Siskiyou County gets $1.5M to prepare for climate change

Damon Arthur, Redding Record Searchlight
·3 min read
Lightning strikes east of the eastern front of the McKinney Fire, in the Klamath National Forest near Yreka, Calif. on Aug, 2, 2022. Like a double-edged sword, thunderstorms over the fire brought a blessing of rain along but with the curses of flash floods and lightning strike fires. Several people were rescued from a flash flood in the mountains inside the fire lines. One was hospitalized. Fueled by drought in a changing climate, the fire grew to over 50,000 acres in the first 48 hours.

A Siskiyou County group has received $1.5 million to develop plans to prepare for climate change in the county.

The California Strategic Growth Council voted last week to award the money to the Siskiyou Economic Development Council and the Siskiyou Climate Collaborative Program, according to the strategic growth council.

The three-year grant will focus on planning for fire and climate resiliency in the communities of Dorris, Dunsmuir, Etna, Fort Jones, Montague, Mount Shasta, Tulelake, Weed, and Yreka, according to the state agency.

"Year one would focus on outreach and community engagement; year two on drafting a CRP (Climate Resiliency Plan) and developing actionable plans and projects, and year three on finalizing the CRP and implementing a technical assistance program to bring additional funding to local climate projects," the growth council said.

The strategic growth council voted last week to approve over $8.5 million in grant funding for several regional agencies statewide.

“For Siskiyou to be recognized amongst our larger counterparts is a major accomplishment for our community,” Tonya Dowse, Executive Director of Siskiyou Economic Development Council, said in a post on the agency's website. “With this grant, our county has an opportunity to prioritize climate resiliency and make proactive investments in our rural communities.”

The Siskiyou Climate Collaborative includes six separate agencies: the Shasta Valley Resource Conservation District, the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension, the Siskiyou Outdoor Recreation Alliance, Siskiyou County SMART Workforce Center, and the Siskiyou Economic Development Council. The Karuk Tribe intends to join following project kick-off.

State officials are also assessing the risk of climate change on other areas around the state. The Central Valley Flood Protection Board this month completed an update to its flood protection plan, with an emphasis on risks posed by climate change.

"The Central Valley already has one of the highest flood risks in the United States, and the anticipated peak flows by 2072 will only exacerbate this risk unless urgent action is taken," the plan says.

"Investment in flood management as outlined in this plan, estimated to cost $25 billion to $30 billion over the next 30 years, may avoid the astronomical cost of catastrophic flooding in the Central Valley estimated to be as high as $1 trillion, in addition to an incalculable toll on lives and public well-being," the plan update says.

Also last week the California Air Resources Board approved a scoping plan to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by 48% by 2030, according to the publication CalMatters.

The state's goal is to reduce the use of oil in the state by 94% and become carbon neutral — which means the amount of carbon removed is greater than the carbon generated — by 2045, according to CalMatters.

The climate change grant in Siskiyou County was the second large grant announcement for Siskiyou County last week.

The Siskiyou Outdoor Recreation Alliance received a $470,000 grant for recreation planning over the next three years, including developing plans to build a trail system to connect the communities of Dunsmuir, Mount Shasta, McCloud and Weed.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Siskiyou County gets $1.5M to prepare for climate change