If the Sierra snowpack vanishes as feared, California will need ideas like this for water

By the Sacramento Bee Editorial Board | February 2, 2022 | The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento — which once only had to worry about seasonal floods — now worries each year about delivering water to its citizens in a hotter and drier California. But there is a way for Sacramento to capture rain and snow, and for the broader region to keep surface reservoirs like Folsom and Oroville lakes nearly full. This same technique could help Sacramento capture enough water to share with neighboring areas in dry years, as well as to store it when we need it most.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/article257812568.html#storylink=cpy


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Sac City Council approves solid waste fee increase

Jan. 25, 2022

The Sacramento City Council Tuesday unanimously approved raising solid waste disposal fees by $3.83 a month for each of the next three years, largely to pay for a new state requirement that cities collect and compost food waste from customers.

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New Federal Leadership on Planning Emphasis Areas (PEAs)

January 5, 2022

This week, FTA and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued updated Planning Emphasis Areas (PEAs). In the letter announcing the revised PEAs, FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez and the FHWA Deputy Administrator Stephanie Pollack are asking FTA and FHWA field offices to work with their metropolitan planning organizations, state Departments of Transportation, transit agencies, and federal land management agencies to incorporate these PEAs into their Unified Planning Work Programs and State Planning and Research Work Programs.

Several of these emphasis areas focus on the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals of advancing equity and environmental justice in transportation planning, which will help achieve greenhouse gas reduction goals and increase resilience to extreme weather events resulting from climate change. These efforts will better support regional and local governments as they plan for future transportation needs in their communities. There is considerable flexibility in how metropolitan planning organizations and State DOTs can incorporate the PEAs into the transportation planning process. Recognizing the variability and timing of transportation planning processes, FTA and FHWA encourage these PEAs to be incorporated as programs are updated.

Oak Park gentrification: $5 million Aggie Square fund to protect tenants from displacement

By Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks | November 14, 2021 | The Sacramento Bee

…community advocates have repeatedly warned that those benefits may not be experienced by low- and middle-income residents and residents of color. Those concerns led to the creation of a sweeping Community Benefits Partnership Agreement* that would invest several hundred million dollars in Oak Park and Tahoe Park through new affordable housing, local hiring requirements, job training and eviction protections. As part of a deal reached with a group of local organizers called Sacramento Investment Without Displacement, the city is required to allocate $5 million from its housing trust fund and general fund to efforts that would alleviate resident displacement and stabilize the housing market.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/equity-lab/article256557521.html#storylink=cpy


*Join Sacramento Investment Without Displacement for a Community Benefits Agreement Presentation on Dec 16. Attend to learn more about Community Benefits Agreements (CBA) and how they have significantly impacted other cities. We will also have a discussion on the CBA Ordinance for the City of Sacramento and what should be included as the Ordinance is being developed.


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