[00:00:04]
[CALL TO ORDER]
STARTED WITH THE, IS ANYBODY SIGNED UP FOR A CITIZEN COMMUNICATION? NO CITIZENS COMMUNICATION.THEN WE CAN JUMP INTO OUR AGENDA IN JUST A SECOND, BUT, UM, DO WE THINKING DIANA, HAVE YOU, THIS IS YOUR FIRST MEETING WITH US? NO, I WAS, UM, I BELIEVE I WAS THERE LAST TIME AND THEN REALLY GOOD MEETING WITH ZACH TO GET KIND OF LEVEL SET IT, SO.
SO WE DON'T NEED TO GO AROUND AND DO INTROS, SORRY.
UM, MY, MY BRAIN IS, IS MOTION AT THE MOMENT.
UH, SO PARDON MY FORGETFULNESS.
UM, JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WEREN'T, UH, WE'RE GETTING THOSE NICETIES.
[1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
UH, TAKE A LOOK AT THE AGENDA OR THE, SORRY, NOT THE AGENDA.THE MINUTES FROM OUR LAST MEETING ON APRIL 28TH, HAS EVERYBODY HAD A CHANCE TO TAKE A LOOK AT THOSE? ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO MOVE I'LL MOVE ADOPTION IS KAREN.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE, UM, ANYTHING THAT THEY WANT TO, YOU KNOW, HAVE CORRECTED OR HER AUGMENTED IN THOSE, IN THOSE MINUTES? OKAY.
THEN I GUESS IF EVERYBODY WHO IS ABLE TO TURN ON YOUR, UM, ON YOUR VIDEO TO RAISE YOUR HAND FOR, I THAT'S THE EASIEST WAY, BUT IF YOU AREN'T ABLE TO DO THAT, UH, SAY YOUR NAME AND, AND HOW YOU'RE VOTING ALEXIS.
AND IF EVERYBODY CAN JUST LEAVE YOUR HAND UP AND FOR A MINUTE, I KNOW IT'S, YOU KNOW, THIS IS YOUR, YOUR ARM EXERCISE FOR THE DAY.
THANK YOU, ALEXIS, UM, FACADE.
UM, I THINK THAT'S EVERYBODY VOTING.
AND, AND MAYBE WE SHOULD SAY FOR THE RECORD, THE ATTENDANCE, UH, OR SOMEBODY ALREADY MAKING NOTE OF THAT.
UM, I GUESS THE TRACK RECORD, SORRY.
YOU WERE TAKING ATTENDANCE DOWN.
GREAT MEETING MINUTES ARE APPROVED.
AND WE HAVE, UH, TWO PRESENTATIONS TODAY THAT, UM, THE BEN BEN KIND OF A LONG TIME COMING FOR US HAD BEEN ON OUR AGENDA FOR A FEW MONTHS.
I'M EXCITED TO HEAR FROM OUR SPEAKERS TONIGHT, THE FIRST ONE, UM, IF, IF EVERYBODY'S GOOD WITH STICKING WITH THIS QUARTER, UM, IF THERE'S ANYBODY WHO NEEDS TO LEAVE FOR LATER OR SOMETHING, WE CAN ADJUST OVER, WE'RE GOING TO DO AUSTIN AREA SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS FIRST WITH, UH, PATRICK PIXLER AND JUST GOOD JONES.
IS THAT GOOD? OR DOES ANYBODY NEED TO, UH, WE NEED TO MAKE AN ADJUSTMENT THERE.
[2a) Austin Area Sustainability Indicators Update – Patrick Bixler and Jessica Jones, UT Austin]
WHO'S WHO'S GONNA START PATRICK OR JESSICA.UM, AND THANK YOU FOR, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, BEING WILLING TO, TO SHARE YOUR WORK.
AND MY COLLEAGUE, DIANA JOYCE WILL ALSO BE PRESENTING WITH US.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE READY AND WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO SOME QUESTIONS AFTERWARDS.
SO HELLO, AS PRIVILEGES PREVIOUSLY STATED, MY NAME IS JESSICA JONES AND I'M A DUAL DEGREE GRADUATE STUDENT AT THE UT SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND AT THE LBJ SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS.
AND TONIGHT I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF INTRODUCING THE AUSTIN SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS OR THE ATSI RESEARCH ALONG WITH MY COLLEAGUE DIANA JOYCE HEDDA AT 2021 GRADUATE OF THE SUSTAINABILITY STUDIES PROGRAM AND SAM DE PAUL, A PHD STUDENT WITH THE LBJ SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND DR.
BIXLER ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE AT THE LBJ SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND THE RJK CENTER FOR PHILANTHROPY AND COMMUNITY SERVICE.
SO WE ARE EXCITED TO SHARE SOME OF OUR PRELIMINARY RESEARCH FINDINGS WITH YOU THIS EVENING FOR THE AGENDA TONIGHT, I'LL GIVE YOU A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE AUSTIN AREA, SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS PROJECT, OUR MOST RECENT 2020 SURVEY.
AND THEN WE'LL MOVE INTO A DISCUSSION TOPICS FOR THIS EVENING HAZARDS,
[00:05:01]
SPECIFICALLY LOOKING AT FLOODING AND EXTREME HEAT.MY COLLEAGUE, DIANA JOYCE, WE'LL WALK THROUGH SOME OF OUR SURVEY QUESTIONS, EXPLORING FLOODING AND HEAT, AS WELL AS THE PERCEPTION OF GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS AND NGOS DURING HAZARD EVENTS.
BIXLER WE'LL RUN THROUGH SOME EXCITING DATA AGGREGATION WORK, WHICH EXPLORES THE IMPACTS, PERCEPTIONS AND ACTIONS.
AND THEN WE WILL END THE PRESENTATION TONIGHT WITH SOME NEXT STEPS AND SOME TIME FOR Q AND A NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
THE MISSION OF THE AUSTIN AREAS, SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS PROJECT IS TO MEASURE THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND SUSTAINABILITY TRENDS OF THE AUSTIN MSA 82 OSI HOPES TO SERVE AS A FOUNDATION FOR A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES OF OUR REGION.
THE AUSTIN AREAS, SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT COVERS AS SIX COUNTY AREA, INCLUDING TRAVIS WILLIAMSON, BURNET PAYS CALDWELL AND BASTROP COUNTY.
NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE EXAMINES A VARIETY OF VARIABLES ON THE TOPICS OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, INSTITUTIONAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN ORDER TO MEASURE THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND SUSTAINABILITY TRENDS AND SERVE AS THE FOUNDATION FOR A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES OF OUR REGION.
HOW DO WE WORK? FIRST? WE COLLECT DATA THROUGH OUR SURVEY, WHICH IS A BIENNIAL SURVEY THAT STARTED IN 2004.
WE THEN EXAMINED SUPPLEMENTALS SECONDARY DATA FROM THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY.
WE WORK TO SHARE AND DEMOCRATIZE THESE DATA FINDINGS THROUGH COLLABORATIONS WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS IN ORDER TO HELP PHILANTHROPY, NGOS, GOVERNMENT, AND COMMUNITY ENTITIES TO USE THESE DATA TO IMPROVE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS, PLEASE.
NOW THE 2020 AUSTIN AREA, SUSTAINABILITY INDICATOR SURVEY TOOK PLACE BETWEEN THE MONTHS OF SEPTEMBER THROUGH DECEMBER OF 2020 DURING THE PANDEMIC LIKE OUR PREVIOUS SURVEYS, IT WAS PRIMARILY TELEPHONE-BASED BOTH LANDLINE AND CELL PHONE THOUGH.
WE DID VENTURE THIS YEAR AND FIELDED SOME RESPONSES USING A WEB BASED FORMAT.
NOW, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE MAP, MOST OF OUR RESPONSES WERE FIELDED FROM TRAVIS COUNTY OR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
NEW THIS YEAR WAS THE FOCUS TO OVER SAMPLE TWO ZIP CODES, SEVEN EIGHT, SEVEN, FOUR FOR THE DOVE SPRINGS AREA AND SEVEN EIGHT SEVEN FIVE THREE.
JOHN'S AREA TO HELP LOCAL NONPROFIT GO AUSTIN
NOW THE SURVEY COVERS A WIDE RANGE OF TOPICS, AND I'VE INCLUDED THIS IMAGE FROM OUR INSTRUMENT.
JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF ALL THE TOPICS THAT WE EXPLORE ALONG WITH THE KEY WHERE WE INDICATE WHICH QUESTIONS ARE LONGITUDINAL.
NEW QUESTIONS GENERATED FROM COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, WORK WITH GABA AND SOCIAL CAPITAL AND CIVIC HEALTH RELATED QUESTIONS.
AND FOR TONIGHT'S PRESENTATION, WE WILL BE EXPLORING IN SOME OF THE QUESTIONS GENERATED BY COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ON COMMUNITY RESILIENCE, DISASTER RISK, AND ENGAGEMENT WITHIN INDIA.
IN THE 2020 AUSTIN AREA, SUSTAINABILITY INDICATOR SURVEY, WE ASK A SERIES OF QUESTIONS ABOUT RESPONDENTS EXPERIENCES, PERCEPTIONS, PREPARATIONS, AND ACTIONS TAKEN OR PLANNING TO TAKE REGARDING NATURAL HAZARDS.
FOR THE PURPOSE OF OUR PRESENTATION TONIGHT, WE WILL BE FOCUSING ON FLOODING AND EXTREME HEAT EVENTS.
AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE CHART WHEN ASKED IF THEY HAD EXPERIENCED HAZARDS SUCH AS FLOODING AND EXTREME HEAT OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS MORE SURVEY RESPONDENTS FROM THE CITY OF AUSTIN IDENTIFIED EXPERIENCING EXTREME HEAT AT GREATER RATES THAN FLOODING EVENTS.
AND NOW I WOULD LIKE TO TURN IT OVER TO DIANA WHO WILL RUN THROUGH SOME OF OUR SURVEY QUESTIONS ON FLOODING, EXTREME HEAT AND INTERACTION AND PERCEPTION OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND NGOS DURING HAZARD LIKE EVENTS.
AND JESSICA, UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
SO THE 2020 SURVEY EXPLORED A VARIETY OF TOPICS FOR GRINDING FLOODING, WHICH IS PEOPLE'S PERCEPTION OF FLOODING THE AFTEREFFECTS OF PLANNED EVENTS AND PREPARATIONS FOR FUTURE EVENTS.
THAT'S LIKELY IN OUR PRELIMINARY DATA ANALYSIS, IT WAS INDICATED THAT ABOUT 31% OF AUSTIN RESPONDENTS EXPERIENCED FLOODING.
WE WANTED TO DIVE DEEPER BY LOOKING AT DIFFERENCES IN RATES, IN RACE AND ETHNICITY.
AND THIS QUESTION, WE EXAMINED PERCEPTION OF FLOOD EVENTS INCREASING BY RACE AND ETHNICITY FOR THE (787) 537-8744 ZIP CODES.
AND FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN, BASED ON THIS ANALYSIS, UH, SEVEN, EIGHT, SEVEN, FOUR, FOUR RESPONDENTS TEND TO AGREE AT HIGHER RATES THAN THEIR COHORT.
THAT FLOOD EVENTS ARE INCREASING WITH WHITE RESPONDENTS RESPONDING AT HIGHER RATES.
[00:10:01]
NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.AND AS WE KNOW, THERE ARE MOBILITY CHALLENGES IN OUR CITY, UH, CHALLENGES THAT HOPEFULLY SOMETHING LIKE PROJECT CONNECT CAN BEGIN TO SOLVE DIVING FURTHER.
WE EXAMINE IF THERE WERE DIFFERENCES IN ACCESS TO TRANSPORTATION DURING A FLOOD EVENT, BASED ON THESE PRELIMINARY FINDINGS, WHITE RESPONDENTS INDICATED HIGHER RATES, BUT THEY WERE WITHOUT TRANSPORTATION IN THE CITY OF BOSTON, BUT BASED ON STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, ONLY OUR FINDINGS FROM THE SEVEN EIGHT SEVEN FOUR FOUR ZIP CODE, WE SAW STATISTICAL DIFFERENCES
WE SEE THAT OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS, HISPANIC RESPONDENTS IDENTIFIED AT HIGHER RATES OR 21% THAT THEY WERE WITHOUT TRANSPORTATION DURING A FLOOD EVENT.
