BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Title
Adoption of Climate Change Action Plan.
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Adopt the Climate Change Action Plan and Direct Development of the Implementation Program.
Body
SUMMARY:
The Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP, Attachment 1) guides Santa Clara Valley Water District’s (Valley Water) response to climate change and confirms greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and climate change adaptation as priorities throughout its mission areas of water supply, flood protection, and environmental stewardship. This memorandum summarizes Valley Water’s vulnerabilities to climate change, goals and strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and implementation of the Climate Change Action Plan.
Climate Change Vulnerabilities
Valley Water conducted a comprehensive vulnerability analysis as the first step in the CCAP process. Average annual maximum temperature in Santa Clara County is projected to rise by 1.8˚F to 2.0˚F by 2050, and extreme heat events are likely to increase in frequency. Precipitation could potentially increase in overall volume, and extreme precipitation events may increase in frequency. Santa Clara County may experience more frequent and severe droughts, increased risk of wildfire, increased threats to surface water quality, and sea level rise. Sierra Nevada snowpack, the source of the County’s imported water supply, is expected to decline as a result of climate change.
Climate change will impact Valley Water operations in many ways. Water supply reliability will be challenged by changes to local and imported water supplies and surface water quality. Increasing storm intensity and sea level rise will affect flood protection efforts. Local ecosystems may degrade in response to declining water quantity and quality, drier soils, floods, droughts, stream channel erosion or incision, wildfires, invasive species, and other possible climate change impacts. This will threaten the success of ecosystem stewardship efforts, as well as permit-required habitat mitigation.
Current climate change policies, plans, and programs at Valley Water are effective, but operations remain vulnerable to climate change impacts. The CCAP includes goals, strategies, and possible actions to address these vulnerabilities.
Climate Action Goals and Strategies
Seven goals were developed to guide Valley Water’s response to climate change. Three goals are related to GHG emission reduction, three are related to adaptation, and one goal is related to emergency preparedness.
Goal 1: Reduce Direct Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Scope 1)
Valley Water can directly control changes in agency practices and policies to reduce its direct GHG emissions. Scope 1 emissions consist of direct emissions of GHGs from Valley Water-owned sources and made up an average of 12.75% of total agency emissions between 2013 and 2017. Valley Water’s main sources of Scope 1 emissions are the agency’s fleet, equipment, and natural gas use. Strategies to reduce these emissions include reducing emissions associated with the Valley Water fleet and continuing to update Valley Water’s carbon accounting practices.
Goal 2: Expand Renewable Energy and Improve Energy Efficiency (Scope 2)
GHG emissions from purchased electricity are considered Scope 2 emissions. About 95% of Valley Water’s purchased energy is provided by PWRPA, a Joint Powers Authority that provides energy from utility-scale solar projects and hydroelectricity. Due to membership in PWRPA, purchased electricity typically accounts for a very small percentage of Valley Water’s total emissions. Strategies to reduce Scope 2 emissions include improving energy efficiency at agency facilities and increasing renewable energy in the agency’s energy portfolio.
Goal 3: Reduce Indirect Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Scope 3)
Scope 3 emissions occur as a result of Valley Water’s operations but are emitted from sources not owned or controlled by Valley Water, including employee commutes, business travel and imported water operations. Strategies for reducing Scope 3 emissions include expanding local, less carbon-intensive sources of water as well as providing incentives to reduce commutes and non-essential travel.
Goal 4: Water Supply Adaptation
To maintain a stable and climate resilient water supply, Valley Water will ensure infrastructure adapts to the impacts of climate change, and foster demand management and water conservation within the County. Strategies to adapt the water supply reflect Valley Water’s Water Supply Master Plan and include diversifying local water supplies, increasing water conservation efforts, increasing reliability of imported water, and supporting efforts to maintain and enhance source water quality.
Goal 5: Flood Protection Adaptation
Sea level rise and the more unpredictable effects of changing precipitation patterns must both be incorporated into Valley Water’s natural flood protection program. Valley Water will continue to minimize risk of coastal and fluvial flooding given these projected climate change impacts. Other key strategies within the Flood Protection Adaptation Goal include increasing the flexibility of flood protection operations and infrastructure, expanding the use of flood forecasting and modeling tools, and improving flood preparedness both internally and through partnerships.
