Community Corner
Letter to the Editor: County Towns Need Climate Action Plan Public Workshops
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All of Santa Clara County cities/towns need climate action plan public workshops like the city of Solana Beach, north of San Diego, with a particular emphasis on water and wildfire management.
The about 28,000-acres Ventura County wildfire, costing more than $5 million to bravely battle, should be a wake up call. One of the problems firefighters have experienced is an inadequate water supply.
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Stand on Santa Cruz Avenue in Los Gatos, or Big Basin Way in Saratoga. Look to the nearby hills. Tell me on a hot, dry, windy day that an adequate water supply is not important.
Nationwide there is a limited supply of firefighting airplanes and helicopters and the amazingly courageous, skillful pilots who fly them. If/when needed locally they may be elsewhere fighting wildfires.
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Hopefully Santa Clara County will receive a good next-rainfall year. If not, two years like the prior two are going to put Santa Clara County reservoirs, rivers, creeks at extremely low, or empty levels.
About half of Santa Clara County's water supply originates from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Levees there may not be able to withstand a Loma Prieta level earthquake. Levees failure could cause salt water intrusion.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian has said "the Delta is California's Katrina waiting to happen."
All Santa Clara County supervisors, city/town managers, Santa Clara Valley Water District directors and executive, Santa Clara County executive and Santa Clara County Parks director should be meeting twice a year to plan for climate change and weather pattern effects.
Meanwhile, week after week, I read about discussions/heated debates of how tall buildings should be, where located, cost to purchase and type of business. And now the president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is apparently refusing to meet with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed because Mayor Reed does not support same-sex marriage. How important are such issues relative to climate change, water management and wildfire protection?
There is no time to dilly-dally.
—Los Gatos resident Dave Lane is a member of the West Valley Green Leaf Committee
