California Makes Biggest Downpayment Ever for One Region’s Climate-Ready Projects

When I asked Robert Mazurek about the moment he found out that he and nearly two dozen partners had won a $71 million grant for climate adaptation in the Santa Cruz-Monterey region, he paused. I wondered if perhaps there might have been unbridled elation, screaming celebrations echoing whale songs across Monterey Bay’s speckled waters? But for the executive director of the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation, a grizzled grant veteran, the answer was much more prosaic.

“I got the announcement via email,” recalls Mazurek, chuckling. “When you are being awarded 71.1 million dollars, an email is a little bit of a disappointing way to find out. I first called my finance director Danielle Brown, along with advisors Susan Robinson and John Hunt — all of whom were so instrumental in writing this grant. It was more exciting to tell them than getting [the news] myself.”

Indeed, Mazurek and his team couldn’t even publicly announce that they had received what is likely the largest climate adaptation grant ever doled out in California. They first had to spend weeks whittling down their original $75 million dollar proposal down to the $71.1 million that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was offering them. Then they had to figure out how to administer a grant that more than doubled the combined total of all previous grants the 30-year-old foundation had received. Which is why one of the first new staff members they hired was a finance administrator, to help encumber funds and ensure that 90% of the money passes smoothly through to their 21 partners doing the actual work on the ground.

And the work itself is immense: plan and build flood reduction projects along the San Lorenzo, Carmel, Salinas, and Pajaro Rivers. Carry out fuel reduction projects around Elkhorn Slough and Carmel Valley, and prescribed burns to reduce wildfire risk. Start a collaborative climate adaptation network across the region composed of agencies, nonprofits, and community organizations. Train hundreds in climate job skills. And the team only has five years to do it. 

“We had this moment of ‘oh shit, now we have to execute — we have to knock this out of the park,’” Mazurek says. But he isn’t daunted by the work that lies ahead. “We won this award because we had so many shovel-ready projects in the hopper, and strong relationships built over 20 to 25 years of partnerships.” A lesson that hopefully resonates for all those pressing ahead with critical climate adaptation work, despite often having no idea how any of the much-needed projects will ever get funded.

For a long time, one such place was Jessie Street Marsh — a pocketbook-sized open space tucked away in a quiet Santa Cruz neighborhood of bungalows and apartments. Other than the muddy ground, it’s hard to see how it earns its marsh moniker. Cut rushes and blackberry brambles sit amongst a few redwood trees overlooking the small, simple space, which belies the hundred-plus species identified in the marsh by a local activist group. For years, the City of Santa Cruz has lacked the funds and capacity to invest effort in Jessie Street Marsh and nearby San Lorenzo park  — other than to close them off as part of the city’s long struggle to address the large unhoused population. But now, with $8 million of the $71.1 million NOAA grant, the city can proceed with plans to restore and reopen river bank areas, and restore neglected wetland habitat. One of the most visible projects will be installing vegetated dunes and sand placement near the river’s mouth at Main Beach, in order to stem some of the rising tides and erosion threatening Santa Cruz’s iconic amusement park and one of its most visited beaches (see top photo).

 In Elkhorn Slough, grant funds will be used to remove invasive eucalyptus trees that pose a fire hazard, restore Kirby Marsh, and plan a response to flooding and sea level rise that already impacts transportation in and around California’s second largest estuary at high tides. Other parts of the grant will give a financial boost to existing large projects like the Pajaro River Levee and the Carmel River FREE initiatives.

It all adds up to 10 flood mitigation projects across four rivers, five wildfire risk reduction projects treating over 7,000 acres of land, and resilience projects in over a dozen neighborhoods and communities — including several that have long been at the back of the line for this type of work.

At the grant’s formal October kickoff, held in Moss Landing at the mouth of the beautiful Elkhorn Slough, many of those who tirelessly toil alongside each other to protect and preserve the region’s natural heritage finally got to celebrate the transformative grant. U.S. House of Representatives member Jimmy Panetta spoke to the assembled about how the region has had to come together in the face of recent catastrophes like last year’s Pajaro River levee failure and flooding, and the CZU Lightning Complex fires in 2020.

“The kickoff event was a homecoming for a lot of people,” says Mazurek. “There were people in that room who were quite literally in tears. A lot of the people have been working together for 20 years or more.”

The kickoff also heralded all the work that needs to be done. Although 21 partners may sound like a lot, Mazurek and his partners wisely made workforce development a critical component of their grant. There is funding for UC Santa Cruz and CSU Monterey Bay to hire researchers and support student projects, for the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve to train professionals, and for Hartnell College in Salinas to build a program certifying 750 people in skills like tree removal, fire management, and wetland restoration that will be in demand to make the region more resilient to climate change. The people trained through this grant — which by itself directly supports 15 full-time jobs, 270 part-time jobs, and over 300 paid interns — will not only help carry out the $71.1 million grant, but will then have the experience needed to build the many future climate adaptation projects that will be sorely needed.

And preparing for the future is key — while $71.1 million is a transformative grant, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to what is required.

 “71.1 million dollars is incredible,” acknowledges Mazurek. “But that’s the equivalent cost of building just three miles of highway. This is a down payment. In order to be truly climate resilient, we need to be operating [in] the B’s — as in billions of dollars.”