What’s described as a long-term plan to help communities in Nevada County prepare for the growing impacts of climate change was approved by the Board of Supervisors at their recent meeting in Truckee. That follows two years of community engagement, technical analysis, and collaboration with local organizations. Avana Andrade, a senior planner for Climate Action Planning and Implementation for a consulting firm hired by the county, outlined key measures of what’s called the Resource Resiliency Roadmap. She summarized climate hazards in this area. That includes extreme precipitation, heat, cold, and winter storms. Also droughts and reduced snowpacks, along with wildfires and Public Safety Power Shutoffs. Measures to combat the impacts include maximizing the resilience, safety, and efficiency of new buildings…

Other measures include helping homeowners to improve energy efficiency and prepare for outages, strengthening watersheds and water systems, and establishing community resiliency hubs during extreme weather.  Andrade said the top sources of greenhouse gas is vehicle emissions, residential use of propane, methane, and natural gasses, and offroad commercial vehicle equipment that use a lot of diesel gas, such as tractors. Supervisor Hardy Bullock also emphasized that the county doesn’t want to add cost to the Roadmap…

The Board also emphasized that the Roadmap is not a mandate and does not introduce new regulations. Instead, they say it provides strategic direction to help the county access critical funding and partnerships. Implementation will follow a phased approach over the next 20 years.