ADDITIONALLY, WE WERE ALSO CURIOUS TO SEE IF THERE WERE DIFFERENCES IN ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY BASED ON SELF-REPORTED HOUSEHOLD INCOME, BASED ON PRELIMINARY FINDINGS.
THOSE IN THE 75 TO 100,000 INCOME BRACKET REPORTED HIGHER RATES OF BEING WITHOUT ELECTRICITY, BUT BASED ON STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, ONLY OUR FINDINGS FROM THE SEVEN EIGHT SEVEN FIVE THREE ZIP CODE HAVE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INCOME CATEGORIES BASED ON THIS SUB CODE.
WE SEE THAT THOSE IN THE MID TO HIGH HOUSEHOLD INCOME BRACKETS REPORT, HIGHER RATES OF BEING WITHOUT ELECTRICITY DRAIN A FLOOD EVENT THAN LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, UH, SOMEWHERE TO THE TOPIC OF FLOODING, THE 2020 SURVEY ALSO EXPLORED A VARIETY OF TOPICS ON EXTREME HEAT, SUCH AS PERCEPTION OF HEAT, WHERE TO FOLKS GO DURING HEAT EVENTS, HEALTH IMPACTS DUE TO HEAT AND PREPARATIONS FOR FUTURE EXTREME HEAT EVENTS.
NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, WITH OUR PRELIMINARY DATA ANALYSIS, INDICATING THAT OVER 68% OF AUSTIN RESPONDENTS EXPERIENCE EXTREME HEAT, WE WANT TO EXAMINE THE DATA BY RACE AND ETHNICITY BASED ON PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OR DATA INDICATES THAT BLACK RESPONDENTS REPORT HIGHER RATES OF EXTREME HEAT EXPERIENCES, BOTH AT THE CITY OF BOSTON AND AT SEVEN EIGHT SEVEN FIVE THREE ZIP CODE LEVEL.
ADDITIONALLY, WE WERE CURIOUS TO SEE IF THERE WERE DIFFERENCES IN ACTIONS TAKEN TO MITIGATE AND PLAN FOR EXTREME HEAT EVENTS.
FOR EXAMPLE, WHO SIGNED UP FOR EMERGENCY WARNINGS OR ALERTS BASED ON FOR LORRAINE ANALYSIS, HISPANIC RESPONDENTS REPORTED HIGHER RATES OF SIGNING UP FOR EMERGENCY ALERTS FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN AS A WHOLE.
ANOTHER KEY MITIGATION WE DOWN WAS ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. FOR EXAMPLE, ARE THERE DIFFERENCES IN WHO HAS SOUGHT OUT INFORMATION ABOUT ENERGY ASSISTANCE BASED ON PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS, HISPANIC RESPONDENTS REPORTED HIGHER RATES OF SEEKING OUT INFORMATION ON ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FROM THE CITY OF BOSTON AS A WHOLE.
UH, THE SURVEY ALSO EXPLORED HOW RESIDENTS INTERACT WITH NON-PROFITS AND VARIOUS GOVERNMENT AGENCIES DURING HAZARD EVENTS.
FOR EXAMPLE, IN THIS QUESTION, IT WAS NOTED THAT MOST OF THE RESPONDENTS FROM THE CITY OF AUSTIN DID NOT ASK FOR HELP FROM DISASTER MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS, SUCH AS FEMA RED CROSS, OR THE SALVATION ARMY.
FOR EXAMPLE, DURING HAZARD ONLY 7.4% REACHED OUT TO PIMA ASKING FOR HELP.
ADDITIONALLY, WE FELT THAT MOST OF MOST OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN SURVEY RESPONDENTS OR 16.7% TENDED TO REACH OUT TO FOOD PANTRIES DURING HAZARD EVENT.
THAT'S WHY PLEASE THE SURVEY ALSO EXPLORED RESONANT PERCEPTIONS OF HOW DISASTER MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS PERFORM DURING A HAZARD AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN ONLY 50% WERE SATISFIED WITH THE PERFORMANCE WITH FEMA WHILE 80% WERE SATISFIED WITH THE TEXAS DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
ALSO NOTE OVER 70% WERE SATISFIED WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF FOOD PANTRIES.
NOW I'D LIKE TO TURN IT OVER TO DR.
THANKS JESS FOR SENDING THIS UP.
UM, SO ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE DOING WITH THE SURVEY DATA THIS YEAR IS SOME, UM, MORE PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS LOOKING AT THE IMPACTS OF HAZARDS, THE PERCEPTIONS OF THE RISK OF HAZARDS AND THE ACTIONS THAT FOLKS ARE TAKING TO MITIGATE THOSE RISKS.
UM, WE CAN WE'RE, WE CAN DO THIS WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT BOTH FLOOD, UM, AND EAT, UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
AND SO IF WE LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT WAYS, UM, THAT I THINK THERE ARE 12 ITEMS ON THE SURVEY OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF IMPACTS FOR FLOOD, UH, AND SIX ITEMS FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF IMPACT FROM EAT.
UM, AND IF WE KIND OF AGGREGATE THOSE, WE CAN LOOK AT, UM, WHO IS BEING IMPACTED BY FLOODING, UH, WHAT WE SEE HERE, UM, PERHAPS SOMEWHAT COUNTERINTUITIVE.
I WOULD'VE THOUGHT FOUR, FOUR WOULD BE HIGHER HERE.
UM, BUT WE SEE THAT THERE'S A STATISTICAL DIFFERENCE, STATISTICALLY, SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RESIDENTS FIVE, THREE, FOUR, FOUR, AND THE REST OF THE CITY, UH, WITH FIVE, THREE REPORTING, MORE FLOODING IMPACTS, UH, AND FOR, FOR REPORTING MORE HEAT, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
[00:15:03]
AND THEN WE CAN LOOK AT THE PERCEPTION OF FUTURE HAZARDS.SO HOW ARE FOLKS THINKING ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE RISKS OF, UH, FLOOD EVENTS OR HEAT EVENTS, UH, AND WITH FLOOD, WE SEE THAT, UM, SEVEN, EIGHT, SEVEN, FOUR, FOUR AND FIVE, THREE RESIDENTS ARE OKAY, I'LL BE RIGHT THERE.
UM, FOUR, FOUR, FIVE, THREE RESIDENTS ARE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT AND, AND, AND LOWER PERCEPTIONS OF RISK, UM, PROCEEDING, LOWER RISKS AND THE REST OF, UH, RESIDENTS OF THE REST OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UH, AND WITH, UM, HEAT RISKS THAT SEVEN, EIGHT, SEVEN, FOUR, FOUR RESIDENTS, UM, ARE PERCEIVING MORE, UM, EAT RISKS THAN OTHERS.
AND THEN WE CAN ALSO MEASURE THE DIFFERENT ACTIONS THAT HOUSEHOLDS ARE TAKING TO MITIGATE FLOOD RISK AND HEAT RISK.
UM, AND WE SEE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES, UM, IN THE ACTIONS TAKEN, UH, IN FOUR, FOUR AND FIVE, THREE, UH, WITH A REALLY BIG DIFFERENCE IN THE ACTIONS THAT FOLKS ARE TAKING IN FIVE, THREE BEING FEWER THAN NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO KNOW ME OR, OR HEARD ME PRESENT TO THIS COMMITTEE OR ELSEWHERE ELSEWHERE, UM, NO THAT I'M REALLY INTERESTED IN THIS IDEA OF SOCIAL CAPITAL.
I BELIEVE IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR THINKING ABOUT ADAPTIVE CAPACITY TO HAZARDS, UH, AND HOW FOLKS CAN PREPARE AND BETTER RESPOND, UM, SOCIAL CAPITAL BEING THIS IDEA THAT YOUR NETWORKS, UM, YOUR TRUST, UH, AND NEIGHBORHOOD COHESION IS KIND OF SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
UM, AND SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL CAPITAL, UM, AGAINST THE PERCEPTION OF THESE RISKS, THE ACTIONS TAKEN TO THESE RISKS AND THE IMPACTS TO THESE RISKS, UM, AND, AND NOT SURPRISINGLY AND GOOD FOR US THAT WE DO SEE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS OF SOCIAL CAPITAL, UM, UH, AMONGST THIS KIND OF RANGE OF QUESTIONS, UM, FOR THESE RISKS REALLY INTERESTING AND NOT SOMETHING THAT I NECESSARILY ANTICIPATED WAS THAT IF WE BREAK, UM, SOCIAL CAPITAL DOWN INTO ITS DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS, UH, IN PARTICULAR, WE MEASURE, UH, NEIGHBORHOOD COHESION, WE MEASURE NETWORKS AND WE MEASURE TRUST.
UH, WE SEE THAT THOSE DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS ACT DIFFERENTLY, UM, WITH FLOOD THAN IT DOES WITH HEAT.
UM, AND SO WITH FLOOD, WE SEE THAT NEIGHBORHOOD COHESION IS ACTUALLY WHAT SEEMS TO BE IMPORTANT IN, UM, INCREASING ACTIONS AND, UH, LOWERING IMPACTS AND FOR HEAT IT'S NETWORKS.
SO THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT HAVING, HAVING SOCIAL NETWORKS THAT, UM, FOR KEY SEEM TO, UM, LOWER IMPACTS AND, UM, UH, INCREASE, UH, ACTIONS TAKEN.
UM, UH, WE CAN ALSO LOOK AT THE RACE, ETHNICITY, AND INCOME, UH, KIND OF IN THESE MODELS.
AND WE FIND THAT HISPANIC RESIDENTS, UM, AT A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT LEVEL, HISPANIC RESIDENTS ARE MORE PROACTIVE REGARDING, UH, HEAT ACTIONS, UH, IN THAT BLACK RESIDENTS ARE LESS ACTIVE, UM, REGARDING TAKING ACTIONS TO MITIGATE FLOOD.
SO JUST GENERALLY SOME OF THE NEXT STEPS, I MEAN, WE WOULD LOVE TO, UM, I THINK THIS IS A, UH, KIND OF AN OPEN CALL FOR FOLKS ON THE COMMUNITY.
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED, WE'RE HAPPY TO SHARE OUR SURVEY INSTRUMENT.
THERE WAS A WHOLE LOT OF DATA.
UM, I THINK WHEN I, WHEN I LOOK AT THE DATA SET IN MY ANALYSIS SOFTWARE, I THINK THERE'S 483 VARIABLES.
UM, SO THERE'S JUST A TON OF DATA IN THE SURVEY DATA SIDE.
SO WE'RE HAPPY TO SHARE THE SURVEY INSTRUMENT, AND IF THERE ARE ANY PARTICULAR QUESTIONS OF INTEREST, UM, PLEASE LET US KNOW.
WE'RE HAPPY TO KIND OF DO A LITTLE ANALYSIS, UM, FOR THE COMMITTEE.
UM, WE DO HAVE AN ONGOING QI RESEARCH AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROJECT, UH, WITH THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY THAT WE'LL BE RAMPING UP THIS SUMMER AND IT'S FUNDED BY NOAA.
WE'RE ALSO DEVELOPING A DASHBOARD.
WE, WE KEEP, WE KEEP TRYING TO RE REFINE THE WAYS THAT WE'RE SHARING THIS INFORMATION ONLINE.
UM, ONE OF THOSE WAYS IS ONE OF THOSE WAYS IS DEVELOPING A DASHBOARD THAT, UM, THAT INCLUDES, UH, INFORMATION AROUND AIR QUALITY, WILDFIRE, RISK FLOODING, RISK, AND HEAT RISK AMONGST SOME OTHER SOCIAL, UH, SOCIAL AND, UH, HAZARD INDICATORS.
UH, AND WE'LL BE DEVELOPING A REPORT THAT COMPARES, UM, KIND OF LIKE AN IMPACT OF COVID REPORT.
