City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: APRIL 12, 2022 FROM: CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE / OFFICE OF WARDS: ALL
SUSTAINABILITY
PUBLIC UTILITIES DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: URBAN FOREST, WATER, AND CLIMATE PROJECT UPDATE ISSUE:
Receive and file an update on the Urban Forest, Water and Climate Project.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council receive a status update on the Urban Forest, Water and Climate Project.
BACKGROUND:
With the adoption of the City of Riverside’s (City) 2020 Urban Water Management Plan on June 22, 2021, City Council directed the City Manager’s Office / Office of Sustainability (OOS) and Public Utilities Department (RPU) to evaluate the impacts of climate change on the City’s water resources, as well as the impact of water on trees and vegetation as potential assets to mitigate climate change. The full Council action stated:
RPU recognizes the unique challenges and opportunities confronting the City of Riverside as climate impacts worsen. Riverside has adopted the Envision 2025 Strategic Plan to provide direction in adapting to these changing conditions.
As part of these efforts, the City's OOS in conjunction with RPU, where legally permissible, will evaluate current climate conditions impacting or being impacted by the City’s water supply such as temperature, pollution, and carbon sequestration benefits resulting from tree canopies, greenspaces, and tributaries to the Santa Ana River.
This evaluation will inform decision-makers on what steps are needed to maintain or increase those climate assets and how increases or decreases in irrigation affect the environment.
These efforts will assist in evaluating how water can be managed to adapt to climate changes and help inform the City’s sustainability and water management policies.
Additionally, Council directed RPU, in conjunction with the OOS, to conduct joint public meetings and workshops, and provide updates and amendments where appropriate to the Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP), Water Shortage Contingency Plan (WSCP), and Water Conservation Ordinance for the City Council’s consideration within nine (9) months (March 2022) in light of the emerging drought conditions across the state and western region of the country.
This directive became known as the Urban Forest, Water and Climate Project.
DISCUSSION:
Since June 2021, staff has conducted an extensive review of available data and resources to inform and fulfill the project’s goals. To date, staff has:
Conducted literature research
Contacted subject matter experts
Assembled a multi-departmental workgroup including team members from Innovation & Technology, Community & Economic Development, Riverside Public Utilities, Parks, Recreation and Community Services, Public Works, and the Office of Sustainability Evaluated existing data sets within the City’s possession Identified data gaps
Researched available software to assess tree canopy and tree benefits Analyzed relevant City policies
Hosted a successful virtual public workshop
Launched an online stakeholder survey
Began preparing a comprehensive report on findings
Below is a summary of these efforts’ key findings. Additional information about the workshop and online survey can be found as an attachment to this report. Staff anticipates completing and presenting a comprehensive final report to the City Council by May 2022.
Climate Impacts on Water
For the City, the key indicators when evaluating the impacts of climate change are temperature and precipitation. These also affect climate events such as drought and the intensity of rain events. Current climate conditions, including warmer weather patterns and below average precipitation, are impacting local groundwater basins and the City’s available water supply. In the future, water supply will continue to be impacted by decreasing snowpack and more prolonged and drier summers. Additionally, projections indicate population growth and the associated increase in water demand will exceed Riverside’s current water supply sources within ten (10) years, unless investments are made in the future water supply projects.
Benefits of Trees and Climate Change Threats
Climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies include recognizing the importance of urban forests. Trees provide social, economic, and health benefits to communities including improving air quality, reducing energy usage, and improving water quality as well as providing opportunities for carbon sequestration. Although urban forests are increasingly being recognized for their importance in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, they are also threatened by climate change effects that predominantly include drought, increasing temperatures, and an increasing number of extreme heat days.
The City of Riverside has a large urban tree canopy providing a substantial urban forest. Almost 20% of the City is covered by tree canopy though most of these trees are located on private land and are privately maintained. This presents a challenge for implementing potential City-wide water or other types of policies to preserve and enhance the urban forest.
The City does not have all the needed data to complete a detailed analysis related to evaluating the impact trees have on temperature, pollution, and carbon sequestration within Riverside. Because different tree species sequester carbon, reduce air emissions, or provide other benefits at different rates, additional information will be needed including the species of tree, age, size, and location to produce meaningful and defensible results. For example, often in urban conditions where a tree requires ongoing care and maintenance (trimming and watering), the tree may be a source of carbon emissions due to these actions or the age of the tree. Additionally, trees sequester or are sources of carbon emissions at different rates during their lifecycles. Depending on their location and where they shade, the tree may vary in its ability to reduce heat island effects or reduce energy usage. Consequently, additional information would be necessary to complete a full study of Riverside’s urban forest.
Because of this limitation, staff completed an analysis that estimated the benefits of trees in the City that will be detailed in the final report.
