filter-covid-19-and-wildfire-smoke\">all someone needs is a box fan, some air filters and duct tape\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>2. Create a plan for what to do with kids\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A haze of gray smoke in the sky usually means one thing for families: a scramble for childcare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/live-updates/air-quality-wildfires-canada-smoke#new-york-city-schools-canceled-all-outdoor-activities-for-the-day\">Many schools close\u003c/a> when air quality reaches hazardous levels, but policies can be patchwork and haphazard. While an elementary school might close for the day, nearby preschools or aftercare programs might remain open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For school administrators, the decision can be fraught. Many working parents have no other options for where to send their kids. And knowing when to keep kids indoors can be tough for families, based on the official \u003ca href=\"https://www.airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics/\">air quality index\u003c/a> or AQI. While children are considered a “sensitive” group, there’s not much guidance about whether a \u003ca href=\"https://www.airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics/\">yellow or orange air alert\u003c/a> is enough to keep kids under lockdown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Children are \u003ca href=\"http://childrenscolorado.org/conditions-and-advice/parenting/parenting-articles/wildfire-smoke/\">particularly vulnerable to the effects of wildfire smoke\u003c/a>. They’re more active, have developing lungs and take in more air than adults do relative to their body size. The decision to close school is up to each local district, but just a few years ago, there weren’t many health resources to inform those decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As wildfire smoke became more severe in California, state officials released an index with more specific \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ep/documents/airqualityguidance.pdf\">advice for schools about activities (PDF)\u003c/a>, like what to do about P.E., recess and sports events. (In the state’s version, it doesn’t mention exact air quality index numbers, though many school districts have consulted local air quality officials and created guidelines, \u003ca href=\"https://www.shastacounty.gov/sites/default/files/fileattachments/air_quality/page/2400/aq-levels-guidelines.pdf\">like this version (PDF)\u003c/a> from Shasta County Office of Education.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Creating smoke response plans ahead of time, with community input, is key for schools, according to Eric Wittmershaus, director of communications for the Sonoma County Office of Education. On the West Coast, “smoke days” are becoming the new “snow days.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things we tell school officials to balance is whether the students will be safer and healthier if they’re in their school building, which may have a better HVAC system than what the students have at home,” Wittmershaus says. “It’s going to be a fact of life we struggle with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>3. The most vulnerable communities of people need direct help\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some of those most susceptible to the health impacts of wildfire smoke are the least able to protect themselves. Recent episodes of smoke on the West Coast have revealed how some populations are falling through the cracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many people don’t realize they need to protect themselves from smoke, unlike other extreme weather events. The elderly or those with health problems might struggle to get the tools and solutions to filter the air at home. Those who lack housing have no way to escape being exposed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We see individuals with access to fewer resources, who may live in substandard housing, who may desire to reduce their exposure but who are unable to do so,” says Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, assistant professor in the department of earth system science at Stanford University, who has studied how communities responded to smoke in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, \u003ca href=\"https://earth.stanford.edu/news/how-do-people-respond-wildfire-smoke\">not many people are checking the air quality index\u003c/a> on a regular basis and changing their behavior, her research found. Instead, seeing how other people react to smoke is the bigger motivator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lesson: make sure the message is coming from those in the local community, like community groups, senior centers or faith groups. Providing masks, air filters and resources to groups on the ground can help ensure it reaches those who need it most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=3+lessons+from+the+Western+U.S.+for+dealing+with+wildfire+smoke+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When New York City’s skyline turned an eerie orange color with smoke from widespread wildfires in Canada, it was an all-too-familiar sight for residents of the Western U.S. In recent years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/search?q=wildfires&site=all\">record-setting wildfires\u003c/a> have darkened the sky for weeks at a time with unhealthy air, upending life for Westerners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hazardous wildfire smoke is becoming an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11890211/dangerous%E2%80%91air%E2%80%91as%E2%80%91california%E2%80%91burns%E2%80%91america%E2%80%91breathes%E2%80%91toxic%E2%80%91smoke.\">increasing problem around the country\u003c/a>, as NPR’s California Newsroom has \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11890211/dangerous%E2%80%91air%E2%80%91as%E2%80%91california%E2%80%91burns%E2%80%91america%E2%80%91breathes%E2%80%91toxic%E2%80%91smoke.\">reported\u003c/a>. The risk is only expected to rise, as a hotter climate helps create bigger and more severe fires that can take months to contain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tiny particles in smoke can go deep in the lungs, increasing the risk of asthma, heart attack and stroke. One scientific study found wildfire smoke is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/03/05/973848360/study-finds-wildfire-smoke-more-harmful-to-humans-than-pollution-from-cars\">even more dangerous\u003c/a> than pollution from cars and trucks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across the West, schools districts, businesses and families have had to grapple with how to live with smoke. Here’s what they’ve learned.