Planning for Climate Change Takes a Comprehensive Approach

While plan alignment ideally begins during the scoping phase of a planning process and continues throughout all stages, alignment can begin at any phase. This section provides examples of best practices and tips for avoiding tricky spots for whichever part of the planning process your community is in. It is also aligned with the four-phase approach in the California Adaptation Planning Guide and General Plan Guidelines to break the content into manageable steps.

Every community will vary in the approach and sequencing of their planning process; as such, the following phased approach is not meant to be prescriptive, but rather offer a menu of ideas that agencies can select at their discretion for implementing and sequencing plan alignment concepts.

Participating in visioning and engagement activities, identifying goals and resources, and outlining a process builds a plan’s foundation. Exploring, defining, and initiating one or more plans simultaneously can allow integration at the outset of each process, and the opportunity to streamline resources, staff, and efforts across involved departments and entities throughout the process.

For more on this phase:

• General Plan Guidelines: Vision & Engagement, Formulate Goals

• Adaptation Planning Guide: Phase 1 – Explore, Define, and Initiate

• Develop a shared vision. Engage stakeholders and the broader community to identify what people most value about their community and what they want their community to become. How will the community be similar or different in the future? All planning initiatives should center this same community vision, goals, and objectives for adaptation and resilience.

• Become familiar with planning processes and plan requirements, both internal to a department/organization and those of other agencies and/or departments. Coordination and mutual learning at the onset may yield bigger returns later.

  • There are multiple state laws that require the integration of climate resilience in local planning documents, which are included in the Plans sections of this resource. Be sure to check relevant state and federal guidance documents and statutes early and often, as regulations often evolve over time.

• Create an adaptable 5, 10, or 15+ year strategy for updating multiple plans/elements over time and identify ways that portions of different planning processes can be used sequentially to support each other. Consider aligning the update timeline of different plans by adjusting the frequency of subsequent updates.

  • Timing for each plan or element’s development, updates, and approvals may differ significantly. Be aware of timeframes so that funding and staff resources for one plan can assist elsewhere as needed.

  • Communities may face time-sensitive required updates to certain plans, such as the Housing Element of the General Plan or the 5-year timing of the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) update and may need to sequence other plan updates around this update. As a community develops its 10-year strategy, it may be helpful to plan around the time-sensitive plans and align timing of other plans to follow the plans with strict time-sensitive deadlines. Consider leveraging the next required update to develop components that can inform multiple plan updates, such as community engagement efforts or a comprehensive vulnerability and risk assessment.

• Treat the process as an outcome. Developing thoughtful process goals to work towards plan alignment, equitable outcomes, and develop transparency can help jurisdictions focus not just on delivering plans, but also transform institutional norms that may be impeding community alignment, cooperation, equity, and resilience.

A vulnerability or risk assessment that incorporates climate change impacts is often based on the examination of current and historical conditions, emerging trends, and projections of future climate impacts. This process usually involves identifying populations and assets most vulnerable to hazards and associated impacts, evaluating the risks from each impact, and identifying priorities for effective strategy development. A comprehensive vulnerability assessment can serve as the foundation for aligning climate risk and vulnerability data across multiple plans.

FOR MORE ON THIS PHASE:

• General Plan Guidelines: Collect & Analyze Data
• Adaptation Planning Guide: Phase 2 – Assess Vulnerability

Provide a foundation for developing strategies by conducting a comprehensive and detailed vulnerability or risk assessment that includes future climate projections, and which can be leveraged for multiple plans.

• Risk and vulnerability assessments vary in scope and level of detail. Determine which plan needs the most specificity and develop an assessment at that level so all plans can benefit. If this is not feasible, design the assessment so other components can be added as needed or as funding becomes available. Integrating vulnerability assessments is both good practice and cost-effective.

Develop a comprehensive, locally relevant definition of vulnerable communities with indicators applicable to the community from which all plans can draw from. [See the OPR guide Defining Vulnerable Communities in the Context of Climate Adaptation.]

Consider using multiple information sources from across the community and beyond (if available) for a robust assessment of local hazards, including both quantitative and qualitative sources, such as community member experiences and indigenous and Traditional ecological knowledge.

• Apathy created by “disaster amnesia” or the perception that “nothing ever happens here” when time passes without a significant hazard event can stall public participation. Vulnerability assessment findings conveyed in an accessible and approachable manner can increase awareness and understanding of risk.

Examine risks at a regional scale beyond jurisdictional boundaries. Flooding and wildfire events in neighboring jurisdictions, for example, could lead to downstream impacts in a jurisdiction, such as evacuation pressures, debris flows, and wildfire smoke; and environmental pollution from neighboring jurisdictions may contribute to a community’s overall vulnerability. Check neighboring jurisdictions’ plans and assessments and promote regional consistency by coordinating on the use of similar data parameters and measures.

The vulnerability assessment created in Phase 2 can be utilized to refine a vision and any goals developed earlier in the process and identify policies, strategies, and actions unique to a community’s vulnerabilities, strengths, and objectives. While the terminology, level of detail, and purpose of different plans may differ, this planning phase involves the opportunity to align strategy/action frameworks across multiple plans.

