Consider the Environment on the Big Day of Giving

May 4th, 2017

24 Hours to Give Where Your Heart Is

From midnight to midnight on May 4, click here and give to our nonprofit, the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS). Our mission is to achieve regional and community sustainability and a healthy environment for existing and future residents. By working proactively with our members, member organizations, local government, and community groups, ECOS energizes and brings positive change to the Sacramento region as we strive to develop thriving communities.

Give Now or Give in the Moment

You don’t have to wait until May 4th to give! You can schedule your gift now, or join the excitement of the day and give anytime on May 4th. Watch as your favorite nonprofits climb up the leaderboard!

In The News

Big Day of Giving aims to raise millions for a record 600 local nonprofits this year” – SacTown Magazine

#BDOG2017

Support for Volkswagen Settlement California ZEV Investment Plan

April 10, 2017

ECOS supports Sacramento as the first recipient of funds from the Volkswagen settlement.

We are writing to express our support of the Volkswagen’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Investment Plan, including the designation of Sacramento as the first Green City with a proposed investment of $44 million. We believe that the City of Sacramento is a strong, capable partner that is ready to deliver on this important opportunity. The Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) has a history of working with the City to deliver ambitious projects and programs that benefit the region.

Read the full letter from ECOS by clicking here.

ECOS Comments on Elk Grove’s Latest Attempts to Sprawl

March 31, 2017

On March 31, 2017, ECOS submitted a letter containing our comments on the latest application filed by the City of Elk Grove to expand their sphere of influence, thereby increasing the area in which they are allowed to build.

If you are new to learning about Elk Grove’s application to expand its Sphere of Influence, or need a refresher, please click here for some background information and key terms

View our full comment letter by clicking here. (PDF)

Sacramento Central Groundwater Authority “South American Sub-basin Alternative”

March 31, 2017

ECOS has submitted the following letter to provide comment, and questions, regarding SCGA’s proposal that its existing Groundwater Management Plan (GMP) be accepted as an adequate Alternative to developing a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) as required by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).

Click here to read our letter (PDF).

Project Location:  The figure below shows the location of the South American Subbasin (located in the central portion of Sacramento County), the existing SCGA GMP area, and portions of the adjacent California Department of Water Resources’ (State DWR’s) Bulletin 118 (2003) groundwater subbasins located within Sacramento County.

Source: http://www.scgah2o.org/Pages/South-American-Subbasin-Alternative-Submittal.aspx

City Light Impacts on Declining Salmon Populations

March 21, 2017

ECOS submitted the following letter with concerns about outdoor lighting on the Sacramento riverfront and its effects on local salmon populations, such as the endangered Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon, which are particularly important among California’s salmon runs because they exhibit a life-history strategy found nowhere else on the West Coast.

Read the full letter by clicking here.

Elk Grove Seeks to Expand Sprawl… Again

March 10, 2017

The City of Elk Grove has once again applied to amend their Sphere of Influence (SOI) and ECOS is again at the forefront, working to halt urban sprawl.

What is the problem?

A “Sphere of Influence” (SOI) is defined as a planning boundary outside of an agency’s legal boundary (such as the city limit line) that designates the agency’s probable future boundary and service area.

Planning boundaries were put in place to direct growth and to prevent urban sprawl. Expanding these boundaries, especially when there is still plenty of room to build within them, increases the human impact on the environment and decreases the efficiency with which a city or county uses its resources, such as water, electricity, transportation dollars, etc.

Where is the problem?

The City of Elk Grove wants to expand to the south of their urban growth boundaries, into green fields and wildlife habitats that have never before been built upon.

Look at all this green!

Didn’t this already happen?

The City of Elk Grove has submitted previous applications to expand their sphere of influence in the past. In 2008, the City of Elk Grove (City) applied to Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission (Sacramento LAFCo) for a Sphere of Influence Amendment (LAFC#04-08) to the south and east of its current boundary consisting of approximately 10,536 acres, which was subsequently closed and a new application (LAFC#09-10) submitted by the City for 7,869 acres. The City withdrew its application in 2013. Both of these larger areas included the proposed SOIA Area addressed by the current proposed project. This project is separate and distinct from the previous proposals.

More Background

The affected territory includes a 1,156-acre area that abuts the southern portion of the City of Elk Grove’s existing jurisdictional boundary. This is called the proposed Sphere of Influence Amendment Area (SOIA Area) or “the project site.” This proposed SOI amendment requires approval by the Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo), which has sole discretion on the establishment and amendment of SOI boundaries.

LAFCo is charged with oversight of changes in governmental organization and has the authority to consider:

  • Annexations to, or detachments from cities or districts;
  • The formation or dissolution of districts;
  • The incorporation or disincorporation of cities;
  • The consolidation or reorganization of cities or districts;
  • The establishment of subsidiary districts, and
  • The development of, and amendments to, Spheres of Influence.

LAFCo has the authority to approve, modify and approve, or disapprove applications, and to impose mitigation measures and conditions of approval. Per statute, LAFCo shall not impose any conditions that would directly regulate land use density or intensity, property development, or subdivision requirements.

Read the Kammerer/Hwy 99 Sphere of Influence Amendment (LAFC #07-15) Draft Environment Impact Report (DEIR) by clicking here. 


ECOS Comment Letter on the Municipal Services Review

Here is an excerpt from the ECOS comment letter on the current Elk Grove SOI expansion application Municipal Services Review, which includes the shortage of water in the area:

“…While we have many concerns about the Elk Grove expansion proposal, with regard to the MSR our primary concern is future water supply. Water is an essential service for prospective urban development and an important factor in the LAFCo approval process. The availability of water to meet the competing needs of habitat, agriculture and urban uses is an ongoing and increasingly acute issue in the Sacramento region and elsewhere in the state. This is one of the threshold issues facing LAFCo, and we feel that the prospects of future water supply to this area have not been adequately analyzed or illustrated in the MSR…”

Read our full comment letter by clicking here or on the image of the letter below.

To be continued…