SO WE'RE GOING TO COMPARE 2018 SURVEY DATA WITH THE 2020, UM, SURVEY THAT, UM, AND THEN IT'S ALREADY TIME TO START PREPARING FOR THE NEXT SURVEY.
IT'S HARD, HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT, UM, SO ANY WAYS THAT, UM, FOLKS ARE INTERESTED IN COLLABORATING, THINKING ABOUT WHAT KINDS OF QUESTIONS WE SHOULD BE ASKING, UH, HOUSEHOLDS RESIDENTS, UM, W WE'RE WE'RE VERY OPEN TO COLLABORATE ON THAT.
AND THEN THE NEXT SLIDE IS JUST, UM,
[00:20:01]
IT'S A KIND OF A DEMO SHOT OF WHAT THIS DASH, THE PROTOTYPE OF THIS DASHBOARD, UH, IS LOOKING, LOOKING LIKE.UM, WE'VE ACTUALLY BEEN WORKING WITH PHOEBE AND MARK, UM, ON THE DASHBOARD.
AND, UM, I THINK AT THAT I'M GOING TO MUTE AND GO TAKE CARE OF MY THREE-YEAR-OLD JUST FOR ONE SECOND, AND I'LL BE BACK FOR ANY QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, AND THIS IS MY FIRST MEETING.
HI, Y'ALL, I'M, I'M ON THE PLANNING COMMISSION.
UM, SO, AND INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, I WAIT BECAUSE I WAS WITH, UM, A GROUP OF TENANTS THAT WERE IMPACTED BY FLOODING, UM, AT A PROPERTY IN SOUTHEAST AUSTIN.
UM, ONE IS, DO YOU ALL KNOW HOW THIS DATA MIGHT BE USED, UM, IN TERMS OF, UM, CITY PROGRAMS OR POLICIES OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT? HAVE YOU SEEN HOW YOUR DATA'S GOING TO BE USED? AND THEN THE OTHER QUESTION, UM, I WAS A LITTLE SURPRISED, UM, TO SEE THE EXTENT TO WHICH, UM, SOME RESIDENTS SEEM TO HAVE BEEN IN TOUCH WITH DIFFERENT SUPPORTIVE RESOURCES.
AND I WAS WONDERING IF YOU ALL HAD DIS-AGGREGATED THE DUDA THAT GABA HAD HELPED COLLECT, BECAUSE I KNOW GABA IS ACTIVELY CONNECTING THEIR MEMBERS TO, UM, RESOURCES AND SUPPORT AFTER FLOODING.
AND, UM, SO YEAH, MY QUESTION WAS, HAVE YOU SEPARATED THE DATA FROM GABA TO SEE IF THAT CHANGES ANYTHING? YEAH, REALLY GREAT QUESTION.
THE LAST ONE'S EASY, UM, EASY TO ANSWER.
SO ALL OF THE SURVEY RESPONSES FOR THIS DATA SET WERE RANDOMLY SAMPLE.
UM, SOME OF THE QUESTIONS WERE DESIGNED IN COOPERATION WITH GABA, UM, AND THEN MOVING FORWARD, WE'RE GOING TO BE USING THIS DATA.
IT'S KIND OF A BASELINE TO THEN SAMPLE SOME OF THE RESIDENTS THAT THEY DO ACTUALLY WORK WITH.
SO KIND OF EXACTLY WHAT YOU WERE JUST THINKING.
UM, MOVING FORWARD, WE'RE GOING TO BE COLLECTING THE DATA FROM THOSE RESIDENTS THAT THEY'RE ENGAGED WITH.
UM, BUT EVERYTHING THAT WAS REPORTED IN EVERYTHING THAT WAS COLLECTED IS COMPLETELY RANDOM, RANDOM SAMPLE.
UM, AND WE COULD DESEGREGATE THAT TOO.
WAS THAT WHAT YOUR QUESTION, BUT IT'S KIND OF WHERE MY MIND WENT.
UM, WE CAN DESEGREGATE IT BY INCOME AND RACE AND STUFF.
WE, WE DIDN'T PRESENT THAT, BUT, UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, I THINK FOR, FOR THE, YOUR FIRST PART, IT'S, IT'S A WORK IN PROGRESS.
UM, I'M A BIG BELIEVER IN WHAT I WOULD CALL CO-PRODUCTION THAT I WANT TO BE WORKING WITH THE CITY.
I WANT TO BE WORKING WITH NONPROFITS AND, UM, NOT ONLY DESIGNING, YOU KNOW, KIND OF WHAT WE'RE COLLECTING, BUT THOSE RESEARCH QUESTIONS THAT ARE DRIVING, WHAT WE'RE COLLECTING AND HOW WE CAN THINK ABOUT ANALYSIS.
UM, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY ON A VARIETY OF PROJECTS.
UM, I THINK THE NEXT STEP FOR THIS WORK, I MEAN, WE'RE KIND OF THE DATA CAME IN IN NOVEMBER, AND THEN IT JUST, I FEEL LIKE WE'RE JUST NOW FINALLY REALLY GETTING ON TOP OF THE ANALYSIS.
SO THE FACT THAT THIS GOT PUSHED A COUPLE OF TIMES, A COUPLE OF MONTHS WAS REALLY HELPFUL.
UM, UH, BUT WE'RE REALLY, WE'RE KIND OF AT THIS CRUX.
AND, AND I THINK THE PLACE WHERE WE'RE GOING TO START IS WORKING WITH GABA TO TRY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW WE CAN USE THIS INFORMATION TO INFORM, UM, PROGRAM KIND OF STRATEGY AND PROGRAMMING MOVING FORWARD.
UM, BUT WE'D LOVE TO, I MEAN, I THINK SEVEN EIGHT, SEVEN FOUR FOUR FIVE THREE, THE REST OF THE CITY, THOSE AREN'T, UM, THERE'S NO WAY THAT ANY ONE ORGANIZATION IS GOING TO BE ABLE TO MAKE THE CHANGES IN THOSE PLACES THAT NEED TO HAPPEN.
UM, SO WORKING WITH MULTIPLE ORGANIZATIONS WORKING WITH THE CITY, I THINK, OR NOT, I DON'T THINK I KNOW WE'RE VERY OPEN TO DOING THAT, UM, WITH THE CITY, WITH THAT LENS OF HOW DO WE THINK ABOUT STRATEGY PROGRAM AND, AND ULTIMATELY TOO, I THINK ONE OF THE WAYS THAT WE DESIGNED THIS WAS TO THINK ABOUT, UM, A PLACE BASED IMPACT AND SO CAN, AND DO THESE METRICS MOVE, UM, IN TERMS OF A WHOLE ZIP CODE.
AND IF THEY DO MOVE, THAT'S NOT GOING TO BE BECAUSE IT WAS ONE ORGANIZATION THAT WAS REALLY DRIVING THAT CHANGE.
IT'S GOING TO BE BECAUSE OF KIND OF THE COLLECTIVE ACTION OF, UH, PUBLIC ENTITIES, NONPROFITS, ET CETERA.
UM, AND SO WE'RE, AGAIN, WE'RE VERY INTERESTED IN THAT THAT NOTION OF COLLECTIVE ACTION AND PROGRAMMING AT, AT, IN THESE PLACES.
IF I COULD JUST ADD TOO, TO GIVE AN EXAMPLE, UM, PATRICK HAS ALSO DEVELOPED SOME CLIMATE VULNERABILITY MAPS AND WORKING TOGETHER WITH MARK QUEUED AIR AND PHOEBE ROMERO, UH, OVER THE PAST SUMMER WITH THE HEAT RESEARCH, UM, THE MAPS HELPED IDENTIFY AREAS TO MEASURE HEAT IN AUSTIN AND KIND OF PICK VULNERABLE AREAS TO HELP BEGIN THE HEAT MEASUREMENT RESEARCH OF WHICH AREAS EXPERIENCED HEAT.
[00:25:01]
DID THE DIFFERENCES LOOK LIKE AND BEGAN TO PAINT A PICTURE OF, OF THAT NARRATIVE? SO, SO THERE'S LOTS OF DIFFERENT WAYS, RIGHT? BUT THE DATA AND THE MAPPING TOOLS CAN KIND OF HELP BRIDGE THAT AND, AND, UH, THE KIND OF UPLIFT THE CONVERSATIONS AND WORK CITED.AND I'M SURE THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL THIS SUMMER SINCE WE'RE ANTICIPATING POSSIBLY ANOTHER GRID FAILURE WITH HEAT.
UM, SO HELPING INFORM POLICYMAKERS OF WHERE, UH, COOLING CENTERS OR OTHER KINDS OF RESOURCES, WATER, DISTRIBUTION NEEDS TO BE.
BIXLER AND, AND YOUR COLLEAGUES.
IT'S ALWAYS GREAT TO HEAR FROM YOU AND ABOUT THE GOOD WORK YOU'RE DOING AND, UM, QUIET.
THAT'S NOT A THING THAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT ME.
CAN YOU HEAR ME BETTER NOW? YEAH.
UM, I WAS JUST PRAISING Y'ALL, UH, DR.
BIXLER AND YOUR TEAM ON YOUR WORK.
ALWAYS LOVE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT IT.
AND I GUESS I JUST HAVE TWO QUESTIONS.
UM, ONE IS, YOU KNOW, I'M FAMILIAR WITH SOME OF THE, THE HEAT MAPPING WORK THAT HOUSTON HAS DONE WHERE THEY'VE RECEIVED SOME FUNDING TO DO MORE ON THE GROUND MEASUREMENTS AND SOME OF THOSE PRIORITIES, WELL, ACTUALLY CITYWIDE, BUT IS THAT SOMETHING THAT, THAT YOU OR THE CITY ARE EXPLORING, UM, TO, TO HELP FUND SOME OF THE MORE NUANCED MEASUREMENTS OF UNDERGROUND HEAT DATA? YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, DEFINITELY.
SOME FEEDBACK IS THAT, UM, SO WE GOT ABOUT, UH, THE GRANT THAT WE JUST RECEIVED FROM NOAH WAS FOR ABOUT 350 K AND I BELIEVE JESS CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG.
THAT SOME OF THAT ACTUALLY IS FOR PERCENTERS AND FOR INSTRUMENTS.
UM, I KNOW WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH DEVIN YOGI.
HE'S A NEW FACULTY, UM, HERE AT UT FORMERLY THE, UM, STATE CLIMATOLOGISTS FOR INDIANA.
UM, AND SO HE'S, AND HE'S KIND OF WORKING WITH, UM, MICROSOFT HERE.
I DON'T KNOW HOW THIS ALL CAME ABOUT.
UM, I MEAN, IN DEEP COLLABORATION WITH THE CITY, UH, OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY, UM, ABOUT SOME SENSORS, I DON'T EXACTLY KNOW WHERE THAT IS.
UM, MAYBE YOU PUT THE DATA IN OTHER WAY.
I BELIEVE THERE IS SOME FUNDING IN THIS NO GRANT, ALTHOUGH IT'S NOT SIGNIFICANT.
UM, BUT THERE'S A CONVERSATION EVERY TWO WEEKS IN A MEETING ABOUT THIS AND HOW TO CONTINUE TO SECURE FUNDING.
UM, SO I THINK THE EASY ANSWER IS YES, BUT, UM, BUT THAT'S GOOD TO HEAR, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S ALL BUILDING TOWARD THAT.
AND I'M CERTAINLY A HUGE PROPONENT OF ALSO CONNECTING ACROSS TEXAS CITIES THAT ARE TRYING TO DO SIMILAR WORK.
AND SO IF THERE'S SOME OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT AND HEAR ABOUT LESSONS LEARNED ON THERE, THEY, THEY, FOR FOLKS WHO DON'T KNOW, THEY HAVE DONE A REALLY LARGE, I THINK THE LARGEST SKILL HEAT MAPPING WORK IN THE COUNTRY, UH, JUST THIS LAST YEAR.
UM, SO I'M HAPPY TO CONNECT WITH FOLKS THERE.
