Climate Change and its Consequences for Regional Water and Natural Hazards Planning in San Diego 

Are you a decision maker, planner, field professional, NGO or member of the public that is interested in learning more about the effects of climate change on regional water planning and natural hazards such as wildfires and flooding?

Join us for a lunch program to review the findings and recommendations from the APA Regional and Intergovernmental Planning Division research report/policy handbook, Regional Water Planning for Climate Resilience. Our speakers will present findings and recommendations from the handbook covering:  

• Climate change impacts on regional-scale water planning in the San Diego area,
• Findings from the Fourth California Climate Change Assessment and the San Diego Region Report regarding the effects on local and statewide water resources,
• The effects of climate change on natural hazards such as flooding and wildfire risks in the San Diego region,
• Overview of State-mandated updates to General Plan Safety Elements, and
• The benefits of coordinated regional planning and potential strategies, including a Regional Greenprint strategy.

Speakers include:

Mark Stadler, Program Manager for the San Diego Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) planning program, will provide a brief overview of the three main components of regional-scale water planning in the San Diego area: water resource planning, water quality planning, and habitat conservation planning.  He also would provide an overview of the San Diego IRWM planning program and explain how the 2019 IRWM Plan update has addressed climate change impacts on regional water availability, water quality, and sensitive habitats and its connection to planners.

Bob Leiter, FAICP will present a summary of the findings from the Fourth California Climate Change Assessment and the companion document, the San Diego Region Report, which were published in 2018.  These reports paint a grim picture of the region’s future in the coming decades, including significant effects on local and statewide water resources, as well as increased flooding (both coastal and riverine) and increased wildfire risk due to an extended fire season.

Cary Lowe, PhD, AICP, will continue with a discussion of the future effects of climate change on natural hazards such as flooding and fire risks, and will explain how coordinated regional planning could help all 18 cities and the County to prepare and adopt state-mandated updates to their General Plan Safety Elements.

Cara Lacey, AICP, a senior planner with the Nature Conservancy, will discuss the potential for the San Diego region to pursue a longer-term strategy built around a “Regional Greenprint” planning approach, This approach, which has been used in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Merced County, will be introduced with an eye toward holding a follow-up SDAPA program in 2020 that does a deeper dive into regional approaches, local case studies, and opportunities to collaborate.