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>1. Everyone needs to protect themselves, even when they’re indoors\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When wildfires raged in California in the summer of 2020, the air was choked with smoke for weeks. Many residents tracked the air quality in real-time on \u003ca href=\"https://www2.purpleair.com/\">Purple Air\u003c/a>, a crowd-sourced network of sensors that shows pollution readings across a city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On those same maps, pollution also spiked inside people’s homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some households had installed sensors indoors to track air quality levels. Researchers at the University of California Berkeley studied the data from 1,400 sensors in San Francisco and Los Angeles and found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/1034895514/sheltering-inside-may-not-protect-you-from-the-dangers-of-wildfire-smoke\">even indoors, air pollution tripled during the fires\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lesson: just going inside isn’t enough. Invisible particles in smoke, known as particulate matter or PM 2.5, can seep in through doors and cracks in windows. In older homes and substandard housing, the infiltration can be even worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, researchers found the households that took action fared much better. Those that closed their windows, had air purifiers or ran central air conditioners had lower levels of indoor pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Covid-19 pandemic has made portable indoor air purifiers a much more common item, but when smoke fills the skies, it can be tough to find one in a store. So, plans to build more affordable DIY air purifiers have proliferated online where \u003ca href=\"https://aghealth.ucdavis.edu/news/corsi-rosenthal-box-diy-box-fan-air-filter-covid-19-and-wildfire-smoke\">all someone needs is a box fan, some air filters and duct tape\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>2. Create a plan for what to do with kids\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A haze of gray smoke in the sky usually means one thing for families: a scramble for childcare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/live-updates/air-quality-wildfires-canada-smoke#new-york-city-schools-canceled-all-outdoor-activities-for-the-day\">Many schools close\u003c/a> when air quality reaches hazardous levels, but policies can be patchwork and haphazard. While an elementary school might close for the day, nearby preschools or aftercare programs might remain open.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For school administrators, the decision can be fraught. Many working parents have no other options for where to send their kids. And knowing when to keep kids indoors can be tough for families, based on the official \u003ca href=\"https://www.airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics/\">air quality index\u003c/a> or AQI. While children are considered a “sensitive” group, there’s not much guidance about whether a \u003ca href=\"https://www.airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics/\">yellow or orange air alert\u003c/a> is enough to keep kids under lockdown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Children are \u003ca href=\"http://childrenscolorado.org/conditions-and-advice/parenting/parenting-articles/wildfire-smoke/\">particularly vulnerable to the effects of wildfire smoke\u003c/a>. They’re more active, have developing lungs and take in more air than adults do relative to their body size. The decision to close school is up to each local district, but just a few years ago, there weren’t many health resources to inform those decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As wildfire smoke became more severe in California, state officials released an index with more specific \u003ca href=\"https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ep/documents/airqualityguidance.pdf\">advice for schools about activities (PDF)\u003c/a>, like what to do about P.E., recess and sports events. (In the state’s version, it doesn’t mention exact air quality index numbers, though many school districts have consulted local air quality officials and created guidelines, \u003ca href=\"https://www.shastacounty.gov/sites/default/files/fileattachments/air_quality/page/2400/aq-levels-guidelines.pdf\">like this version (PDF)\u003c/a> from Shasta County Office of Education.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Creating smoke response plans ahead of time, with community input, is key for schools, according to Eric Wittmershaus, director of communications for the Sonoma County Office of Education. On the West Coast, “smoke days” are becoming the new “snow days.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things we tell school officials to balance is whether the students will be safer and healthier if they’re in their school building, which may have a better HVAC system than what the students have at home,” Wittmershaus says. “It’s going to be a fact of life we struggle with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>3. The most vulnerable communities of people need direct help\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some of those most susceptible to the health impacts of wildfire smoke are the least able to protect themselves. Recent episodes of smoke on the West Coast have revealed how some populations are falling through the cracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many people don’t realize they need to protect themselves from smoke, unlike other extreme weather events. The elderly or those with health problems might struggle to get the tools and solutions to filter the air at home. Those who lack housing have no way to escape being exposed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We see individuals with access to fewer resources, who may live in substandard housing, who may desire to reduce their exposure but who are unable to do so,” says Gabrielle Wong-Parodi, assistant professor in the department of earth system science at Stanford University, who has studied how communities responded to smoke in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, \u003ca href=\"https://earth.stanford.edu/news/how-do-people-respond-wildfire-smoke\">not many people are checking the air quality index\u003c/a> on a regular basis and changing their behavior, her research found. Instead, seeing how other people react to smoke is the bigger motivator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lesson: make sure the message is coming from those in the local community, like community groups, senior centers or faith groups. Providing masks, air filters and resources to groups on the ground can help ensure it reaches those who need it most.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=3+lessons+from+the+Western+U.S.+for+dealing+with+wildfire+smoke+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "How Sea Level Rise Poses a Looming Threat to San Leandro's Underground Infrastructure",