UM, IN FACT, I THINK ULI IS DOING A PANEL TOMORROW ON SOME OF THE HOUSTON KEEP MAPPING WORK THAT'S HAPPENED THERE.
UM, BUT ANYWAY, JUST, JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT.
AND THEN I THINK MY, MY OTHER QUESTION IS MAYBE HALF COMMENTS, HALF QUESTIONS.
UM, I FEEL LIKE I, I WANTED TO MAKE SURE OTHER FOLKS KNOW ON THE CALL, AND I KNOW THAT PATRICK, WE'VE ALREADY STARTED TALKING A LITTLE BIT WITH YOU ABOUT THIS, BUT I FEEL LIKE THAT ALSO, UM, ONE OF THE PREVIOUS COMMENTS FROM A COMMITTEE MEMBER PRAXIS, YOU KNOW, JUST ASKING ABOUT LIKE, HOW DO WE, I MEAN, I THINK WHAT IT SOUNDED LIKE SHE WAS GETTING AT WAS REALLY ABOUT HOW DOES THIS TURN INTO ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ACTION.
UH, AND THAT'S SOMETHING I'M SUPER INTERESTED IN AND NOT JUST A, YOU KNOW, LIKE HERE'S THE DATA AND IT SHOULD INFORM ALL THE THINGS WE DO, BUT TRYING TO BRIDGE THAT GAP A LITTLE BIT MORE.
I JUST THINK IT'S SO IMPORTANT.
AND I WANTED TO, I HATE TO BRING UP TOO MANY HOUSTON EXAMPLES FOR ALL, ALL OF US AUSTINITES, BUT, UM, I WANTED TO REFERENCE IT.
UM, KINDER INSTITUTE AT RICE UNIVERSITY IS, UM, CREATING A DASHBOARD THAT DOESN'T HAVE ALL THE, AS OUR ANALYZING OUR WAY THAT'S SO RIGOROUS.
SO IT'S MISSING THAT PIECE WHERE THEY'RE TRYING TO DO IS BASICALLY CREATE A PUBLIC TRANSPARENT DASHBOARD.
THAT'S RUN BY THAT THIRD PARTY ACADEMIC INSTITUTION THAT TRACKS IMPLEMENTATION OF HOUSTON'S CLIMATE ACTION PLAN AND RESILIENCE.
UM, AND SO I'M REALLY INTERESTED IN HAVING MORE AND MORE CONVERSATIONS.
AND I KNOW WE STARTED TO KIND OF CHAT A LITTLE BIT, UM, BUT I WANTED TO BRING THAT TO THE ATTENTION TO OTHER BOARD MEMBERS IS SOMETHING THAT'S ON MY MIND ABOUT HOW WE CAN TAKE THIS EVEN FURTHER IN TERMS OF ALSO JUST PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE KINDS OF PLANS THAT THE CITY IS DOING AND
[00:30:01]
HOW THEY'RE BEING IMPLEMENTED.YEAH, WE SHOULD, I'M GOING TO START A FOLLOW UP THAT CONVERSATIONS IN CHINA.
OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, MELISSA? HI.
I KNOW THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD WAS TASKED WITH CREATING A TEXAS FLOOD MAP, AND THEY'RE DOING SOME PLANNING TO PREPARE FOR FUTURE MAJOR FLOODING EVENTS IN THE STATE.
AND I KNOW YOU'RE ONLY FOCUSED ON CITY-BASED FLOODING, BUT BIG HAS, THEY'RE DOING A, UM, SEPARATED BY REGIONS.
IT MIGHT BE BENEFICIAL TO COORDINATE WITH THE STATE AND, UM, C QUITE TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES THEY'RE USING FOR, UM, FINDING FOR THE NEXT, UH, MITIGATION FOR THE NEXT MAJOR FLOODING EVENT IN DIFFERENT REGIONS.
YEAH, IT'S A, IT'S A GREAT RECOMMENDATION.
WE'RE UM, UM, I'M WORKING WITH A PALLOR, PASSIVE AQUA.
HE'S A CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER.
UM, AND WE'RE, WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF WORKING WITH THE DEVELOPMENT BOARD.
WE'VE GOT A COUPLE OF OTHERS, SO WE'RE WORKING IN AUSTIN, BUT WE'RE ALSO WORKING IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS, UM, DOING SOME, SOME FLOOD MODELING.
I'M GOING TO GET OUT OF MY LEAGUE AS SOON AS I TRY TO START TALKING ABOUT IT, BUT I'M LOOKING AT THE IMPACT OF IT'S ACTUALLY REALLY QUITE SURPRISING BECAUSE TO ME, I WONDER IF THAT'S WHY THIS IS WHY FIVE, THREE REPORTS, THESE HIGHER LEVELS OF FLOODING, UM, BECAUSE WHAT, WHAT WE'RE MODELING WITH HER IS THE IMPACT OF FLUVIAL FLOODING.
UM, SO WHEN, WHEN RAIN JUST FLOODS NEIGHBORHOODS, IT'S NOT BECAUSE THE CREEK IS OVERFLOWING, BUT KIND OF THIS NUISANCE FLOODING FLOODING THAT COMES FROM AN INTENSE RAIN.
UM, ANYWAY, SO A LONG WAY TO SAY THAT WE'RE, WE'RE DOING SOME WORK INTEGRATING SOME, SOME MORE SOPHISTICATED WAYS TO LOOK AT FLOOD MODELING, UM, THAT INCLUDE, FLUVIAL INCLUDED WITH THIS SOCIAL INFORMATION ALONG WITH GOVERNANCE.
UM, HOW DO, HOW DO WE THINK ABOUT OVERLAYING GOVERNANCE WITHIN, UH, THESE FLOOD MODEL FLOOD ESTIMATES OF FLOOD RISK FROM THESE MODELS? UM, AND PART OF THAT IS WITH STATE AGENCIES.
SO IT'S THANKS FOR THE SUGGESTION.
I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT, UM, TO WORK ACROSS THOSE LEVELS, RIGHT? WE'VE GOT TO FIGURE OUT AND TO SOLVE SOME OF THESE ISSUES GOING TO TAKE LOCAL AGENCIES WORKING WITH STATE AGENCIES.
UM, THEY'VE BEEN DOING JUST THE STATE WATER PLAN, WHICH IS BASED ON DROUGHT.
AND SO FOR THE FLOOD PLANNING, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT THEY'RE ON TASK BY THE STATE LEGISLATOR TO PLAN FOR TOO MUCH WATER.
IS THAT OF NOT ENOUGH WATER? SO, UM, ON THE TOKEN, IT'S KIND OF ON WHAT YOU'RE DOING WHEN WE HAVE TOO MUCH WATER VERSUS WHEN WE HAVE TOO LITTLE WATER.
CAN WE LET, WHEN I THINK WENDY HAD ONE AND CAN YOU STILL HAVE A QUESTION ONE DAY NOW? OKAY.
I THOUGHT I SAW HER RAISING HER HAND.
UM, SO DID YOU ALL COLLECT ANY DATA ABOUT, UM, HOW MANY RESIDENTS WHO EXPERIENCED FLOODING WERE, UM, AT LEAST TEMPORARILY OR EVEN PERMANENTLY DISPLACED? UM, WELL I WANT TO SAY YES, JUST, YOU KNOW, OR DJ, UM, OFF THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD.
I'M PRETTY SURE THAT IT WAS, I MEAN, I COULD EVEN PULL IT UP REAL FAST.
SO INTERESTINGLY, I MEAN, THIS IS, IT'S A REALLY GREAT QUESTION BECAUSE ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE BUILT INTO THIS SURVEY THAT WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT AT ALL TODAY WAS DISPLACEMENT IN GENERAL.
SO THERE'S LOTS OF DIFFERENT WAYS THAT FOLKS ARE BEING DISPLACED.
UM, SO WE HAVE THIS SET OF QUESTIONS MORE BROADLY AROUND DISPLACEMENT, UM, AND I'M FAIRLY CERTAIN, THERE WAS LIKE, IF WE LOOK AT THOSE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT PEOPLE CAN BE IMPACTED, UM, ONE OF THOSE WAS EXPLICITLY KIND OF ASKED MORE ABOUT A TEMP TEMPORARY DISPLACEMENT.
ACTUALLY, THERE MAY BE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS, SORRY.
I DON'T KNOW, OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.
MAYBE, MAYBE KIND OF A TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT.
I MIGHT EMAIL YOU MORE ABOUT THAT TO ASK ABOUT SPECIFICS, BUT THANKS.
ANYBODY ELSE? QUESTIONS, COMMENTS,
[00:35:02]
WELL, SOMETHING THAT I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT AS, AS YOU WERE GOING THROUGH THE, THE FLOODS, UM, WHERE SOME OF THE KIND OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE HISPANICS OR BLACKS AND WHITES IN TERMS OF, UM, YOU KNOW, I GUESS, UH, I THINK IT WAS UNPREPAREDNESS OR A DM TAKING ACTION ON FLOOD VERSUS HEAT.UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, KIND OF ALSO WHAT SHE SAID, KIND OF LIKE, I, I WOULD LOVE SOME CLARIFICATION, UM, KIND OF ON THIS DISTINCTION BETWEEN, UH, I CAN'T REMEMBER IF WAS SOCIAL COHESIVENESS OR NEIGHBORHOOD COHESIVENESS AND NETWORKS AND HOW THAT THOSE THINGS MIGHT BE GETTING INTERSECTED WITH THE DIFFERENT RACIAL GROUPS AND THEIR KIND OF ACTIONS OR LACK OF YEAH.
UM, YEAH, SO, UM, A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT QUESTIONS, BUT THE ONE THAT'S EASIER TO CLARIFY AS POSSIBLY, UM, IT, THIS WAS REALLY FASCINATING, BUT WHEN WE THINK ABOUT SOCIAL CAPITAL, UH, IN, UH, ON THE SURVEY, WE MEASURE IT THREE DIFFERENT WAYS.
UH, SO WE HAVE THESE THREE KIND OF, I GUESS, DIMENSIONS, UM, NEIGHBORHOOD COHESION, PRESS AND NETWORKS.
AND SO WE CAN AGGREGATE THOSE INTO ONE MEASURE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL, UH, OR WE CAN LOOK AT THOSE THREE DIMENSIONS SEPARATE, UH, IN WHAT WE FOUND WAS THAT FOR FLOODING, UM, NEIGHBORHOOD COHESION WAS MORE IMPORTANT.
UM, LIKE IT WAS A BIG DIFFERENCE IF YOU LOOK AT THOSE THREE DIMENSIONS SEPARATED, UH, AND FOR EAT, UM, IT WAS NETWORKS AND, AND I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE.
I MEAN, THE FLOODING WAS, HOW DID YOU DEFINE YOUR GOALS? I GUESS THIS IS PART OF MY QUESTION, INTUITIVE.
UM, UM, SO, SO THE COHESION IS, I MEAN, IN SOME WAYS YOU THINK OF IT AS THE NETWORKS WITHIN YOUR NAME, WELL, LET ME BE MORE, I CAN BE MORE TECHNICAL AND THEN I CAN TRY TO BE CONCEPTUAL.
UH, THERE WERE, THERE WERE DIFFERENT MULTIPLE ITEMS ON THE SURVEY.
SO FOR COHESION, I BELIEVE THERE WERE SEVEN DIFFERENT QUESTIONS THAT PEOPLE WERE ASKED ON A RANGE OF, UM, YOU KNOW, STRONGLY DISAGREE TO STRONGLY AGREE.
SO THE LIKERT SCALE QUESTIONS, UH, AND SO IT WAS AN AGGREGATION REALLY WAS A LATENT FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THOSE ITEMS, UM, THAT FED INTO THOSE THREE DIMENSIONS.
UM, YOU KNOW, NEIGHBORHOOD COHESION IS NOT SURPRISINGLY, NOT SURPRISING.
IT'S REPRESENTED BY QUESTIONS.
UM, UH, SUCH AS I VISIT MY, OR MY FRIENDS VISIT ME ON MY BIRTHDAY.
UM, I CAN, UH, I LEND AND BORROW THINGS WITH MY NEIGHBORS.