Benefits of Greenspaces, tributaries to the Santa Ana River and the Santa Ana River Similar to trees, there are many social, economic, and health benefits associated with greenspaces, the tributaries to the Santa Ana River and the Santa Ana River. Greenspaces and riparian areas also help to improve air and water quality, as well as provide opportunities for carbon sequestration. These areas help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, yet are threatened by climate change effects that predominantly include drought, increasing temperatures, and an increasing number of extreme heat days. While there is some data relating to greenspaces and tributaries within the City, there is not enough to make an assessment on quantifying the impacts at this time. Additional data collection, mapping and analysis will need to take place.
Workshop and Survey
On January 26, 2022, staff conducted a virtual public workshop with approximately 30 community-members and released a survey taken by over 230 people. Common concerns and values shared by participants are summarized below.
Of the people that participated in the poll, around 69% have resided in Riverside for over 15 years. When polled about water concerns, drought and water use restrictions and water quality were the top two priorities scoring at 38% and 29%, respectively. Notably, over half of participants said they were very little to not at all impacted by the most recent 2012-2016 drought. Around 66% of participants continued watering their landscape per the City’s allowed days.
Regarding trees, survey participants consider improving air quality, providing wildlife habitat, and reducing climate impact by storing carbon as the top three benefits of trees. Providing shade came in a close fourth benefit. Additionally, most participants (60%) consider trees equally important as other infrastructure (such as waterlines, streetlights, and sidewalks) and believe the top three threats facing trees in the City (listed in order of importance) are: lack of care and/or investment in the urban forest, drought, and development.
Next Steps
The scope of the Urban Forest, Water and Climate Project is broad and has citywide policy implications. Multi-departmental consideration and coordination will be required as most of the future steps will impact other departments. Currently, staff is finalizing a comprehensive report on its research findings, stakeholder input, and policy recommendations through multi-departmental coordination.
Staff anticipates completing and presenting a comprehensive final report to the City Council by May 2022.
The original return date of March 2022 was not possible for a number of reasons: 1) the assignment was unique, complex and a much larger scope than originally realized; 2) the data is incomplete and/or has not yet been collected; 3) the Office of Sustainability is comprised of staff who “moonlight” in this capacity on top of their regular duties, emergency service worker duties and other special assignments; and 4) many team members were integrally involved in and/or impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
The Urban Forest, Water and Climate Project aligns with Strategic Priorities from the Envision Riverside 2025 Strategic Plan and contributes to the achievement of its goals as follows:
Strategic Priority No. 2 - Community Well-Being
Goal 2.3 Strengthen neighborhood identities and improve community health and the physical environment through amenities and programs that foster an increased sense of community and enhanced feelings of pride and belonging citywide.
Strategic Priority No. 4 - Environmental Stewardship
Goal 4.2 Sustainably manage local water resources to maximize reliability and advance water reuse to ensure safe, reliable and affordable water to our community.
Goal 4.3 Implement local and support regional proactive policies and inclusive decision-making processes to deliver environmental justice and ensure that all residents breathe healthy and clean air with the goal of having zero days of unhealthy air quality per the South Coast Air Quality District’s Air Quality Index (AQI).
Goal 4.5 Maintain and conserve 30% of Riverside’s natural lands in green space including, but not limited to, agricultural lands and urban forests in order to protect and restore Riverside’s rich biodiversity and accelerate the natural removal of carbon, furthering our community’s climate resilience.
Strategic Priority No. 6 - Infrastructure, Mobility, and Connectivity Goal 6.2 Maintain, protect and improve assets and infrastructure within the City’s built environment to ensure and enhance reliability, resiliency, sustainability, and facilitate connectivity.
This project aligns with each of the five Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust – The Urban Forest, Water and Climate Project has leaned on stakeholder input and transparency to inform the project’s goals and next steps.
Equity – Part of this project’s analysis has been looking at the distribution of tree canopy throughout the City as a first assessment into the relationship between socioeconomic trends and canopy cover.
Fiscal Responsibility – Both the City’s water and its urban forest represent significant assets for the City. Managing and preparing for climate change and how it will affect these assets is fiscally prudent.
Innovation – Multiple departments are working in coordination to assess climate change’s impacts on Riverside and take adaptive steps to meet changing needs.
Sustainability & Resiliency – The findings from this project will directly inform future sustainability efforts and climate solutions.
The Office of Sustainability concurs with this report.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this project status update.
Prepared by: Todd M. Corbin, Utilities General Manager
Certified as to
availability of funds: Edward Enriquez, Chief Financial Officer/City Treasurer Approved by: Kris Martinez, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Phaedra A. Norton, City Attorney
Attachments:
January 26, 2022 - Public Workshop Presentation
Urban Forest, Water and Climate Community Survey
Urban Forest, Water, and Climate Project website: https://riversideca.gov/press/urban-forest-water-and-climate-project Presentation
Urban Forest, Water and Climate Project Update ● Page 3