"headTitle": "How Sea Level Rise Poses a Looming Threat to San Leandro’s Underground Infrastructure | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>On an unseasonably hot day on the edge of the San Leandro neighborhood of Mulford Gardens, David O’Donnell uses a heavy metal bar to lift a thick steel cover off a utility hole, exposing an echoey chamber running several hundred feet to the bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh, we got a crab in there. It crawled all the way through,” said O’Donnell, a maintenance supervisor for the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below ground, tidal water pushes through the city’s pipes that were built to pump stormwater in the opposite direction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re fighting the tide and fighting nature,” O’Donnell said. “It’s a bit of an uphill battle. There’s no pump we can install underground to hold the bay back at high tide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These pipes — and other below-ground infrastructure — which already periodically flood during high tides could become more routinely inundated as the bay continues to rise because of human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982915\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982915\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A view of a drain with water flowing.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water flows from a drain into the bay at the San Leandro Marina on June 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Leandro recently secured a small grant to develop a comprehensive plan to address the potential impact rising sea levels could have on its roughly 10-mile shoreline and intricate network of underground pipes. The city is also partnering with a team of San Diego State University climate scientists to determine how many of its 90,000 residents may be at risk from flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having the plan now will put us in a much better place to plan how we can move forward into [the future],” said Hoi-Fei Mok, San Leandro’s sustainability manager, who uses they/them pronouns.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"science_1981900,science_1982800,science_1981687\"]“It’s not like people don’t care,” said Mok, who grew up in San Leandro, where the vast majority of residents are people of color. “I’m able to tap into what the community is saying and bring that forward to [the San Leandro City Council] and be that extra amplification of community voices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A former community organizer, Mok says they are dedicated to making sure this community is able to persevere through smoky skies, heat waves, floods and other increasingly frequent climate-induced conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ultimately, it is my community that is being impacted,” they added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Leandro’s shoreline makes up less than 3% of the entirety of the lip of San Francisco Bay, but sea level rise will affect this entire region. Mok’s work is feeding into a regional partnership to ready every inch of the shoreline for the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Bay Area-wide Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan is expected to be completed in mid-2024. The team behind it, led by Dana Brechwald, must get buy-in from more than 40 cities and counties — including San Leandro — to engage environmental-justice communities and develop uniform sea level rise standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure we’re considering impacts on neighbors so that we don’t have this issue of one city behind a tall wall and everybody around it flooding,” said Brechwald.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982918\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982918\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"An Asian American person sits and looks away from the camera.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hoi-Fei Mok, sustainability manager for the city of San Leandro, stands outside San Leandro City Hall on June 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s still unclear how San Leandro’s underground infrastructure will be affected as groundwater rises under the city. \u003ca href=\"https://sfei.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/portfolio/index.html?appid=2ab0c998497f4f7398aa54f176a6fb26%20\">Maps\u003c/a> produced by the San Francisco Estuary Institute and Pathways Climate Institute show that even 1 foot of sea level rise will cause groundwater to emerge in San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s stormwater pipes appear to be in good condition, according to Hassan Davani, associate professor at SDSU and a water resources engineer who is leading the team that’s partnering with San Leandro. Davani’s models don’t show major threats in the near term. Still, he said, his work, sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, does not include many other underground infrastructures like sewers, belowground power lines and drinking water pipes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, by looking at United States Geological Survey groundwater data, maps of underground infrastructure in the city and middle-of-the-road climate models, Hassan concluded that — as climate change worsens — the current stormwater system will almost certainly “be disrupted” by the end of the century. This could look like the bay pushing further up the drainage system, preventing stormwater from escaping and in turn flooding inland areas of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982880\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982880\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Two young men stand by the side of a street and gaze at a handheld screen.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hassan Davani (right), a San Diego State University professor and water resources engineer, said that as climate change worsens, San Leandro will become increasingly vulnerable, and its current stormwater system will almost certainly ‘be disrupted’ by the end of the century. Kian Bagheri (left) is a doctoral student in Davani’s lab. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to have flooding further inland, kilometers inland, because the system will be packed with water at the downstream side,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when taking into account more extreme climate models, Davani said, the disruption to the stormwater system could come around mid-century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pauline Russo Cutter, who served as mayor of San Leandro until earlier this year, said the city has also tested its wastewater infrastructure and has yet to find any red flags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she recognizes “it’s only a matter of time” before emerging groundwater becomes an issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If no one’s thinking about it, then these things kind of appear. That’s what can sink a city,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982881\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982881\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A middle aged white woman with dark brown hair stands beside the shore of San Leandro Bay as she talks toward the camera with sunglasses on.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former San Leandro Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter says ‘it’s only a matter of time’ before emerging groundwater becomes an issue. