Community-based Approaches to the Drought

Transcription

1 Community-based Approaches to the Drought Opportunities for Collective Action! Presented by the NorCal Community Resilience Network

2 I. Welcome & Intros II. Open Discussion: Grassroots/community-based response to the Drought III. Introduction to the NorCal Community Resilience Network IV. Overview of the Community Resilience Challenge

3 California s Drought Crisis One year of water left in its reservoirs Jay Famiglietti, NASA's senior water scientist Central Valley farmers who grew up with 200-foot wells are finding now that 1,000-foot wells aren't deep enough to hit the retreating water table. The atmospheric conditions associated with the drought are "very likely" linked to human-caused climate change," Stanford scientists

4 Statewide rebate program to help consumers replace old appliances with more efficient models; Water-use cuts at campuses, golf courses, cemeteries and other facilities with lawns Replacement of 50 million square feet or about 1,150 acres of lawns and turf with drought-tolerant landscapes. Requires conservation pricing for local water agencies (ruled unconstitutional) Full Text here: 1ZPLVk/view?usp=sharing ;

5 If just one in ten Southern Californians were to install a greywater system in their home, the state would conserve as much potable water as it expects to generate through the massive $1 billion desalinization plant that is about to come online in San Diego County," -Laura Allen, co-founder of Greywater Action, author of The Water-Wise Home. There s enough rainwater to be harvested to produce 30-50% of the entire city s water needs. Andy Lipkis, Executive Director, Tree People, Los Angeles

6 People-powered, nature-inspired, community-based solutions Sebastopol s City Hall Lawn Transformation Greywater and Rainwater catchment Workshops Sheet Mulching Parties Composting Toilets

7 Jobs Regenerative Agriculture: create drought-proof soil and store carbon Community Building

8 What has your attention right now? How is the drought affecting you or your organization? What do you see as some key opportunities to share some innovative projects or solutions - from partnerships to home or neighborhood-based solutions? What are some barriers to really planning and implementing the solutions mentioned, especially those involving communitybased, nature-inspired responses to the drought? Do we have any immediate solutions to breaking through these barriers?

9 Seize the moment to mobilize and organize! Stepping up our efforts, making our voices heard. Our Vision: building a Hub for grassroots citizen action groups working on nature-inspired, people-powered, lowcost, low-impact solutions Our Inspiration: Permaculture & Transition Movement

10 Honor and Scale Up Existing Grassroots Efforts: Directory, mentoring for exemplary projects so they can be replicated. What is working? How can we share these inspirational stories about projects that truly work? How can we scale them up? Support Leadership Development and Capacity Building for Grassroots Groups: Community Organizing workshops in Humboldt & Oakland, support for anti-racism workshop, fundraising support. How could grassroots groups like Transition Initiatives, Climate Action Coalitions and permaculture guilds best support each other? How can we best collaborate with local governments and make our voices heard? Provide Platforms to Communicate and Network: conference calls, social media, website, in-person gatherings

11 History: 2012 Transition Network Conference 2013 Building Resilient Communities Convergence 2014: Transition Leadership Gathering, Community Resilience Challenge- East Bay 2015: Workshop in Collaboration with 100 Resilient Cities Oakland, Community Resilience Challenge-East Bay Communication Tools: Website Listservs Social media

12 Regional Steering Committee Bioregional Committees (East Bay, North Bay, etc.) Proposed Working Groups: Water, fundraising, collaborations with Local Governments Annual Convergence, bioregional gatherings

13 1. Join the Directory: norcalresilience.org 2. Take the survey. 3. Inquire about being on our Interim Steering Committee: 1-day Overnight Retreat (June) to formalize our structure 4. Help to organize our Convergence (October)

14 An example what the Regional Network can Accomplish!

15 Daily Acts 2010: 350 Home and Garden Challenge

16

17

18 BEFORE AFTER AFTER

19 Become a Community Partner Let s honor and shine the spotlight on the many existing exemplary organizations and programs that are building community resilience, especially through our water conservation efforts.

20

21 People s Grocery: Garden Work Party at the California Hotel Urban Adamah: (community farm in Berkeley): Skill Share

22 Plant drought-tolerant plants Install a low-flow toilet Host a disaster preparedness meeting with your neighbors. 2014: more than 8,000 actions registered.

23

24 2014 Municipal Sponsors: Stopwaste.org, City of Antioch, City of Pittsburg, City of Martinez, Contra Costa Water District, EBMUD, StopWaste.org 2014 Business Sponsors Midori Law Group, Bill s Hardware, EcoMulch, Unitarian Universalist Church, Truitt & White, Ecology Center, Mt. Diablo Recycling Center, Urban Farmer Store

25

26 Become involved with the Community Resilience Challenge as a partner or sponsor. community resiliencechallenge.org; eastbayresiliencechallenge.org Continue the conversation about water. Promote and participate in the the water-related events happening during the Challenge. Get involved in the Decentralized Water Policy Council. Stay tuned for our Water Working Group! Get involved in the Community Resilience Network AND your local citizen action group: norcalresilience.org Come to an East Bay Permaculture Guild Meeting (2 nd Monday of the month, PLACE for Sustainable Living )

27