Goal 6: Ecosystem Adaptation
Healthy stream ecosystems are resilient to climate change impacts. Valley Water will work to maximize ecosystem resilience to climate change through stream and watershed stewardship projects, programs, and partnerships. Strategies to address ecosystem adaptation also include expanding programs to promote climate-resilient ecosystems, and expanding monitoring, modelling, and data-sharing to support regional ecosystem health.
Goal 7: Emergency Preparedness
The prevalence of climate-related emergencies will rise as the impacts of climate change become more apparent. Valley Water will maximize preparedness for climate-related emergencies through inter-agency and community-wide emergency plans and procedures.
For each mitigation and adaptation strategy, the CCAP identifies a series of possible actions. Many actions, such as enhancing local storage and developing new sources of potable water, are ongoing and currently prioritized; while other ongoing actions are recommended for expansion or re-prioritization. Notable new actions proposed include: updating carbon accounting methodology to account for the full range of direct and indirect emissions, promoting construction-related emissions reduction throughout planning and design, collaborating with land use authorities to promote water use efficiency and reuse, supporting response planning for climate-related emergencies in the Delta, identifying ways to improve flexibility of water treatment systems, improving forecasting to maximize flexibility of reservoir storage, restoring natural floodplain functions to improve resiliency, and investing in green stormwater infrastructure.
CCAP Stakeholder Outreach
Outreach to the community and external stakeholders was conducted to build awareness and to solicit a wide range of public input on Valley Water’s proposed climate change mitigation and adaptation goals, strategies, and possible actions. Through the outreach efforts, over 5,000 stakeholders were made aware of the CCAP, and 146 people participated in our survey leaving over 300 individual comments. Comments were incorporated into the plan and a document with responses to comments was published online (Attachment 2). Both internal and external feedback will continue to be incorporated throughout the CCAP implementation.
Staff has also provided regular updates to the Board Policy and Planning Committee and Board of Directors on progress of CCAP development since 2017.
CCAP Implementation Program
The proposed CCAP Implementation Program will ensure that climate change mitigation and adaptation actions are integrated, or mainstreamed, into Valley Water operations. Metrics to track progress will be developed and analyzed to determine trends, limiting factors, and improvement needs, allowing Valley Water’s climate change response efforts to evolve over time. The Implementation Program will be administered initially by a graduate student intern supported by additional Valley Water staff, and eventually, if approved, by a full-time implementation lead. Implementation steps are outlined below.
Step 1. Prioritize and Implement Actions
The approximately 118 possible actions included in the CCAP will be prioritized for monitoring and reporting purposes. A quantitative prioritization methodology, initially informed by California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services’ California Adaptation Guide, will be refined based on internal stakeholder and Board Policy and Planning Committee input. Possible criteria for prioritization include cost, co-benefits, effectiveness, and survey feedback. Adaptation actions may also be assessed based on avoided risk. Potential co-benefits include: additional environmental benefits (including cleaner air or water), cost saving, community benefit (including environmental and social justice), and improved collaboration and regulatory synergy.
The majority of actions in the CCAP align with existing plans and are not likely to be associated with increased costs. Based on this prioritization process, actions not aligned with existing plans will be further developed into measurable work plans with associated budgets.
Step 2. Measure Progress
Tracking Valley Water’s progress towards its GHG reduction and climate change resiliency goals is a critical part of the proposed Implementation Program. Metrics will be developed at the strategy level, and greenhouse gas metrics will continue to be tracked. Since Valley Water has annually met its current carbon neutrality goal since 2014, an update to the current emissions target may be necessary.
Step 3. Reporting and Outreach
The implementation program aims to be highly collaborative and adaptive according to the latest climate science and regulations. It will also include regular updates to the relevant Board Committees, the Board of Directors, staff, and external stakeholders. Many proposed actions involve closer collaboration with other agencies and will require additional outreach to implement. The CCAP implementation program will be regularly assessed and progress will be reported to the Board, stakeholders, and the public.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no financial impact associated with this item. The Climate Change Action Plan does not commit Valley Water to a specific course of action regarding projects. Rather, it affirms Valley Water’s commitment to reduce GHG emissions and incorporate climate change resiliency throughout its operations.
CEQA:
The recommended action does not constitute a project under CEQA, because it does not have a potential for resulting in direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. All projects that are planned for implementation will go through environmental review consistent with CEQA.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Climate Change Action Plan
Attachment 2: CCAP Outreach Response to Comments
Attachment 3: PowerPoint
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER:
Manager
Lisa Bankosh, 408-630-2618
Kirsten Struve, 408-630-3138