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In preparing for sea level rise, Mok, the sustainability manager, dreams of a range of solutions — everything from building levees to utilizing marshes to soak up waves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think nature-based solutions have a lot of benefits that I think would be great for us,” Mok said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, despite the imminent threat that sea level rise poses — with the bay expected to rise by at least a foot in the next three decades — Mok acknowledges that actively preparing for it now can be a hard sell given more immediate concerns like budget issues, staff shortages and ongoing health emergencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982916\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982916\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A view of a street leading to a marina sign.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for the San Leandro Marina marks the entrance to the shoreline in the Mulford Gardens neighborhood in San Leandro on June 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Sea level rise is tricky for people to wrap their heads around,” said Mok. “I’m hoping this is an opportunity not to get alarmed, but to realize this is something that is coming, not just in San Leandro, but regionally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "San Leandro is fighting an uphill battle as climate change leads to sea level rise. Sustainability manager Hoi-Fei Mok amplifies community voices and dreams of nature-based solutions amid emerging challenges.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On an unseasonably hot day on the edge of the San Leandro neighborhood of Mulford Gardens, David O’Donnell uses a heavy metal bar to lift a thick steel cover off a utility hole, exposing an echoey chamber running several hundred feet to the bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh, we got a crab in there. It crawled all the way through,” said O’Donnell, a maintenance supervisor for the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below ground, tidal water pushes through the city’s pipes that were built to pump stormwater in the opposite direction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re fighting the tide and fighting nature,” O’Donnell said. “It’s a bit of an uphill battle. There’s no pump we can install underground to hold the bay back at high tide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These pipes — and other below-ground infrastructure — which already periodically flood during high tides could become more routinely inundated as the bay continues to rise because of human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982915\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982915\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A view of a drain with water flowing.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65982_010_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water flows from a drain into the bay at the San Leandro Marina on June 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Leandro recently secured a small grant to develop a comprehensive plan to address the potential impact rising sea levels could have on its roughly 10-mile shoreline and intricate network of underground pipes. The city is also partnering with a team of San Diego State University climate scientists to determine how many of its 90,000 residents may be at risk from flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Having the plan now will put us in a much better place to plan how we can move forward into [the future],” said Hoi-Fei Mok, San Leandro’s sustainability manager, who uses they/them pronouns.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It’s not like people don’t care,” said Mok, who grew up in San Leandro, where the vast majority of residents are people of color. “I’m able to tap into what the community is saying and bring that forward to [the San Leandro City Council] and be that extra amplification of community voices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A former community organizer, Mok says they are dedicated to making sure this community is able to persevere through smoky skies, heat waves, floods and other increasingly frequent climate-induced conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ultimately, it is my community that is being impacted,” they added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Leandro’s shoreline makes up less than 3% of the entirety of the lip of San Francisco Bay, but sea level rise will affect this entire region. Mok’s work is feeding into a regional partnership to ready every inch of the shoreline for the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Bay Area-wide Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan is expected to be completed in mid-2024. The team behind it, led by Dana Brechwald, must get buy-in from more than 40 cities and counties — including San Leandro — to engage environmental-justice communities and develop uniform sea level rise standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure we’re considering impacts on neighbors so that we don’t have this issue of one city behind a tall wall and everybody around it flooding,” said Brechwald.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982918\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982918\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"An Asian American person sits and looks away from the camera.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65999_004_KQED_HoiFeiMokSanLeandro_06012023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hoi-Fei Mok, sustainability manager for the city of San Leandro, stands outside San Leandro City Hall on June 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s still unclear how San Leandro’s underground infrastructure will be affected as groundwater rises under the city. \u003ca href=\"https://sfei.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/portfolio/index.html?appid=2ab0c998497f4f7398aa54f176a6fb26%20\">Maps\u003c/a> produced by the San Francisco Estuary Institute and Pathways Climate Institute show that even 1 foot of sea level rise will cause groundwater to emerge in San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s stormwater pipes appear to be in good condition, according to Hassan Davani, associate professor at SDSU and a water resources engineer who is leading the team that’s partnering with San Leandro. Davani’s models don’t show major threats in the near term. Still, he said, his work, sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, does not include many other underground infrastructures like sewers, belowground power lines and drinking water pipes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, by looking at United States Geological Survey groundwater data, maps of underground infrastructure in the city and middle-of-the-road climate models, Hassan concluded that — as climate change worsens — the current stormwater system will almost certainly “be disrupted” by the end of the century. This could look like the bay pushing further up the drainage system, preventing stormwater from escaping and in turn flooding inland areas of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982880\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982880\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Two young men stand by the side of a street and gaze at a handheld screen.