Contra Costa County

A Landscaper Rethinks East Bay Gardens

My landscape maintenance company has a front row seat to how climate change is changing Bay Area gardens. Here’s what a water-wise garden looks like.

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Crunching the Adaptation Numbers – Not Peanuts

Crunching the Adaptation Numbers – Not Peanuts

Regional agencies made splashy headlines when they released a joint study on the likely cost of protecting Bay Area shores from rising seas: $110 billion. But the top-line number didn’t offer much insight into the complexities. A new inventory and map from the same agencies is much more revealing.

Humanity on the Fence

Humanity on the Fence

A new public art installation, called Fencelines, redefines the only barrier separating Richmond’s residential neighborhoods from the Chevron oil refinery: a wire fence.

The Farm That Could

The Farm That Could

In 2019, Governor Newsom signed AB 1486 into law which connects developers interested in building more affordable homes with surplus public land suitable for housing. In the Bay Area, the housing crisis is nothing new. Using public land to create affordable housing is a step towards solving the crisis. However, taking Happy Lot Farm and Gardens land to service one need would also be squandering another need, in this case, urban farming in food deserts.

Bi-Coastal Experiment with Oysters & Infrastructure

Bi-Coastal Experiment with Oysters & Infrastructure

While the weather is top of mind for many, others are riveted to congressional antics over the long-awaited massive spending bill designed to fix the nation’s roads, bridges, and broadband as September evaporates. We’ve rarely heard the word “infrastructure” bandied about so much. But for those devoted to designing all things climate-ready and habitat-friendly, infrastructure brings to mind oysters, marshes and willow-topped levees, not potholes.

Cleaner Air, Fewer Health Hazards from Bay Area Refineries

Cleaner Air, Fewer Health Hazards from Bay Area Refineries

In July, the Board of Directors of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District voted 19-3 to amend its Regulation 6, Rule 5, requiring fossil fuel refineries under its jurisdiction to reduce particulate matter emissions from their fluidized catalytic cracking units (“cat crackers” in refinery parlance), a major point source of pollution. The move gave the Bay Area the nation’s most health-protective and stringent regulation on particulate emissions, a recognized health hazard.