In 2016, several laws that concern the environment have come into effect in California. Do you know which ones may impact you? Air Quality The state Air Resources Board will gain two members—by legislative appointment—who will represent communities suffering from air pollution. Drought Cities and counties are no longer able to ban residents from removing
Urban forests are the backbone of regional landscapes and represent a substantial natural resource investment. The 177 million trees in California’s urban forests are at risk as water cuts significantly reduce irrigation that is vital to mostly non-native, ornamental trees. Tens of millions of native trees in California’s wildlands have already died due to the
Permitting in the California Coastal Zone can be complicated, time consuming and expensive for an applicant, particularly when seeking to implement large-scale projects that span multiple jurisdictions or require phased development. Public Works Plans (PWPs) are an innovative—but little known—approach to streamlining California Coastal Commission permitting for qualifying public projects. A PWP provides a comprehensive
While California’s oak trees are well adapted to survive the state’s drought, the right approach to supplemental irrigation is critical to prevent pests from taking advantage of drought-stressed oaks. Oaks will reallocate resources to conserve water to sustain basic physiological functions. But that can lower the trees’ defenses against disease and insects, including borer colonization.
Dudek’s geographic information system (GIS)-based Tree Resource Information Management (TRIM) is a web-based interactive mapping tool and database with a simple-to-use interface to view, query, track and manage urban forest assets more efficiently and accurately. TRIM is a one-stop information source for GIS-based urban forest management for areas ranging in size from a few hundred
When the City of San Marcos received environmental permits to move forward with its 214-acre downtown specific plan built around San Marcos Creek, it culminated 12 years of complex environmental planning and permitting to effectively integrate water quality and native habitat preservation with the development. Dudek served as the City’s lead environmental consultant. The San
With an estimated 11.8 million homes throughout California located on acres designated as Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), wildfire protection planning plays play a key role in community safety. The Santa Clara County FireSafe Council (SCFSC) developed two Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) for wildfire-prone areas of East Foothills, Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin, and south and
Although requiring more space than conventional concrete-lined open channels, habitat-friendly bioswales are now a common substitute for impervious channels in California urban and suburban areas. Bioswales are an ecological method to meet stormwater treatment regulations for pollutant removal while maintaining stormwater management efficiency. Designed with drought-tolerant, native habitat vegetation, bioswales remove stormwater pollutants by filtration,
Municipal agencies’ staffing challenge is well known – retiring boomers; a next generation workforce that is smaller and less experienced in critical technical areas; an unstable economy; tighter budgets. When agencies talk to us about extension of staff they view it as a cost-effective way to match the right technical expertise with fluctuating and diverse