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7810-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hassan Davani (right), a San Diego State University professor and water resources engineer, said that as climate change worsens, San Leandro will become increasingly vulnerable, and its current stormwater system will almost certainly ‘be disrupted’ by the end of the century. Kian Bagheri (left) is a doctoral student in Davani’s lab. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to have flooding further inland, kilometers inland, because the system will be packed with water at the downstream side,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when taking into account more extreme climate models, Davani said, the disruption to the stormwater system could come around mid-century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pauline Russo Cutter, who served as mayor of San Leandro until earlier this year, said the city has also tested its wastewater infrastructure and has yet to find any red flags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she recognizes “it’s only a matter of time” before emerging groundwater becomes an issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If no one’s thinking about it, then these things kind of appear. That’s what can sink a city,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982881\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982881\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A middle aged white woman with dark brown hair stands beside the shore of San Leandro Bay as she talks toward the camera with sunglasses on.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/IMG_7758-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former San Leandro Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter says ‘it’s only a matter of time’ before emerging groundwater becomes an issue. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In preparing for sea level rise, Mok, the sustainability manager, dreams of a range of solutions — everything from building levees to utilizing marshes to soak up waves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think nature-based solutions have a lot of benefits that I think would be great for us,” Mok said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, despite the imminent threat that sea level rise poses — with the bay expected to rise by at least a foot in the next three decades — Mok acknowledges that actively preparing for it now can be a hard sell given more immediate concerns like budget issues, staff shortages and ongoing health emergencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982916\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1982916\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A view of a street leading to a marina sign.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/06/RS65984_011_KQED_SanLeandroSeaLevelRise_06012023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for the San Leandro Marina marks the entrance to the shoreline in the Mulford Gardens neighborhood in San Leandro on June 1, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Sea level rise is tricky for people to wrap their heads around,” said Mok. “I’m hoping this is an opportunity not to get alarmed, but to realize this is something that is coming, not just in San Leandro, but regionally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>After a four-year hiatus, El Niño is widely expected to make a grand reentrance this summer, ushering in the possibility of yet another wet, stormy winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It looks like it’s full steam ahead,” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a live YouTube interview last week, in which he placed the likelihood of a strong El Niño event at greater than 50% — even as projections still vary widely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A strong event does have the potential for strong impacts on California,” said Swain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The El Niño \u003ca href=\"https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/elnino/what-is-el-nino\">climate phenomenon\u003c/a> — the opposite of \u003ca href=\"https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/elnino/what-is-la-nina\">La Niña\u003c/a> — generally occurs every three to five years when ocean waters along the equator in the eastern Pacific warm by at least a half-degree Fahrenheit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1982830\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1.png\" alt=\"A vertical bar chart showing El Niño events since 1950.\" width=\"2182\" height=\"1400\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1.png 2182w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1-800x513.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1-1020x654.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1-768x493.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1-1536x986.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1-2048x1314.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1-1920x1232.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2182px) 100vw, 2182px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That, in turn, can reposition the jet stream and funnel storms toward the West Coast, often resulting in increased rainfall across thousands of miles, said John Monteverdi, emeritus professor of meteorology at San Francisco State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a wet winter is not at all guaranteed, he said, noting that only one out of about six current models predicts a strong El Niño as this year progresses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People have been sort of charmed into believing that all El Niños mean storms,” Monteverdi said. “The historical record does not support a sure bet on that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Misconceptions about this mysterious weather pattern abound. Below are six of the most common ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Misconception 1: El Niño comes to California\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Every time Jan Null reads a headline saying El Niño is coming to the West Coast, he cringes. The local forecaster, who founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.ggweather.com/\">Golden Gate Weather Service\u003c/a>, said the headlines aren’t factual because El Niño actually occurs “about 3,000 miles away from California. It does not move en masse toward the California coast.” It can, however, greatly affect the weather in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Misconception 2: Every El Niño event and its effects are identical\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For the more than seven decades that El Niños have been tracked, their strength and impact have varied significantly, with many having little impact in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The general notion is that El Niño brings wetter winters in California, although the relationship is somewhat fragile,” said UC Berkeley climate scientist John Chiang. “It’s really only the strong El Niños that affect rainfall over Northern California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And a slew of other oceanic and atmospheric variables can enhance or diffuse the effects of El Niño, noted meteorologist Null, saying, “I’ve often referred to it as the alphabet soup of all these other climate things going on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Misconception 3: El Niño is a storm\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“El Niño is not a storm in and of itself,” Monteverdi said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather, he explains, it is a phenomenon that can prime the atmosphere to push more robust storms toward the West Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>El Niños do “not spawn storms” and “do not directly create storms over California or anywhere else,” added Null.