FOR MORE ON THIS PHASE:

• General Plan Guidelines: Refine Goals, Alternatives Analysis, Plan Adoption
• Adaptation Planning Guide: Phase 3 – Define Adaptation Framework and Strategies

Integrate the same actions and risk reduction strategies in multiple plans. For example, adaptation strategies from the General Plan or a standalone climate adaptation plan can also be used as mitigation actions in an LHMP. At a minimum, cross-reference plans.

• Ensure consistency among planning efforts, and, conversely, that no strategy, policy, or action in one plan contradicts another plan. Comparing plan goals both at the outset of the planning process and periodically throughout helps identify potential conflicts.
• Plan components can inform other plans, but plan sections and entire plans may not be interchangeable due to differing requirements by approval agencies. For example, while parts of an LHMP and a General Plan’s Safety Element might overlap, federal requirements for an LHMP differ from state requirements for the Safety Element. At the same time, incorporating other plans by reference into the general plan is permissible by law, and doing so can help to avoid duplication of detailed information or more specific hazard mitigation and climate adaptation strategies contained in other plans. Thus, local agencies should consider what degree of integration and mechanisms for doing so are appropriate.

Reach out to scientists and academic institutions. They are often eager to provide insights on how climate information is effectively used. Leverage other existing agency collaborations with academia.

Align with State plans and priorities. State plans, such as the California Climate Adaptation Strategy, State Hazard Mitigation Plan, State Fire Plan, State Emergency Plan, and Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan can provide insights into State priorities for funding, local plan approvals, implementation, and coordination; illuminate specific climate risks resulting from hazards particular to different regions; and identify specific state programs, such as technical assistance or grant programs, that can be leveraged to support local planning. [Explore Adaptation Clearinghouse Topic Pages for featured state plans and other resources.]

Implementation can leverage the benefits of plan alignment by identifying and prioritizing actions, monitoring programs, evaluation mechanisms, and funding sources that support the goals and strategies of multiple plans. Continued collaboration with stakeholders to identify implementation opportunities and resources can kick-start the process and ensure each strategy and action continues to be effective into the future.

FOR MORE ON THIS PHASE:

• General Plan Guidelines: Implementation
• Adaptation Planning Guide: Phase 4 – Implement, Monitor, Evaluate, and Adjust

Develop a timeframe for implementing each action aligned with existing and future funding opportunities. Seek to identify which strategies can be implemented using existing operations and budgets, may require a specific-line-item request as part of the routine planning and budgeting cycle, may require more unique public financing methods (e.g., special purpose assessments, impact fees, or tax increment financing), or can share funding sources with other local departments, neighboring jurisdictions, or regional entities. Developing a matrix or tracking mechanism that shows how actions and funding sources support multiple plans and goals can be a helpful tool to inform decision making, transparency, and outreach efforts.

• Ensure that planning and implementation accounts for the useful life of critical infrastructure, not just design life.
• Funding cycles can affect when decision makers can begin funding and implementing an action. Capital improvement plans are an important tool for identifying both short and long-term financing opportunities for adaptation strategies identified in plans.

Collaborate with stakeholders to identify implementation measures and funding sources, including:

• Other departments to identify funding sources that can be leveraged for multiple plan strategies and measures. For example, stormwater or floodplain management agencies may be able to fund green infrastructure projects, and transportation agencies may be able to support infrastructure projects.
• Public works departments to gain buy-in for ongoing/long-term operations and maintenance costs – without their support, capital projects may stall.
• The private sector, including local businesses and private landowners, are critical for achieving widespread implementation of community-wide measures – engage them early on to build relationships and support.
• Neighboring jurisdictions, including special districts and other agencies with overlapping political boundaries, to see if policy implementation can be coordinated and to avoid any issues arising from jurisdictional inconsistencies.
• The community to identify creative resources, solutions, and leadership.

Develop community-driven, measurable outcomes across all plans to assess their effectiveness. Develop a monitoring program to track progress, build community trust, and enhance transparency by identifying progress indicators and metrics for each action in partnership with the broader community. The program can identify when and why to monitor, why monitoring is being done, and who is responsible for the evaluation.

Adjust and modify. Develop an adaptive process that allows for modification as opportunities to incorporate community knowledge, Indigenous and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, or scientific advancements arise.

• Developing a review timeline for assessing progress can ensure accountability, create a vehicle for transparency, drive continued action, and allow for improvements based on lessons learned.
• Develop strong messaging to drive implementation forward and dedicate adequate resources for outreach and building public support. Leverage plan alignment successes by showcasing how actions implement the strategies and goals of multiple planning documents and community priorities. Some actions may require greater effort to gain political backing or public support to implement, particularly those that require local financial and/or administrative commitments, or those that generate opposition from competing interests. It is helpful in these cases to make a convincing and long-lasting case for implementation. For each proposed action, explain clearly and succinctly how well the action can meet additional standards or “selling points.” [Learn more about strong messaging for stakeholders.]
• Leverage existing and established venues for messaging, and when necessary, identify new venues to reach any audiences not engaged through established methods.