Welcome to Monitor Notes, a weekly roundup of news items, event announcements, and updates on past Bay Area Monitor articles.
Coastal Cleanup
This Saturday is the Coastal Commission’s annual California Coastal Cleanup Day from 9am to noon. You can find a local beach at which to participate using this map here. In 2019, more than 74,000 volunteers coordinated to remove more than 900,000 pounds of trash at California beaches and waterways. If you can’t make it out to the beach, the Conservancy suggests taking part in self-guided neighborhood cleanups during the month of September. You can download the Cleanswell App to have your trash counted and prevent it from reaching the ocean in the first place.
Coyote Valley
The Santa Clara County Open Space Authority is presenting a three-part webinar series on discovering Coyote Valley. The recently protected Coyote Valley is a richly diverse landscape and an important wildlife corridor in the south Bay Area. Join today at 11am for the first part of the series, A Bird’s Eye View of Coyote Valley, where speakers will talk about the areas’ importance for connecting wildlife between Mt. Diablo and the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Planning for Sea Level Rise
The League of Women Voters of Marin County’s Climate Change Committee presents a two-part series on sea level rise and flooding that begins on Tuesday, September 19. Register for the online event here, and join in at 11am to hear from speakers like Chris Choo from the Marin County Dept. of Public Works talk about the assessment of threats like drought and sea level rise, and how cities like San Rafael are planning for them. The second part of the series in October will look at nature-based strategies helping communities adapt to a more volatile climactic future.
Monitor reporter Robin Meadows reported this past spring on the importance of planning for sea level rise on a regional level: “‘We need to act more regionally,’ said project leader Jessica Fain. ‘It can’t be city by city — one city shouldn’t make flooding in another one worse.’” Read more at the Bay Area Monitor.
Safe Parking
A lack of affordable housing is leading to many Bay Area residents temporarily experiencing homelessness, oftentimes living out of a vehicle. While permanent solutions to the housing crisis are challenging and take time to implement, cities like Mountain View and Fremont have implemented safe parking programs to help relieve a symptom of this systemic problem. Livable Sunnyvale is hosting an online event Thursday, September 23rd to talk about the success of Mountain View’s program and the magnitude of the problem in Sunnyvale.
Grant Application
The Bay Area Air District is accepting applications for the James Cary Community Grant Program through Friday October 1st. The grant funding is available for community groups and nonprofit organizations that work to improve air quality and reduce exposure to pollution. The program will provide organizations with 100,000 dollars per year for up to three years provided they are in the District’s area of jurisdiction. Questions about the grant can be submitted to the District’s website until Wednesday, September 22. For more information and to apply, click here.
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