UM, SO QUESTIONS SUCH AS THAT, UH, NETWORKS HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE TO DO WITH, UM, KIND OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND ACCESS TO, OR NOT ACCESS ISN'T THE RIGHT WORD, BUT CONNECTIONS TO SERVICE PROVIDING ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, AND, UH, THE TRUST, THE WAY THIS WASN'T A SURVEY IS REALLY ABOUT TRUSTING.
IT'S NOT ABOUT TRUSTING INSTITUTIONS.
WE HAVE THAT DATA, BUT THIS IS MORE ABOUT, UM, TRUST WITH, UM, RIGHT.
I GUESS KIND OF GOES BACK TO NEIGHBORS, UM, BUT TRUST WITH CITY, YOUR PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS.
AND SO THEN I GUESS, YOU KNOW, THE OTHER PIECE OF MY QUESTION IS, IS JUST, YOU KNOW, DID, DID YOU SEE A DIFFERENCE IN THE RESPONSE, UH, TO THOSE DIFFERENT MEASUREMENTS OF NEIGHBORHOOD COHESION AND THE NETWORKS, UH, BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT RACIAL GROUPS AND, AND YEAH, YEAH.
UM, THERE, WE, WE DEFINITELY DID.
I DON'T KNOW, OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD AND W WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE HAD PREPARED FOR THIS PRESENTATION, BUT THERE ARE, UM, THERE W I KNOW FOR CERTAIN, THERE ARE, UH, DISPARITIES IN SOCIAL CAPITAL, AMONGST RACIAL, ETHNIC GROUPS, UM, AMONGST INCOME CATEGORIES AMONGST AGE.
UM, SO YOU SEE A PRETTY, YOU SEE, YOU SEE GAPS, UM, AND YOU ALSO SEE WHICH SORT OF WITH RESEARCH IS WHAT YOU WANT YOU SEE IN NORMAL DISTRIBUTION.
YOU SEE, YOU KNOW, FOLKS WITH HIGH SOCIAL CAPITAL FOLKS WITH ALL SOCIAL CAPITAL, UH, FOLKS IN THE MIDDLE, UM, WITH THE 2018 DATA, A SLIGHT TANGENT, BUT NOT REALLY, UM, WITH THE 2018 DATA, WE DID A REPORT ON, UM, THE INTERSECTION OF SOCIAL CAPITAL AND HEALTH, UH, AND IT WAS WITH ST.
UM, AND THAT WHOLE REPORT, IT IT'S ON THE WEBSITE.
I COULD, I CAN SHARE THAT TOO, BUT, UM, REALLY EXAMINE THOSE DISPARITIES BETWEEN DIFFERENTIAL OUTCOMES IN HEALTH THAT WE SEE BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCES OR THE DISPARITIES BETWEEN SOCIAL CAPITAL.
IT LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD.
I WAS JUST GOING TO ADD, TO FOLLOW UP TO COMMITTEE MEMBER PRACTICE QUESTION.
[00:40:01]
ON, IF YOU DID LEAVE YOUR HOME, WHERE DID YOU GO? AND WE HAVE A LIST OF KIND OF A SAMPLE LIST THAT FOLKS TO RESPONDENTS COULD CHOOSE FROM.WE ALSO HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT HOW MANY MILES DID YOU TRAVEL? UM, AND SIMILAR TO EXTREME BEACH, WE ASK, UH, IF RESPONDENTS, WHERE THEY GO DURING EXTREME HEAT EVENTS.
SO JUST SOME OTHER REALLY RICH POTENTIAL DATA POINTS.
THEY'RE TICKING THE TRACK TRENDS AND SEE WHAT DIFFERENCES EXIST BETWEEN ZIP CODE, AGE, GENDER, ET CETERA.
ANY, ANYTHING ELSE, UH, BEFORE WE LET, LET OUR EXPERTS OFF THE HOOK FOR THAT NIGHT? ALL RIGHT.
WELL, THANK YOU AGAIN, REALLY APPRECIATE YOU COMING AND SHARING THIS GREAT RESEARCH WITH US.
I THINK IT'S REALLY RELEVANT TO, UH, THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING HERE AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE MIGHT BE REACHING OUT AGAIN, AND CERTAINLY WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU AS THIS RESEARCH PROGRESSES.
AND, YOU KNOW, AS, AS YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SHARE WITH US, AS IT, AS IT MIGHT BE USEFUL TO, YOU KNOW, ACTIONS THAT WE MIGHT, UH, ENDORSE TO, YOU KNOW, MAKE OUR COMMUNITY MORE RESILIENT, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO REACH OUT TO US.
I WILL JUST SAY, JUST KIND OF TO FOLLOW UP WITH YOUR QUESTION IS, I MEAN, I THINK THAT A LOT OF THE WAY WE, THE POTENTIAL POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF THESE DISCREPANCIES AND SOCIAL CAPITAL, IF WE KNOW THAT THEY'RE IMPORTANT FOR COMMUNITY RESILIENCE, THEN WE CAN THINK ABOUT POLICIES THAT CAN BUILD NEIGHBORHOOD COHESION IN PLACES WHERE THERE'S NOT, OR NOT NEIGHBORHOOD COLLUSION, OR THAT THAT COHESION IS BEING BROKEN UP BECAUSE OF GENTRIFICATION, DISPLACEMENT, ET CETERA.
UM, SO I THINK THERE ARE SOME PRETTY, UH, TANGIBLE AND DIRECT POLICY AND PROGRAMMATIC IMPLICATIONS.
WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THIS, THIS, THE SOCIAL CAPITAL AND THE BENEFITS OF THAT.
THAT'S EXACTLY WHY I WAS ASKING.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK, UM, MAYBE IT'S ALREADY WITHIN, UH, SOME OF WHAT YOU'VE WRITTEN UP, BUT IF, IF YOU HAVE POLICY SUGGESTIONS, FEEL FREE TO BRING THEM TO US SWEET, YOU KNOW, LIKE TO LIKE TO BE INFORMED, BUT BY THE RESEARCH AND, AND OUTSIDE EXPERTS, UH, AS, AS MUCH AS IS BY CITY AND OTHER FOLKS WORKING ON THE INSIDE.
[2b) USDA Forest Adaptation Overview – Wendy Gordon, Climate Action Texas]
MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT, UH, PRESENTATION, WHICH IS ON THE USDA FOREST ADAPTATION, UH, RESEARCH.AND THIS IS GOING TO BE, UH, WENDY GORDON WITH A CLIMATE ACTION, TEXAS PRESENTING.
OKAY, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
SOME OF THEM I CAN SEE AND SOME OF WHOM I CAN'T AND, AND AB AND ZACK, UH, THIS ALSO, YES, AS, AS ALLUDED TO EARLIER HAS BEEN SOME MONTHS IN THE MAKING.
AND I KNOW THERE HAVE BEEN LOTS OF MONKEY WRENCHES THROWN INTO AGENDAS OVER THE LAST SO MANY MONTHS.
I AM GOING TO TALK TONIGHT AND IN ESSENCE, ON BEHALF OF A MUCH LARGER PROJECT GROUP AND EXPLAIN THE CONTEXT HERE OF WHAT WE DID OVER PROBABLY THE MORE THAN A YEAR.
AND AS KATIE MENTIONED EARLIER, TOO, I DO THINK IT REALLY WOULD BE HELPFUL TO THINK ABOUT THIS AS SOMETHING THAT'S ACTIONABLE.
I MEAN, THAT WAS REALLY THE POINT OF OUR DOING THIS.
AND, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF CITY STAFF WERE INVOLVED, UM, MENTIONED, FOR EXAMPLE, THE BALCONIES, YOU KNOW, PRESERVED STAFF.
SO THERE ARE FOLKS WHO ARE ALREADY TRYING TO IMPLEMENT WHAT WE DID, BUT HOPEFULLY THIS REALLY WILL FIND A MUCH LARGER AUDIENCE BECAUSE THIS PROJECT WASN'T INTENDED TO BE A DOORSTOP.
SO TO MOVE ALONG HERE, AND I INCLUDED MORE INFORMATION, MORE SLIDES THAN I'M GOING TO GO OVER IN DETAIL, THERE IS AN ENTIRE REPORT AVAILABLE ONLINE.
SO YOU CERTAINLY CAN REFER THAT AND I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO, TO DO SO.
SO THIS PROJECT, RIGHT, WE WERE LOOKING AT THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON TEXAS.
I THINK IN GENERAL, YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH THIS, BUT THIS WAS THE CONTEXT OF WHAT WE WERE DOING, TRYING TO EXAMINE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE SPECIFICALLY ON AUSTIN'S URBAN FOREST, RIGHT? SO EVERYTHING FROM, YOU KNOW, HOTTER DAYS, WARMER NIGHTS, MORE EXTREME, YOU KNOW, KEY
[00:45:01]
PRECIPITATION, POTENTIAL WILDFIRE RISKS.I THINK ONE OF THE KEY ISSUES THAT WE REALLY FOCUSED ON LOOKING AT THINGS LIKE PHYSIOLOGICAL TOLERANCES OF PLANTS.
SO, YOU KNOW, PROCESSES LIKE PHOTOSYNTHESIS, UH, PHENOLOGICAL ISSUES.
WE KNOW THERE ARE LOWER GROWING LONGER GROWING SEASONS.
AND SOME CASES WE HAVE MISMATCHES, YOU KNOW, BETWEEN LIKE PREDATOR, PREY, LIFE CYCLES, AND RAIN SHIFTS DISRUPTIONS.
AND AGAIN, THAT HAS TO DO WITH THESE OTHER CLIMATOLOGICAL FACTORS, SUCH AS, YOU KNOW, HARDINESS ZONES CHANGING.
I'LL ALSO SORT OF FOOTNOTE ALL THIS, RIGHT.
THIS PROJECT WAS COMPLETED A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, UM, BEFORE THINGS LIKE POLAR VORTEXES, WHERE, YOU KNOW, IN THE NEWS AND WE GOT SLAMMED WITH THE WINTER STORM OF THE CENTURY.
AND SO THE INTERESTING THING IS, I MEAN, WHILE OUR FOCUS HERE IS ON THINGS LIKE EXTREME HEATS AND MAYBE PRECIPITATION SHIFTS AND SO ON, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A WHOLE NEW SET OF VARIABLES THAT REALLY WERE INTRODUCED.
AND I THINK, RIGHT, WE, WE KNOW CITYWIDE, WE'RE STILL TRYING TO ASSESS WHAT IS VERY EXTREME AND, AND, UH, ELONGATED PERIODS OF EXTREMELY COLD WEATHER HAS MEANT FOR URBAN FOREST.
SO AS THE SAYING GOES, YOU KNOW, UM, ALL MODELS ARE WRONG, BUT SOME MODELS ARE USEFUL.
I MEAN, THIS PROJECT IS VERY MUCH BUILT ON THAT PREMISE OF, OF MODELING NEXT.
SO THIS IS THE REPORT, AND THIS IS THE PROJECT VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT OF AUSTIN'S URBAN FOREST AND NATURAL AREAS.
SO WE HAD, UH, FOLKS FROM WHAT'S THE NORTHERN FOREST CLIMATE HUB COME TO STAFF AT THE CITY AND ASK IF THEY COULD LEAD, OR CO-LEAD A PROJECT THAT WOULD ASSESS IF IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AUSTIN'S URBAN FOREST, UH, CITY STAFF SAID, YES.
AND IN TURN CONVENED A LARGER GROUP, A KIND OF REGIONAL GROUP, WHICH INCLUDED SOME FOLKS FROM NGOS AND TEXAS FOREST SERVICE.
SO A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PARTICIPANTS.
SO WE PLANNED A COUPLE OF WORKSHOPS AND THEN INVITED IN ESSENTIALLY A GROUP OF PROFESSIONALS.
AND THIS PROJECT WAS A COMBINATION OF I'LL CALL IT MODELING AND BEST PROFESSIONAL JUDGMENT.
SO THE, THIS WAS SORT OF BROUGHT TO US BY SOMETHING, THE USDA CALLS, THE URBAN FORESTRY CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE FRAMEWORK.
