A Climate Adaptation Strategy for the Lake Tahoe Basin
SB1 Adaptation Planning Grant: Final Case Study
Summary
The California Tahoe Conservancy (Conservancy) developed an inter-agency climate adaptation strategy for the Lake Tahoe Basin (Basin); the SB1 - funded project represents the transportation element of the strategy. The project aimed to develop a strategy that provided recommendations for addressing climate adaptation deficiencies and served as a basis for updates to several critical regional plans and programs, including the Regional Transportation Plan, the Sustainability Action Plan (per Senate Bill 375), and Area Plans.
This project used downscaled climate model projections for the Basin, assessed the vulnerability of the Basin’s infrastructure, transportation network, and economy to climate change-related impacts such as rising temperatures and extreme events, and developed an interagency and multi-sectoral climate adaptation strategy. Local jurisdictions in the Basin will be able to draw upon the climate projections, vulnerability assessment, and strategy when addressing climate change adaptation in their general plans, as required by Senate Bill 379.
The key project deliverables are a basin-wide vulnerability assessment and climate adaptation strategy. The project ran from May 1, 2018 through February 28, 2020.
Lead Agency and Partnerships
The lead agency is the Conservancy. The Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) provided technical expertise throughout the project.
Additionally, this project consisted of a Science and Engineering Team (University of California at Davis, University of Nevada at Reno, Desert Research Institute, Pacific Southwest Research Station, and U.S. Geological Survey), and a stakeholder group.
Drivers
Executive Orders S-13-08 and B-30-15 directed State agencies to identify climate change vulnerabilities and develop adaptation strategies through coordination of the State’s climate change adaptation strategy (Safeguarding California Plan), thus indicating a need for a Basin-wide climate adaptation plan that is consistent with the California Transportation Plan 2040, and the 2017 Regional Transportation Plan.
The close proximity of urban centers to the forest, coupled with high visitation rates and constricted transportation routes, make the Basin particularly vulnerable to climate change and extreme event impacts. While the project did not emerge from a specific community-based effort, a common concern over the vulnerability of these communities acted as a driver for this project.
Engagement Process
Stakeholders included State, Federal, and local agencies in the Basin, as well as the public (the communities and businesses that rely on Lake Tahoe’s natural resources and transportation network). In particular the Basin contains several low-income communities (defined by Assembly Bill 1550 as census tracts with median household incomes at or below 80 percent of the statewide median income), including parts of South Lake Tahoe and Kings Beach. In addition, multiple communities in Lake Tahoe have been designated disadvantaged areas based on the California Health Disadvantage Index (HDI). These disadvantaged communities also have the highest transit ridership in the Basin and suffer from current transportation deficiencies. Climate change exacerbates the effects of drought and storms, placing these communities and the transportation network at risk from extreme events.
The Conservancy and its partners launched a collaborative interagency stakeholder process to develop the strategy. The Conservancy assembled a Science and Engineering Team, and a stakeholder group to gather input and develop the vulnerability assessment and strategy. The Conservancy also hosted two public meetings in a low income community on the south shore of Lake Tahoe to solicit input on climate vulnerabilities and discuss our findings in June 2019 and February 2020. Feedback gathered from these meetings was incorporated into the vulnerability assessment and adaptation strategy to the extent possible.
Climate Impact Area
Impacts from climate change include increased temperature, wildfire, drought, flooding, and landslides. The Basin’s economy relies on year-round, nature-based tourism and a robust real estate market. However, due to the Basin’s geography and transportation network, visitors and local communities face severe risk of isolation during extreme events, with commensurate impacts to the economy.
This project addressed climate impacts by using downscaled climate projections provided by University of California Davis/Tahoe Environmental Research Center to assess impacts to the transportation network and supports the development of an in-progress adaptation strategy. The strategy will enable integration across agency plans, create institutional efficiencies, and improve the effectiveness of the individual initiatives. In addition, the strategy will contribute to statewide transportation-related emissions reductions while minimizing future climate-related disruptions to highways.
The vulnerability assessment project included agency-specific monitoring using existing protocols. In collaboration with agency partners the Conservancy identified performance measures for the transportation network. The Conservancy also assessed indicators of resilience for their appropriateness and potential application for this project. These will provide a basis for assessing the effectiveness of the strategy.
Once complete the adaptation strategy will consider carbon flux in forest vegetation, meadows, and riparian systems, and their potential for carbon sequestration. It will also help identify opportunities to accelerate the implementation and adoption of alternative transportation options.
Funding Source
Caltrans provided a climate adaptation planning grant (SB1) for $359,756 to develop the vulnerability assessment and action plan for the built environment and the transportation network. The Conservancy contributed $212,000 for a vulnerability assessment and action plan for the natural environment, and project management. The current investment is $589,617.
Research and Data
The Conservancy used state resources such as Safeguarding California, Cal-Adapt, California Transportation Plan 2040, California Adaptation Planning Guide, and other area plans to inform the project.
The consultant, along with the Conservancy and the Tahoe Transportation District, identified straightforward climate adaptation performance measures as they relate to the transportation network. These will provide a basis for periodically updating the assessment and strategy to incorporate accomplishments and shortcomings to date, as well as emerging science.
The downscaled climate projections used came from University of California Davis/Tahoe Environmental Research Center.
Challenges
The major challenges were synchronizing the various analyses and funding sources and articulating the preexisting and concurrent planning efforts conducted by institutional partners in the Basin. The project used consultants to address both of these challenges through project management and leading research.
Outcomes
The deliverables are the vulnerability assessment and climate adaptation strategy. The Conservancy's aim is that once the strategy is developed, agency partners will integrate the findings into updated plans and programs.
Replicability
The framework for the vulnerability assessment, the structure of the adaptation strategy, and the agency and stakeholder engagement process is one that can easily be modified to meet the specific criteria and needs of other areas.
Additional Resources
Vulnerability Assessment and Action Plan
Further Information
Contact Whitney Brennan (530-543-6054; whitney.brennan@tahoe.ca.gov).