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Misconception 4: El Niños always result in catastrophic flooding\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Significant flooding can just as likely occur in a non-El Niño period like the one Californians experienced this past winter (which was technically in a La Niña year).[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"el-nino\"]Since 1950, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ggweather.com/ca_enso2021/ca_elnino.html\">there have been 26 El Niño years\u003c/a>, and that doesn’t include some of the costliest flood years, Null said. That means it’s very difficult to accurately predict just how wet a winter we’re in for this year, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s slightly skewed toward the wetter than normal, but it’s not something where I’d reach into my wallet and put money on the table betting on it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Misconception 5: El Niños cause elevated ocean temperatures along California’s coastal waters\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>El Niño is \u003cem>not\u003c/em> responsible for any warming of ocean temperatures along the California coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not true that when we have El Niño, we automatically have warm water immediately west of San Francisco,” said Monteverdi. “It refers to an oceanographic phenomenon in the tropical Pacific well away from us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water along California is primarily influenced by the California Current, which runs from north to south from the Gulf of Alaska down along the West Coast, where cold water comes to the surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no real transport mechanism for the warm water at the equator 3,000 miles away to get to the California coast and that sort of gets lost in the discussion,” said Null.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Misconception 6: Climate change is having a clear impact on the frequency and severity of El Niños\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While climate change from the burning of fossil fuels has indisputably accelerated weather extremes in California — fueling significantly wetter and dryer conditions — climate experts still don’t know precisely how it has affected the nature of El Niño, in part because records about it in California only go back to about 1950.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we have this conversation 20 years from now, we may start seeing more of these big events in that same time frame — then it’s easier to attribute it [to climate change],” Null said. “Right now, they’re still separating the signal from the noise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, future storms fueled by El Niños could be a whole lot wetter than they used to be because of climate change, which has resulted in an increasingly warmer atmosphere that can hold more water and, in turn, dump more on land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Global ocean warming “will change our weather patterns,” said Chiang, of UC Berkeley. “It’ll change the impact of El Niño. So, whether we see it now or in the decades ahead, that’s still an open debate.”\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After a four-year hiatus, El Niño is widely expected to make a grand reentrance this summer, ushering in the possibility of yet another wet, stormy winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It looks like it’s full steam ahead,” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a live YouTube interview last week, in which he placed the likelihood of a strong El Niño event at greater than 50% — even as projections still vary widely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A strong event does have the potential for strong impacts on California,” said Swain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The El Niño \u003ca href=\"https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/elnino/what-is-el-nino\">climate phenomenon\u003c/a> — the opposite of \u003ca href=\"https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/elnino/what-is-la-nina\">La Niña\u003c/a> — generally occurs every three to five years when ocean waters along the equator in the eastern Pacific warm by at least a half-degree Fahrenheit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1982830\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1.png\" alt=\"A vertical bar chart showing El Niño events since 1950.\" width=\"2182\" height=\"1400\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1.png 2182w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1-800x513.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1-1020x654.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1-160x103.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1-768x493.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1-1536x986.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1-2048x1314.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/el-nino-1-1920x1232.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2182px) 100vw, 2182px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That, in turn, can reposition the jet stream and funnel storms toward the West Coast, often resulting in increased rainfall across thousands of miles, said John Monteverdi, emeritus professor of meteorology at San Francisco State University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a wet winter is not at all guaranteed, he said, noting that only one out of about six current models predicts a strong El Niño as this year progresses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People have been sort of charmed into believing that all El Niños mean storms,” Monteverdi said. “The historical record does not support a sure bet on that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Misconceptions about this mysterious weather pattern abound. Below are six of the most common ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Misconception 1: El Niño comes to California\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Every time Jan Null reads a headline saying El Niño is coming to the West Coast, he cringes. The local forecaster, who founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.ggweather.com/\">Golden Gate Weather Service\u003c/a>, said the headlines aren’t factual because El Niño actually occurs “about 3,000 miles away from California. It does not move en masse toward the California coast.” It can, however, greatly affect the weather in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Misconception 2: Every El Niño event and its effects are identical\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For the more than seven decades that El Niños have been