AND THE IDEA WAS TO THAT URBAN FOREST WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE BENEFITS TO PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN URBAN COMMUNITIES AS CLIMATE CHANGES.
AND SO BY URBAN FOREST, WE MEAN HERE ALL PUBLICLY AND PRIVATELY OWN TREES WITHIN AN URBAN AREA.
SO THAT INCLUDES STREET TREES AND BACKYARDS, AS WELL AS STANZAS OF REMNANT FOREST.
SO WE KNOW PARTICULARLY IN THE WEST AUSTIN AREAS, BUT ALSO SOME OF THE EAST, OUR SCENARIOS, WE DO HAVE AREAS THAT HAVE NOT YET BEEN URBANIZED.
SO IN TOTAL, WE LOOKED AT MORE THAN 400,000 ACRES OF TREES, RIGHT? SO DEVELOPED GREEN SPACES AND NATURAL AREAS, BASICALLY WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND SO WE EVALUATED THE VULNERABILITY OF, UM, BOTH URBAN TREES AND NATURAL UNDEVELOPED LANDSCAPES WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN TO ARRANGE A FUTURE CLIMATES NEXT.
AND WE USE SCIENTIFIC PROJECTIONS OF FUTURE CHANGES IN CLIMATE TO SET BOUNDARY CONDITIONS FOR OUR THOUGHT EXERCISE.
WE REVIEWED RESEARCH FROM SECURE REVIEWED PAPERS.
SO I SAID, WE RAN A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS WHERE WE INVITED LOCAL EXPERTS IN, AND WE THEN DESCRIBED THE IMPLICATIONS OF FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGES MIGHT HAVE ON A VARIETY OF ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES MIXED.
SO FOR US, VULNERABILITY IS THE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF A SYSTEM TO THE ADVERSE EFFECTS OR IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
AND IT'S A FUNCTION OF THOSE POTENTIAL CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS AND THE ADAPTIVE CAPACITY OF THE SYSTEM.
AND WE CONSIDER A SYSTEM VULNERABLE IF IT'S AT RISK FOR NO LONGER BEING RECOGNIZABLE AS THAT COMMUNITY TYPE, OR IF A SYSTEM IS ANTICIPATED TO SUFFER SUBSTANTIAL DECLINES IN HEALTH FOR PRODUCTIVITY.
AND WE MET FOR A TWO DAY WORKSHOP INITIALLY TO DO THE VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT.
WE ALSO CAME BACK AND HAD AN ADAPTATION WORKSHOP IN GENERAL.
WE SAID THAT AREAS ARE CONCLUDED THAT AREAS OF THE AUSTIN REGION, UH, ARE MODERATELY VULNERABLE TO CLIMATE CHANGE NEXT.
SO SOME KEY CONTEXT HERE FACTORS.
SO AUSTIN'S BEEN WARMING AT THE RATE OF ABOUT 0.4 DEGREES PER DECADE SINCE
[00:50:01]
1948.AND IT'S EXPECTED TO WARM BY ANOTHER FIVE TO 10 DEGREES BY THE END OF THIS CENTURY.
AND THEN SINCE 2000, AND THIS DOESN'T INCLUDE LAST YEAR, BUT SINCE 2000 ALL YEARS HAVE BEEN HOTTER THAN WHAT WAS THE CLEMENT NORMAL PERIOD OF THE 1961 TO 1990 AVERAGE, UH, CLIMATE NORMALS HAVE JUST BEEN UPDATED BY A DECADE.
SO NOW THAT IS 1971 TO 2000, JUST AS LITTLE SIDE NOTE, EIGHT OF THE TOP 10 YEARS WITH THE MOST HUNDRED DEGREE DAYS HAVE OCCURRED THE CENTURY AGAIN, NOT INCLUDING LAST YEAR'S DATA.
AND SIX OF THE 10 HOTTEST YEARS IN AUSTIN HAVE OCCURRED BETWEEN 2020 19 NEXT.
SO WE KNOW, UM, AUSTIN'S BEEN GETTING SLIGHTLY WETTER ON AVERAGE, BUT PRECIPITATION VARIES WIDELY WITHIN, IN BETWEEN YEARS AND FUTURE PROJECTIONS OF PRECIPITATION OR UNCERTAIN, UH, OVERALL THE BALANCE OF PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE MAY SHIFT AUSTIN'S CLIMATE TO BE MORE SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE ARID SOUTHWEST IT'S HIGHLY PROBABLE, THERE WILL BE BOTH AN INCREASE IN HEAVY RAIN AND SEVERE DROUGHTS IN FUTURE DECADES, WHICH WILL STRESS AREA TREES AND CHANGES IN PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE MAY EXACERBATE CURRENT STRESSORS, SUCH AS NON-NATIVE INVASIVE PLANTS IN PSYCHOSIS AND PATHOGENS.
SO IN AUSTIN, WE'RE TALKING PRIMARILY ABOUT TWO ECO REGIONS, THE EDWARDS PLATEAU TO THE WEST AND THE BLACK ONPRO TO THE EAST, AND THESE AREAS SUPPORT, UH, YOU DIFFERENT TREE SPECIES, UNIQUELY ADAPTED TO EACH REGION, EACH ECON REGION, A FEW INTERESTING THINGS THAT CAME UP, UM, WHERE AUSTIN'S URBAN FOREST IS MADE UP OF PRESLEY, 34 MILLION TREES.
THINK ABOUT THAT WITH A TREE CANOPY COVERING ABOUT 31% OF THE CITY AND THE MAJORITY 92% OF TREES ARE NATIVE TO TEXAS.
AND THE SAME TIME, 10 MOST COMMON TREES ACCOUNT FOR 84% OF THE EIGHT TREES IN THAT 400,000 ACRE AREA, TEXT THOSE COMMENTS, SPECIES, OR ASH JUNIPER, CEDAR ELM LIVE OAK SUGAR, BERRY, AND TEXAS PERSIMMON.
A COUPLE OF OTHER INTERESTING FACTOIDS HERE THAT TREES WITH DIAMETERS AT FIVE INCHES OR LESS ACCOUNT FOR TWO THIRDS, ALMOST TWO THIRDS OF OUR TREE POPULATION AND LARGE DIAMETER TREES.
THOSE ARE 15 INCHES AND GREATER ARE ONLY 3% OF THE TOTAL TREE POPULATION, BUT DO PROVIDE 18% OF TOTAL LEAF AREA.
WE KNOW, OF COURSE THEY PROVIDE MANY ECOSYSTEM SERVICES SLIDE JUST VERY QUICK.
WE'VE GOT THE BLACKLAND PRAIRIE TO THE EAST, THE EDWARDS PLATEAU TO THE WEST, PRETTY MUCH, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW I 35 THEREABOUTS BISECTS THOSE TWO ECO REGIONS NEXT SIDE.
SO WHEN WE LOOK, LOOK AT THE DISTRIBUTION OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS WITHIN THAT IN WEST AUSTIN, WE SEE A LOT OF UPLAND FOREST.
SO THESE WERE, THESE WERE AREAS WE WERE SPECIFICALLY CATEGORIZING AND EXAMINING.
SO UPLAND FOREST, THE DARK GREEN UPLAND, WOODLAND, WHICH IS A LIGHTER GREEN.
SO THERE'S A SMATTERING THAT BOTH EAST AND WEST UPLAND MIXED SHRUBLAND, WHICH MIGHT APPEAR A LITTLE BIT MORE TO THE EAST, THE ORANGE, AND THEN FLIPPED PLAN AND TERRACES, WHICH CERTAINLY APPEAR MORE TO THE EAST PURPLE, NEXT SLIDE.
SO BY UPLAND FOREST, UM, UPLAND, WOODLAND, AND THE MIXED TROUBLING IN THE FLOOD, PLAIN TERRACES AND SO FORTH.
I MEAN, THESE WERE AREAS DESCRIBED SOMEWHAT BY TOPOGRAPHY AND THEN ALSO BY, YOU KNOW, THEIR PREDOMINANT SPECIES.
I'M NOT GOING TO READ DOWN THE ENTIRE LIST, BUT AGAIN, UPLAND FOREST, WE SEE A LOT OF ASH, JUNIPER, TEXAS RED OAK, TEXAS, UH, LIVE OAK, UM, WHITE SHIN OAK.
SO WE HAVE A LOT OF OAKS, CEDAR ELM SUGARBERRY, UM, SOME WALNUT BLACK CHERRY, ET CETERA HERE, UH, THE UPLAND WOODLANDS.
SO WE ALSO, AGAIN, RIGHT, WE SAID BEFORE THAT ASH JUNIPER OR LIVE OAK.
SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE CEDAR ELM, THE MOST PREDOMINANT TREES ACROSS THE ENTIRE CITY SUGARBERRY POST OAK.
SO AGAIN, WE SEE MORE OF THE OAKS.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A FAIR AMOUNT OF OVERLAP, MAYBE A COUPLE OF DIFFERENCES, YOU KNOW, POP OUT HERE WHERE MS. SKEET IS MORE LIKELY TO SHOW UP IN UPLAND, WOODLAND THAN FOR EXAMPLE, IN UPLAND FOREST NEXT SIDE, AND THEN UPLOAD MIXED SHRUBLAND.
UH, AGAIN, WE HAVE, UH, WE OAK AND ASH JUNIPER.
SO HERE THE SPECIES MIX WHILE MAYBE SOME SIMILARITIES THAT ALSO IS GOING TO
[00:55:01]
SHIFT IN PREDOMINANCE.SO YOU'RE ASKING A PERSONAL, IT CAN BE QUITE AS PREDOMINANT AND THEN FLOOD PLAINS AND TERRACES.
WE SEE A LOT OF DIVERSITY INCLUDING, RIGHT.
WE HAVE A TENDENCY TO BE A NON-NATIVE SPECIES INVADING THOSE AREAS.
SO AS YOU GO DOWN THIS LIST, AGAIN, FAMILIAR SPECIES, BUT ALSO THINGS WE WOULD EXPECT, LIKE, YOU KNOW, PECAN, UM, YOU KNOW, L WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, SYCAMORE, UH, COTTONWOOD, RIGHT.
BUT THEN ALSO CHINABERRY AND
AND JUST AGAIN, TO KIND OF HIGHLIGHT THIS ISSUE OF LARGE TREE SPECIES VERSUS SMALL, RIGHT? SO OUR MOST COMMON, LARGE DIAMETER TREES TEND TO BE THE JUNIPER IS ALIVE, OAK CEDAR ELMS, KEYED, COME ON, SUGAR, BERRY, SOME INVASIVES, YOU KNOW, CHINABERRY, COTTONWOOD, SMALL DIAMETER TREES, AND RIGHT.
WE SEE LOTS OF REGENERATION AND THINGS LIKE JUNIPER ON THE LANDSCAPE, CEDAR ELM, YOU KNOW, BUT YOUR, YOUR COMMON, SMALL DIAMETER TREES ARE THINGS LIKE PERCENT IN YO PAWN AND MOUNTAIN LAUREL.
AND AGAIN, WE SEE INVASIVES LIKE RAGUS, GASTRONOME IN CHINA, VERY, UH, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, SOME NOTE THAT OF CURRENT LARGE TREES ARE NOT REPLACED BY OTHER LARGE TREES OVER TIME THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S DEFINITELY GOING TO CHANGE WHAT THE CANOPY OF AUSTIN LOOKS LIKE NEXT.
SO, AND WEST AUSTIN, WE HAVE TWO SPECIES JUNIPER LIVE OAK THAT MAKE UP 80% OF THIS, OF THE SPECIES COMPOSITION.
AND THEN, UH, FOUR SPECIES ARE PREDOMINANT IN EAST AUSTIN.
SO ASHER UNIVERSITY UNDER AL HONEYMOON SCAPE AND WILD OAK AND WEST AUSTIN JUNIPER COVERS TWO-THIRDS OF THE AREA COMPARED TO 20% IN EAST AUSTIN, CEDAR ELEMENTS, MORE COMMON IN EAST AUSTIN AT 18% VERSUS ONLY 2% IN WEST AUSTIN LIVE OAK TENDS TO BE SIMILAR ACROSS THE CITY AND WEST AUSTIN CONTAINS 11 UNIQUE SPECIES.
