Coastal Restoration

Stock assessments are critical to modern fisheries management. These scientific studies are based on models of fish populations that require data on abundanc...

Ventura County in Southern California is utilizing the Coastal Resilience approach to engage local communities by illustrating the impacts of inundation, intrusion and river flooding while identifying vulnerable human and natural communities. Building the tools and engaging stakeholders will enable appropriate adaptation solutions.  

Within an hour’s drive of an estimated 12 million people, an oasis of plants and animals still attests to the expansive wilderness that once covered Ventura County. Bobcats, mountain lions, deer, songbirds, and raptors traverse this land, and native fish, amphibians and waterfowl occupy its wetlands.  And a river runs through it - the Santa Clara - providing an important source of fresh water for communities, ranchers and farmers, and some of southern California’s most critical coastal wetlands.  Amazingly, this exists amidst cities, a major military installation, and some of the most high-value agriculture in the nation.  All these resources – natural, social, and economic – are threatened by climate-driven changes to the coast and rivers, including sea level rise, accelerated erosion, more intense flooding, and saltwater intrusion into groundwater.  Ventura County’s coast needs to be resilient.

Scientists predicted a decade ago the loss of Arctic ice would dry out California and the very change in the jet stream that has driven the current drought. One of those scientists told me last week, “the actual situation in the next few decades could be even more dire that our study suggested.”