tracked, their strength and impact have varied significantly, with many having little impact in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The general notion is that El Niño brings wetter winters in California, although the relationship is somewhat fragile,” said UC Berkeley climate scientist John Chiang. “It’s really only the strong El Niños that affect rainfall over Northern California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And a slew of other oceanic and atmospheric variables can enhance or diffuse the effects of El Niño, noted meteorologist Null, saying, “I’ve often referred to it as the alphabet soup of all these other climate things going on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Misconception 3: El Niño is a storm\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“El Niño is not a storm in and of itself,” Monteverdi said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather, he explains, it is a phenomenon that can prime the atmosphere to push more robust storms toward the West Coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>El Niños do “not spawn storms” and “do not directly create storms over California or anywhere else,” added Null.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Misconception 4: El Niños always result in catastrophic flooding\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Significant flooding can just as likely occur in a non-El Niño period like the one Californians experienced this past winter (which was technically in a La Niña year).\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Since 1950, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ggweather.com/ca_enso2021/ca_elnino.html\">there have been 26 El Niño years\u003c/a>, and that doesn’t include some of the costliest flood years, Null said. That means it’s very difficult to accurately predict just how wet a winter we’re in for this year, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s slightly skewed toward the wetter than normal, but it’s not something where I’d reach into my wallet and put money on the table betting on it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Misconception 5: El Niños cause elevated ocean temperatures along California’s coastal waters\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>El Niño is \u003cem>not\u003c/em> responsible for any warming of ocean temperatures along the California coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not true that when we have El Niño, we automatically have warm water immediately west of San Francisco,” said Monteverdi. “It refers to an oceanographic phenomenon in the tropical Pacific well away from us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water along California is primarily influenced by the California Current, which runs from north to south from the Gulf of Alaska down along the West Coast, where cold water comes to the surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no real transport mechanism for the warm water at the equator 3,000 miles away to get to the California coast and that sort of gets lost in the discussion,” said Null.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Misconception 6: Climate change is having a clear impact on the frequency and severity of El Niños\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While climate change from the burning of fossil fuels has indisputably accelerated weather extremes in California — fueling significantly wetter and dryer conditions — climate experts still don’t know precisely how it has affected the nature of El Niño, in part because records about it in California only go back to about 1950.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we have this conversation 20 years from now, we may start seeing more of these big events in that same time frame — then it’s easier to attribute it [to climate change],” Null said. “Right now, they’re still separating the signal from the noise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, future storms fueled by El Niños could be a whole lot wetter than they used to be because of climate change, which has resulted in an increasingly warmer atmosphere that can hold more water and, in turn, dump more on land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Global ocean warming “will change our weather patterns,” said Chiang, of UC Berkeley. “It’ll change the impact of El Niño. So, whether we see it now or in the decades ahead, that’s still an open debate.”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>About half of the shoreline running along the lip of San Francisco Bay has no plans in place to protect against future rising seas. That’s in terms of the cost of preparing the region for the climate effect by 2050, according to regional agencies’ analysis and a map released this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The big story is that there’s obviously still a lot of work to be done,” said Todd Hallenbeck, lead geographic information systems (GIS) specialist at the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, or BCDC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982835\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1098px\">\u003ca href=\"https://mtc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=4cfbec7006d542a5913a46ec15d7cd24\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982835 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-25-at-5.33.27-PM.png\" alt=\"A map showing the region’s progress in adapting to rising sea levels brought about by anthropogenic climate change.\" width=\"1098\" height=\"1124\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-25-at-5.33.27-PM.png 1098w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-25-at-5.33.27-PM-800x819.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-25-at-5.33.27-PM-1020x1044.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-25-at-5.33.27-PM-160x164.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-25-at-5.33.27-PM-768x786.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1098px) 100vw, 1098px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The map provides a visual presentation of the region’s progress in adapting to rising sea levels brought about by anthropogenic climate change.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the first time, \u003ca href=\"https://mtc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=4cfbec7006d542a5913a46ec15d7cd24\">this map\u003c/a> gives Bay Area residents a visual presentation of the region’s progress in adapting to rising sea levels brought about by anthropogenic climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The map shows that the region is nowhere near the $110 billion price tag it will take to prevent 4.9 feet of inundation by midcentury. This number includes preparing for around 1.5 feet of sea level rise and storm surge, but is still a middle-of-the-road preparation level. Other climate models predict more than 6 feet of sea level rise by the end of the century if the burning of fossil fuels globally goes unchecked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The project map shows where adaptation activities are occurring and also, importantly, where there are gaps in project planning along the bay, and where we might want to concentrate attention,” Hallenbeck said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This map offers citizens crucial information about projects and plans that either protect their neighborhoods or leave them vulnerable to rising seas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The job’s not done,” Hallenbeck said. “A lot of these projects are in planning stages. They’re not necessarily in construction stages, either.