WELL, EAST ALSO CONTAINS 29 UNIQUE SPECIES, RIGHT.
AND AGAIN HAS A LOT TO DO WITH THOSE FLOODPLAIN AREAS.
SO IN ORDER TO CARRY OUT THIS PROJECT TO SAY, PART OF WHAT WE DID WAS WE LOOKED AT CLIMATE PROJECTIONS.
SO WE USED, UH, EXISTING EMISSIONS SCENARIOS.
YOU KNOW, THESE WERE EXISTING MODELS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE PULL FROM WHAT WAS OUT THERE AND LOOKED AT TWO SCENARIOS JUST TO BOUND OUR ANALYSIS.
SO ONE IN WHICH GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ARE DRAMATICALLY REDUCED, AND THE OTHER KNOWN AS BUSINESS AND USUAL, WHICH EMISSIONS KEEP GROWING AT THE CURRENT RATE.
SO THESE MODEL PROJECTIONS WERE DOWNSCALE TO FOUR KILOMETERS.
AND SO AT FOUR KILOMETERS, WE CAN LOOK AT CLIMATE TRENDS, BUT WE CAN'T IDENTIFY, YOU KNOW, WE CAN'T PINPOINT MICROCLIMATES FOR EXAMPLE, YOU KNOW, THE SIDE OF A NORTH FACING SLOPE AND THE, THE BOUNDED, UM, RESULTS, RIGHT? SO WE TOOK A BASICALLY WHAT, YOU KNOW, BE LIKE, SAY THE OPTIMISTIC AND THE PESSIMISTIC, IF YOU WILL HERE SORT OF THE BEST CASE, THE WORST CASE TYPES OF SCENARIOS.
UM, WE, WE PAIRED THAT WITH MODELS.
SO THE ONE HAND WHEN THAT'S TENDS TO RUN COOL AND WET, AND ONE THAT TENDS TO RUN HOTTER AND DRIER.
SO WE USE THE SO-CALLED, THE PESSIMISTIC BUSINESSES, USUAL SCENARIO PAIRED THAT WITH THE HOT DRY MODEL TO REALLY GET THE MOST EXTREME CONDITIONS.
AND WE PAIRED THE GREATLY REDUCED EMISSIONS WITH THE POOLER WETTER MODEL TO GET THE OTHER END OF THE SPECTRUM.
AND THEN WE BASICALLY LOOKED ACROSS WHAT WE THOUGHT THAT WOULD GENERATE IN TERMS OF IMPACTS TO SPECIES.
AND JUST, AGAIN, THIS IS THE GRAPHIC, WHAT I TALKED ABOUT BEFORE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE SEEING ABOUT 0.4 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT PER DECADE, INCREASE IN TEMPERATURES.
SO THAT'S WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, UH, NEXT SLIDE AND THE HERE'S OUR MINIMUM TEMPERATURES, RIGHT? AND SO AS FAR AS PLANTS GO, THAT THAT'S A SIGNIFICANT CONSIDERATION BECAUSE MINIMUMS DRIVE A LOT OF PANTSER SURVIVAL, BUT, YOU KNOW, SO TO MAXIMUMS, NEXT SLIDE, AND HERE IS THAT MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE.
SO THAT'S ALSO INCREASING NEXT SLIDE.
AND THEN FINALLY PRECIPITATION WHILE THERE'S A SMALL TREND TOWARDS AN INCREASE HERE AS IS COMING UP AT LIKE BASICALLY TWO THIRDS IN ENTREPRENEUR DECADE, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE IS A GREAT BIT OF VARIABILITY, A LOT OF NOISE AND HYDROLOGIC DATA SETS.
SO, SO, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE BIT HARDER TO MAYBE EXTRAPOLATE INTO THE FUTURE WITH THAT GOOD SLIDE.
[01:00:01]
IS USUAL SCENARIO, YOU KNOW, SHOWS HOTTER ON THE ORDER OF FIVE TO 10 DEGREES BY THE END OF THE CENTURY.AND THAT BUSINESS AS USUAL SCENARIO GENERATES THE LARGEST INCREASES.
UH, AS FAR AS THE MODELS GO AND PRECIPITATION, THEY TEND TO BE MIXED.
UH, NONETHELESS WE KNOW THAT INCREASING KEEP WILL DRIVE INCREASED OIL EVAPORATION AND DRYING.
AND WE KNEW IF I HAD THE ATLAS 14 OR THAT STORMS DO SEEM TO BECOMING MORE INTENSE.
SO LIKE WE'VE EVEN SEEN, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE FOUR INCH RAINFALL THAT FELL AT MY HOUSE MORE THAN A WEEK AGO.
SO I, I POINTED OUT WE HAD THIS ENVELOPE HERE, SO THE PAIRING, THE COOLER WETTER MODEL WITH REDUCED EMISSIONS, WE LOOK TO THE END OF THE CENTURY, FOR EXAMPLE, HERE'S JUST ONE VARIABLE PROJECTED CHANGING DAYS WITH THE HEAT INDEX OVER A HUNDRED.
SO FOR A PLANT, THAT WOULD BE VERY SIGNIFICANT.
WE SEE YOUR PROJECTION OF 44 DAYS VERSUS IN THAT, YOU KNOW, THE HOT, DRY MODEL RUNNING WITH THE BUSINESS AS USUAL HIGHER EMISSION SCENARIO, WE SEE THAT IN HEAT INDEX OVER A HUNDRED DEGREES, UH, NETTING ABOUT 118 DAYS.
SO, YOU KNOW, ALMOST THREE TIMES AS MANY DAYS THAT WOULD HAVE THAT HIGH HEAT INDEX.
SO WE TOOK THESE CLIMATE PROJECTIONS.
ONE APPROACH HERE WAS SOMETHING I'M USING SOMETHING CALLED SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODELS.
SO SPECIES DISTRIBUTIONS MODELS ESTABLISH A STATISTICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CURRENT DISTRIBUTION OF A SPECIES OR ECOSYSTEM AND KEY ATTRIBUTES OF ITS HABITAT.
AND THEN THIS RELATIONSHIP IS USED TO MAKE PROJECTIONS ABOUT HOW THE RANGE OF THE SPECIES WILL SHIFT AS CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS THOSE ATTRIBUTES, RIGHT? SO YOU CAN LOOK AT WHERE A SPECIES IS FOUND.
FOR EXAMPLE, YOU CAN INFER SOMETHING ABOUT, UH, IT'S, YOU KNOW, ITS HABITAT NEEDS.
FOR EXAMPLE, YOU CAN LOOK AT YOUR CLIMATE PARAMETERS AND THEN YOU CAN ASK THE QUESTION, OKAY.
YOU KNOW, KNOWING WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THESE STATISTICAL RELATIONSHIPS, IF, IF THE STATISTICS BASICALLY CHANGE ON US, WHAT DOES THAT DO TO THE SPECIES AND ITS DISTRIBUTION IN SPACE? NEXT SLIDE.
SO USING THIS SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODELING APPROACH, USING THIS CLIMATE PROJECTIONS RIGHT OF 31 SPECIES EXAMINED FOR THE AUSTIN REGION SUITABLE HABITAT FOR 14 OF THEM WAS PROJECTED TO DECLINE UNDER BOTH AT HIGH AND LOW EMISSIONS SCENARIO.
AND THE ONES THAT POPPED UP AS MAYBE MOST VULNERABLE INCLUDED, AMERICAN SYCAMORE, BLACK WALNUT BOROUGH, EASTERN RED, CEDAR POST OAK AND MULBERRY.
NEXT SLIDE SUITABLE HABITAT FOR 10 SPECIES WAS PROJECTED TO REMAIN RELATIVELY STABLE UNDER THESE DIFFERENT EMISSIONS SCENARIOS.
AND THAT INCLUDED AMERICAN AL JENNIFER BOX ELDER FREE AND ASH NORTHERN HACKBERRY, SOUTHERN LIFE OF AND WIND DOWN NEXT SLIDE
AND THEN FROM OUR, UH, SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODELING RESULTS, THERE WERE FOUR SPECIES OF WHAT THEY POTENTIALLY WOULD COULD GAIN AND HABITAT BE A WIDER DISTRIBUTION.
AND THOSE WERE BLACKJACK OUT PECAN SUGARBERRY WATER OAK, AND THERE WERE THREE SPECIES WHERE IT WAS UNCERTAIN.
WHAT THE DIRECTION OF CHANGE MIGHT BE PUTTING CEDAR ELM GUM, FAMILIA, AND HONEY LOCUST.
NOW WE TOOK ANOTHER APPROACH, WHICH WAS TO LOOK AT CHANGES IN SPECIES DISTRIBUTIONS, JUST FROM CHANGES TO HEAT AND HARDINESS ZONE SHIFTS.
SO BEFORE THERE WAS A LITTLE BIT OF A I'LL CALL IT STATISTICAL FOCUS POCUS WITH MODELS, A LITTLE BIT OF A BLACK BOX, BUT YOU KNOW, HERE WE, IT WAS A LITTLE MORE OF A BRUTE FORCE EFFECT, UH, JUST ASSESSING, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE BELIEVE TO BE MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES, UH, SORT OF TOLERANCES FOR THESE SPECIES.
AND HERE IS, UH, A PICTURE OF CURRENT HARDINESS ZONES, PLANT HARDINESS ZONE.
SO AUSTIN FALLS INTO THE EIGHT B AREA.
AND, UH, SO YOU'RE AT YOUR AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE, RIGHT? AS LONG AS IT DOESN'T GET BELOW 18 DEGREES, THEN, YOU KNOW, PLANTS, THIS HARDINESS ZONE SURVIVED JUST FINE, RIGHT.
IF THERE ARE SUITED FOR EIGHT B OR, UM, OR SOMETHING WARMER, NEXT SLIDE.
SO GOING, THIS IS THE LOWER MISSION SCENARIO AND IT'S CENTURY, IT LOOKS LIKE AUSTIN COULD BE IN THE NINE, EIGHT HARDINESS ZONE, RIGHT?
[01:05:01]
SO THOSE MINIMUM TEMPERATURES AS MINIMUM WINTER TEMPERATURES WOULD INCREASE SEVERAL DEGREES.AND ON AVERAGE, WE'D BE LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, 21 TO 22 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT.
SO THAT WOULD SUGGEST THAT, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY MORE SPECIES COULD SURVIVE AUSTIN WINTERS, RIGHT? SO WE COULD GET ON MIGRATION, IF YOU WOULD HAVE SOME SORT OF LIKE TROPICAL OR SUBTROPICAL SPECIES, LET'S SAY SUBTROPICAL SPECIES MOVING IN FROM SOUTH TEXAS MIGHT SURVIVE NOW IN THE AUSTIN AREA.
AND UNDER THE HIGHER EMISSION SCENARIO, WE POTENTIALLY MOVE TO HARDINESS ZONE NINE B, WHICH HAS A HIGHER MINIMUM TEMPERATURE.
SO THAT'S NOW UP TO ABOUT 25 AND A HALF DEGREES.
UH, SO AGAIN, THAT WOULD SUGGEST THAT MORE OF THOSE SOUTHERN MOST SPECIES SPECIES SAY, YOU KNOW, COMING IN FROM MEXICO, NORTHERN MEXICO MIGHT SURVIVE IN AUSTIN.
SO LUCKY AT HEAT TOLERANCE AND COLD HEART, UM, HEARTINESS AND GROWING SEASON LANDS FROM THE AUSTIN AREA, THIS TABLE SUMMARIZES, YOU KNOW WHAT I JUST POINTED OUT ABOUT, UH, THE HARDINESS ZONES SHIFTING, I THINK, UH, THEN THERE'S PLANT HEAT TOLERANCE ZONES, RIGHT? SO THOSE HEAT TOLERANCE ZONES, UH, THE, THE ZONES THEMSELVES ARE GETTING HOTTER, RIGHT? SO THAT MEANS THAT DIFFERENT PLANTS, YOU KNOW, MIGHT THEN BE ABLE TO SURVIVE OR NOT SURVIVE AS IT GETS FODDER.
