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Steps for California |
The California regional scoping workshop was held in Santa Barbara on March 9-11, 1998. Since that time there has been ongoing positive feedback from the workshop, and significant efforts are being undertaken in the various sectors. For example, The Water Education Foundation, a well-regarded source of information on water policy issues, has released a special issue of their publication specifically on climate change, with input from the California region "white paper" and the workshop process (http://www.nceas.edu). Water resources, one of the main topics covered at the workshop, is a major issue in the west, yet climate variability and change have not been on the radar screen for many in the water community. California is considering two major tasks for the next phase. The first
is to complete the workshop effort by following up on critical sectoral
components of the regional assessment. This will involve convening smaller
meetings of stakeholders and experts on issues that require further
analysis. The second is to work with those who are currently conducting
research on key elements of the climate impacts issue (e.g. integrating
the modeling of climate, water, fire, land-use, etc. and ecosystems and
economic/social systems research) to coordinate their efforts and focus
the outputs on climate impacts.
Task 2: Research Priorities This project will involve coordination of currently-funded work (such as the research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Scripps Institution of Oceanography) on climate change at the regional scale. State resource agencies and other organizations, such as the Pacific Institute, also have on-going projects addressing issues such as water planning and fire-fighting. The objective is both coordination of research efforts across critical sectors of interest and sharing of existing information between research projects. 2. Ecological Systems Impacts Assessment Climate-induced changes in ecological systems may involve profound impacts to both natural and managed systems. State interest in ecosystem impacts and links to existing management challenges, from fire fighting - to agriculture - to watershed management, is considerable. State and local agencies will be key stakeholders to involve in this effort. 3. Communities and Infrastructure Impacts Assessment The national assessment effort has determined that urban centers and
the general area of communities and infrastructure should be handled at
the regional assessment level (vs. developing a national sectoral
assessment process). This places a specific and important task before the
regional assessment efforts to adequately address those concerns. The
California region has significant urban/community infrastructure issues
linked to water supply, transportation and communications, fire, sea-level
rise, health, and other concerns. System resilience to variability and the
capacity to adapt to and mitigate change are critically important issues
for the region. The regional workshop succeeded in bringing together
leading stakeholders in this area, including: local government
associations, elected officials, planners at the local level, state and
federal agencies concerned with these issues (e.g. CalTrans, Department of
Water Resources, Bureau of Reclamation), and professional associations
such as the American Planning Association (APA) and the American Institute
of Architects (AIA). One post-workshop goal is to pull this considerable
talent together to assess California region-specific concerns. This
process will likely identify additional research questions to address. 4. Business and Economic Impacts Impacts of climate change and variability on California's trillion dollar economy are complex and critically important to business and the economy. One of the major accomplishments of the California regional workshop and the numerous preparatory meetings was the high quality and diversity of business participation. In follow-up discussions with business participants, workshop organizers have received extremely positive feedback and a strong interest in continuing the assessment. Another post-workshop goal is to move quickly to maintain a valuable and significant level of interest and commitment on the part of the business community. Based on these preliminary concerns, the overall goals of the California region's follow-on activities are:
For more information, contact: Robert Wilkinson, California Regional Workshop Coordinator, University of California Santa Barbara, 1428 W. Valerio Street, Santa Barbara, 93101; (805) 569-2590; wilkinso@envst.ucsb.edu
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