Memorandum
Date: October 21, 2025
To: The Honorable Eddie Crandell, Chair, Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Mireya G. Turner, Community Development Department Director
Shannon Walker-Smith, Deputy Community Development Administrator
Subject: Consideration of Presentation and Discussion of the Draft Climate Adaptation Plan (CAP)
Executive Summary: Lake County experiences a range of climate-related hazards that significantly affect its communities, economy, and natural resources. Wildfires have burned over 70 percent of the county since 2015, while drought conditions periodically stress water supplies from Clear Lake and groundwater sources. Additionally, severe storms cause flooding and landslides, and extreme temperatures, agricultural pests and diseases, and degraded air quality create ongoing challenges for residents.
The County of Lake, City of Clearlake, and City of Lakeport are developing a Climate Adaptation Plan to address these issues and build community resilience countywide. Through the Planning for an Equitable Climate-Safe Lake project, funded by the California Adaptation Planning Grant Program (APGP), the plan builds on the Lake County Climate Vulnerability Analysis, which identifies populations, infrastructure, and natural resources most susceptible to climate hazards. Vulnerable populations identified as priorities include people of color and immigrant communities, households in poverty, persons with chronic illnesses and/or disabilities, older adults, and persons experiencing homelessness. These populations face heightened risks from extreme temperatures, wildfire smoke, vector-borne diseases, and barriers to accessing healthcare, emergency services, and community resources during climate hazard events.
This Climate Adaptation Plan will use the Pillars of Landscape Resilience framework developed by the Lake County's Office of Climate Resiliency in 2022 to map out adaptation strategies. The framework addresses resilience through ten interconnected pillars: air quality, water security, wetland integrity, biodiversity conservation, forest resilience, carbon sequestration, fire dynamics, fire-adapted communities, economic diversity, and social and cultural well-being. The Climate Adaptation Plan will aim to reduce climate risks for all residents with focused attention on populations with higher vulnerability, strengthen infrastructure systems to maintain essential services during hazard events, and enhance the social and cultural well-being of vulnerable populations and community support systems.
We will provide an overview and update on the Climate Adaptation Plan process and receive direction from the Board of Supervisors on the development of strategies and actions for the Draft Climate Adaptation Plan. The Board of Supervisors’ feedback will inform specific strategies and actions of the plan.
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