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BCDC, the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission created the map. The cohort is an essential allyship because rising seas pose an existential dilemma for the Bay Area, with its nearly 8 million people and infrastructure — highways, bridges, sewer plants and power lines — that supports human life here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was pretty surprised by the amount of shoreline that \u003cem>does\u003c/em> have active planning occurring,” Hallenbeck said. “I could see that being a lot less in some areas of the country.”[aside postID=science_1982750 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/004_KQED_OBVelellaVelella_05182023-1020x680.jpg']\u003cbr>\nThe map’s scope, however, is limited. It does not capture policy changes, land use zoning and building ordinances that significantly shape development along the shoreline and future vulnerability to rising sea levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it includes various project types, such as seawalls, levees and natural solutions like marshes, it fails to adequately address rising groundwater as a threat. Decades before water is expected to lap over the shoreline, rising seas will push up groundwater affecting underground infrastructure and contaminated sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hallenbeck said he hopes the findings cause residents to push for complete protection of the Bay Area and causes them to ask local representatives to get involved.\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>About half of the shoreline running along the lip of San Francisco Bay has no plans in place to protect against future rising seas. That’s in terms of the cost of preparing the region for the climate effect by 2050, according to regional agencies’ analysis and a map released this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The big story is that there’s obviously still a lot of work to be done,” said Todd Hallenbeck, lead geographic information systems (GIS) specialist at the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, or BCDC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1982835\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1098px\">\u003ca href=\"https://mtc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=4cfbec7006d542a5913a46ec15d7cd24\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1982835 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-25-at-5.33.27-PM.png\" alt=\"A map showing the region’s progress in adapting to rising sea levels brought about by anthropogenic climate change.\" width=\"1098\" height=\"1124\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-25-at-5.33.27-PM.png 1098w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-25-at-5.33.27-PM-800x819.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-25-at-5.33.27-PM-1020x1044.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-25-at-5.33.27-PM-160x164.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/05/Screen-Shot-2023-05-25-at-5.33.27-PM-768x786.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1098px) 100vw, 1098px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The map provides a visual presentation of the region’s progress in adapting to rising sea levels brought about by anthropogenic climate change.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the first time, \u003ca href=\"https://mtc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=4cfbec7006d542a5913a46ec15d7cd24\">this map\u003c/a> gives Bay Area residents a visual presentation of the region’s progress in adapting to rising sea levels brought about by anthropogenic climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The map shows that the region is nowhere near the $110 billion price tag it will take to prevent 4.9 feet of inundation by midcentury. This number includes preparing for around 1.5 feet of sea level rise and storm surge, but is still a middle-of-the-road preparation level. Other climate models predict more than 6 feet of sea level rise by the end of the century if the burning of fossil fuels globally goes unchecked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The project map shows where adaptation activities are occurring and also, importantly, where there are gaps in project planning along the bay, and where we might want to concentrate attention,” Hallenbeck said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This map offers citizens crucial information about projects and plans that either protect their neighborhoods or leave them vulnerable to rising seas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The job’s not done,” Hallenbeck said. “A lot of these projects are in planning stages. They’re not necessarily in construction stages, either.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BCDC, the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission created the map. The cohort is an essential allyship because rising seas pose an existential dilemma for the Bay Area, with its nearly 8 million people and infrastructure — highways, bridges, sewer plants and power lines — that supports human life here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was pretty surprised by the amount of shoreline that \u003cem>does\u003c/em> have active planning occurring,” Hallenbeck said. “I could see that being a lot less in some areas of the country.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service",
"meta": {
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"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/",
"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
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}
},
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"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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}
},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
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"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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},
"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"here-and-now": {
"id": "here-and-now",
"title": "Here & Now",
"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"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. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"order": 15
},
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"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.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"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>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"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.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
"meta": {
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"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?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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