Making California Climate-Resilient

California is working on a plan to adapt infrastructure statewide to the future impacts of climate change.

2 minute read

December 1, 2016, 10:00 AM PST

By Elana Eden


California Big Sur

Doug Meek / Shutterstock

Amid a number of new policies in California putting climate adaptation at the front and center, the state is also pursuing an update of the Safeguarding California Action Plan—a comprehensive collection of strategies to mitigate the risks that climate impacts like sea-level risedroughtflooding, and tree die-off pose to California’s water supply, energy grid, agriculture, and urban infrastructure. 

The chair of the state Natural Resources Agency, John Laird, spoke to The Planning Report to delve deeper into this complex assortment of variables.

Among the strategies the agency is exploring is the creation of a regional energy grid, which could help stabilize the supply of renewable energy by allowing Western states to share the resources local to them. 

Laird also supports the governor’s contentious plan to build a tunnel system in the Bay Delta. For him, resilience is the lynchpin that can unite the area's embroiled interests under one plan.

I sometimes say that dealing with the issues in the Delta is bit like dealing with peace in the Middle East: People have their basic beliefs, and they don’t cross over. But the issue of resiliency could provide a way to talk about it that everyone can understand.

Some of Laird's expertise is tied to his own brushes with disaster. In 2011, he was chairing a meeting of the state’s Ocean Protection Council when the Tōhoku tsunami hit the California coast. And in 1989, he was a city councilmember when the Loma Prieta earthquake destroyed Downtown Santa Cruz.

That hard-won experience has convinced him that the public can, and must, understand how a complex global process like climate change can quickly become close to home.

"There are variables to this," he says. "I think it’s important to develop the science, bring it home to the public, and use examples that people have experienced—like the tsunami—to make sure that people understand the urgency."

Wednesday, November 30, 2016 in The Planning Report

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 14, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Rendering of California High-Speed Rail station with bullet train.

California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself

The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.

May 19, 2025 - Benjamin Schneider

Screenshot of University Transportation Centers website

Transportation Research Centers Lose Key Federal Funding

The federal University Transportation Center program funds critical transportation research and innovation at 35 consortia of colleges and universities.

5 seconds ago - Streetsblog USA

Cobblestone street with vintage street lamps in Savannah, Georgia.

Savannah Reduces Speed Limits on Almost 100 City Streets

The historic Georgia city is lowering speed limits in an effort to reduce road fatalities.

May 20 - WJCL

Sign for Loma Alta Park in Altadena, Los Angeles County.

A Park Reborn: Resilience and Renewal in Fire-Stricken Altadena

Rebuilt in just two months after the devastating Eaton Fire, Loma Alta Park now stands as a symbol of community resilience and renewal, even as some residents hope recovery efforts will continue to support housing stability and long-term equity.

May 20 - Pasadena NOw

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.