To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): University of California Cooperative Extension
Staff Name and Phone Number: Deborah Curle, 565-2305
Vote Requirement: 4/5th
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Lake Sonoma Watershed Fire Prevention Project Funding
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Authorize the County Administrator to receive $30,000 in FY 19-20 and $25,000 in FY20-21 for research and outreach related to the Lake Sonoma Watershed that will raise awareness and educate about fire fuels reduction. (Majority vote requirement.)
B) Adopt a Resolution adjusting the Fiscal Year 19-20 Budget, increasing appropriations and reimbursement in the University of California Cooperative Extension Department (UCCE) budget by $30,000 to fund consultation services. (4/5th Vote Required)
end
Executive Summary:
The University of California Cooperative Extension Department partnering with the Geyserville Fire Protection District, received funding from a CalFire grant to conduct an outreach project in the Lake Sonoma Watershed. For their part, UCCE will provide education and outreach information to landowners related to fire fuels reduction, using tools such as prescribed fire and grazing. UCCE will receive $30,000 in FY 19-20 and $25,000 in FY20-21 (November 2019 - October 2021) to contract with experts on the Lake Sonoma Watershed Fire Prevention Project.
Discussion:
The Lake Sonoma Watershed Fire Prevention Project, through Geyserville Fire Protection District, is located in northeastern Sonoma County. The project includes hazardous fuel reduction, fire prevention planning and fire prevention education. Along with multiple community partners, the year-two funding includes community chipping days, defensible space inspections, workshops, development of a property owner fuel reduction reference document, and demonstration of “defensible space residences.” Open rangelands, forested lands, and approximately 463 habitable structures with 2,000 residents will have the opportunity to benefit from this project with 150 acres treated. The fire prevention education events will be advertised and open for anyone to attend, and the property owner fuel reduction reference documents will be made publicly available.
The geographic scope of this project is the Lake Sonoma Watershed, upstream of the Warm Springs Dam. Fuel reduction in the project area will also benefit adjacent areas. There are approximately 77 homes in the Watershed and approximately 3,000 habitable structures in the adjacent area that are part of the communities of Asti, Cloverdale, Geyserville and Healdsburg that will be threatened by a wildfire that starts and spreads outside of the Watershed.
With this funding, the UCCE department will provide education and outreach around reducing wildfire risk on public and private lands in the Lake Sonoma Watershed. UCCE will assess landowner properties on potential fire severity, create landowner fuel reduction reference documents, create a video campaign that will help community partners boost awareness about wildfire risk, and develop a prioritized list of management practices for landowners to implement on their individual properties.
Specifically, this project will create a mapping system for parcels in the Lake Sonoma Watershed, documenting where to apply best management practices on landscapes to help reduce fire potential. The UCCE researchers will use several different fire assessment models, overlaying them with landscape attributes (slope, vegetation type, aspect, topography), to demonstrate fire hazards on individual landowner parcels. These assessments will help landowners to determine where to implement management tools on their properties in order to reduce fire fuels. A cost analysis of each management tool (grazing, prescribed fire, shaded fuel breaks, etc.) will assist landowners in prioritizing practices implementation, calculating management practice costs. The project will provide as assessment report for landowners to use to assist in applying for funds to cover best management practice costs. The project addresses activities that support and advance Sonoma County’s Recovery Framework,
https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/Office-of-Recovery-and-Resiliency/priority-Projects, Priority 5. “Help property owners navigate vegetation management opportunities through partnership with Fire Safe Sonoma and similar programs .”
In addition to aiding in land management and reducing wildfire risk, the outcomes from this project to be funded by the grant will help ensure the water quality and quantity of our local water supply to over 600,000 users.
Prior Board Actions:
N/A
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 19-20 Adopted |
FY20-21 Projected |
FY 21-22 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
|
|
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
30,000 |
25,000 |
|
|
Total Expenditures |
30,000 |
25,000 |
|
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
30,000 |
25,000 |
|
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
|
|
Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
30,000 |
25,000 |
|
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
UCCE will receive $30,000 in FY 19-20 and $25,000 in FY20-21 from the Geyserville Fire Protection District for the Lake Sonoma Watershed Fire Prevention Project. If approved, this item will increase revenue and expenditure appropriations in the FY 19-20 Budget to fund education and outreach consultation activities related to the project. The $25,000 year two appropriations will be included in UCCE’s Fiscal Year 2020-21 Recommended Budget.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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|
|
|
Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
|
n/a |
|
|
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
n/a
Attachments:
Resolution
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
n/a