SO THOSE SHIFT FROM NINE TO 10 TO 11, UH, AND AS HIGH AS 12 IN THAT HIGHER EMISSION SCENARIO, BUT ALSO NOTE THAT NOTICEABLE HERE OR NOTABLE IS THE GROWING SEASON LANES.
SO CURRENTLY WE'RE AT APPROXIMATELY 278,365 DAYS A YEAR GROWING SEASON.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU GET TO THAT HOTTEST EMISSION SCENARIO, KIND OF THIS WORST CASE MODELING SCENARIO, WE'RE LOOKING AT ALMOST A YEAR ROUND GROWING SEASON NEXT.
SO WE SALMON SPECIES CURRENT RANGES USING THE BIOTA OF NORTH AMERICA.
UH, GIVEN THIS SHIFT IN HOLD HARDINESS AND HEAT TOLERANCE, YOU KNOW, IT APPEARS THAT THE CLIMATE OF AUSTIN'S PROJECTED TO BECOME MORE SIMILAR TO AREAS SOUTH AND WEST OVER THE COMING DECADES.
AND SO YOU CAN LOOK TO SPECIES CURRENTLY FOUND SOUTH AND WEST OF AUSTIN AS PROXIES FOR WHAT MIGHT BE SUITABLE FOR FUTURE CLIMATE CONDITIONS.
WE LOOKED AT SPECIES AT THE, BASICALLY AT THE EDGES OF THEIR RANGE.
SO A SPECIES CURRENTLY AT THE NORTHERN OR EASTERN EXTENT OF ITS RANGE IN TRAVIS COUNTY, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT'S ALMOND TO THE SOUTHWEST.
UH, I MAY BE STRUGGLING TO THE NORTH EAST, RIGHT, IS LIKELY TO BE POSITIVELY AFFECTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE BECAUSE AS IT GETS WARMER, THE SPECIES IS THE UPPER END OF ITS RANGE HERE AND STRUGGLING BECAUSE MAYBE IT'S A LITTLE TOO COLD.
WELL, IT WILL BE A LITTLE BIT WARMER.
UM, YOU KNOW, AT THE SAME TIME, A SPECIES AT ITS SOUTHERN OR WESTERN EXTENT OF ITS RANGE, THAT IS MORE COMMON TO THE NORTHEAST, WHERE IT IS CURRENTLY COOLER, MAYBE WETTER IS MORE LIKELY TO BE NEGATIVELY AFFECTED AS IT GETS HOTTER WIRE NEXT.
AND THEN BASED ON THIS METHOD, WE FOUND 23 SPECIES THAT MIGHT BENEFIT FROM MILDER WINTERS, INCLUDING SOUTHERN LIVE OAK IN TEXAS MOUNTAIN LAUREL.
UM, LOQUAT MEXICAN ASH, MEXICAN WHITE OAK.
UH, WE FOUND 60 SPECIES THAT WOULD APPEAR TO HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT FROM AN INCREASE IN TEMPERATURE.
AND THAT INCLUDES MANY SPECIES COMMON TO THE AUSTIN AREA, INCLUDING JUNIPER, CEDAR AL UH, SUGARBERRY, YOU KNOW, TEXAS RED OAK, UH, PECAN, TEXAS LIVE OAK, UH, 21 SPECIES NOT ANTICIPATED TO BE EFFECTED.
SO THESE APPEAR TO BE NEUTRAL CHANGE, NEUTRAL INCLUDED, TEXAS PERSIMMON, HONEY MESQUITE IN TEXAS ASH.
AND, YOU KNOW, JUST TO EXPAND VERY BRIEFLY HERE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU, I MEAN, DEPENDING UPON WHICH PART OF TOWN YOU LIVE IN AND WHAT YOU MIGHT'VE BEEN OBSERVING ON THE LANDSCAPE HERE IN AUSTIN, IF YOU'VE BEEN HERE FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS OR SOMETHING, I MEAN, A FEW THINGS WE KNOW DURING THE SEVERE DROUGHT, UM, THE LAST OF YOUR DROUGHT, JUST ALMOST A DECADE AGO, ISN'T IT WASN'T JUST AN AUSTIN, BUT STATEWIDE ACTUALLY, WE LOST A LOT OF JUNIPER TREES.
I MEAN, PEOPLE MIGHT NOT THINK OF JUNIPER AS BEING, UH, IN A SUSCEPTIBLE TO DROUGHT, BUT THEY ARE.
AND, YOU KNOW, AT THE SAME TIME, JUST, YOU KNOW, ANECDOTALLY, BUT THIS IS THE KIND OF MATERIAL, UH, AND OBSERVATIONS WE SHARE DURING
[01:10:01]
OUR WORKSHOPS.UH, YOU KNOW, I'VE SEEN THIS HUGE EXPLOSION OF THINGS LIKE MOUNTAIN LAURELS IN MY WEST AUSTIN YARD.
I MEAN, IT BASICALLY, YOU KNOW, COME, COME HEAT DROUGHT OR WHATEVER, THERE JUST SEEMED TO BE MORE AND MORE AND MORE OF THEM.
SO, YOU KNOW, I SAY ANECDOTALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF OUR FINDINGS FROM THIS KIND OF WORK AND ASSUMED TO BE SUPPORTED NEXT SLIDE.
I MEAN, THE BACK OF THIS REPORT IS, YOU KNOW, ENDLESS TABLES, BUT REALLY GOOD REFERENCE INFORMATION BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE, WE DID CALL IT A LOT OF MATERIALS.
SO THERE'S ALL THE RESULTS FROM THIS SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODELS AND THESE DIFFERENT EMISSIONS SCENARIOS.
AND, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT HOW RELIABLE WE THOUGHT THAT THE MODELS WERE, UH, AND THE FOREST SERVICE PERSONNEL DID A LOT OF THIS WORK LOVE HEAVY LIFTING HERE.
SO HERE WOULD BE A TABLE THAT SHOWS A DECREASE IN SPECIES DISTRIBUTION UNDER BOTH SCENARIOS.
NEXT SLIDE, YOU KNOW, HERE'S A SAMPLE TABLE FROM THE HEAT, UM, ZONE SHIFT, THE HARDINESS SHIFTS.
SO AGAIN, YOU KNOW, SPECIES BY SPECIES, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE'RE PROVIDING INFORMATION, EVERYTHING FROM THE CON TO THE SCIENTIFIC NAME, TO WHETHER IT'S A NATIVE OR NOT AN ESTIMATE FROM THE FOREST SERVICE ATLAS FOREST INVENTORY AND HOW MANY TREES THAT MIGHT BE, HOW MANY STEMS, UM, YOU KNOW, INFORMATION ABOUT THE HARDINESS ZONE, THE HEAT SOUND, ITS CURRENT POSITION IN THE RANGE AND WHAT WE BELIEVE THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE WOULD BE SLIDE.
UH, ANOTHER PART OF THIS PROCESS WAS THEN EVALUATING THE ADAPTIVE CAPACITY OF SPECIES.
AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S DEFINITELY WHERE WE WOULD GET MORE SUBJECTIVE HERE.
YOU KNOW, SO SPECIES WERE SCORED ACCORDING TO MODIFICATION FACTORS TO REFLECT THEIR ADAPTIVE CAPACITY.
AND THAT INCLUDED INFORMATION ON FIRE, DROUGHT, TOLERANCE, DISPERSAL ABILITY, SHADE TOLERANCE, YOU KNOW, SUSCEPTIBILITY TO PASS AND DISEASES, A SPECIES WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF POSITIVE MODIFICATION FACTORS WAS CONSIDERED HIGHLY ADAPTABLE.
AND SO 104 SPECIES AND VARIETIES WERE RANKED AS EITHER HAVING HIGH, MEDIUM OR LOW ADAPTIVE CAPACITY BASED ON THESE MODIFICATION FACTOR SCORES, SLIDE AND NOT, NOT SURPRISINGLY, BUT OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, UNFORTUNATELY WHAT TURNS UP IS SOME OF THE MOST ADAPTABLE SPECIES, YOU KNOW, IN THIS AREA, THEY'RE, NON-NATIVE INVASIVE SPECIES SUCH AS CHINESE TALLOW, CHINESE ELM WITH US FROM CHINA BERRY, UH, PAPER AND WHITE MULBERRY, MOSA, CHINESE PISS STASH, OLD GREEN TREE, UH, NATIVE SPECIES THAT DID HAVE HIGH ADAPTABILITY SCORES INCLUDED BALD, CYPRESS, CEDAR ELM, RED BUD SUMAC SPECIES, YO POND, TEXAS PERSIMMON LIVE OAKS, POSSUM, HOME SUGAR BERRY, AND THEN SOME NATIVES WITH LOW ADAPTABILITY SCORES INCLUDED WALNUTS, BLACK HICKORY, CARBON, BLACK CHERRY PECAN, AND LACEY OAK.
SO THE, THE, UH, GRAND FINALE OF THIS PROJECT WAS REALLY TRYING TO COME UP WITH AN ASSESSMENT OF VULNERABILITY OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIES WE SEE IN THE AUSTIN URBAN FOREST.
AND THAT IS, YOU KNOW, SUSCEPTIBILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE SORT OF TIMES ADAPTABILITY.
IT LOOKS LIKE VERY SCIENTIFIC EQUATION HERE, BUT, YOU KNOW, I SAY A LOT OF BEST PROFESSIONAL JUDGMENT.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WE CAME UP WITH TABLES AGAIN.
SO THIS WAS BY SPECIES INDICATING AND ALSO BROKEN OUT BY NATURAL AREAS.
SO THOSE MIGHT BE IN A PRESERVE LANDS VERSUS DEVELOP AREAS.
THOSE MIGHT BE, YOU KNOW, YOUR URBAN LOTS, YOUR, UM, YOUR ZILKER PARKS, YOU KNOW, THINGS, THINGS LIKE THAT, UH, WHERE, WHERE ARE THE AREAS A LITTLE MORE DEVELOPED? AND SO WE CAME UP WITH CATEGORIES, YOU KNOW, THAT RANGED FROM HIGH VULNERABILITY TO LOW VULNERABILITY AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN SLIDE, RIGHT? AND THEN WE HAD SUMMARY BY THESE DIFFERENT AREAS OR THE IMPACTS, RIGHT? SO WE LOOKED AT THIS VERSE FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE URBAN CORE VERSUS WEST AUSTIN AND EAST AUSTIN.
AND THEN ALSO GOING BACK TO THOSE FOUR ECO TYPES, THOSE FLOODPLAINS AND TERRACES UP AND MIX FROM LAND UPLAND, WOODLAND, AND SAVANNAH AND UPLAND FOREST.
AND SO FOR THE URBAN CORE, WE SAID IMPACTS IN TOTO WOULD BE MODERATELY DISRUPTIVE.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, AND THEN WE PUT THE INDIVIDUALS IN TERMS OF ADAPTIVE CAPACITY VULNERABILITY, THE EVIDENCE, RIGHT? SO WE ASK THE QUESTION, HOW MUCH EVIDENCE DID WE HAVE TO SUPPORT
[01:15:01]
OUR FINDINGS AND HOW MUCH AGREEMENT WE THOUGHT THERE WAS AMONGST THE DIFFERENT PIECES OF EVIDENCE.YOU'LL SEE THE WORD MEDIUM COMES UP A LOT.
UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK WHERE WE DIDN'T FEEL LIKE, FEEL VERY STRONGLY ABOUT SOMETHING ONE WAY OR ANOTHER AT ATTENDED TO LAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT SCALE.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, BUT WE SEE A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, MODERATE TO MODERATELY DISRUPTIVE IMPACTS HERE OF CLIMATE CHANGE TO THE URBAN FOREST.
SO KEY FINDINGS, RIGHT? UM, BOTH NATURAL AND DEVELOPED AREAS IN THE AUSTIN REGION ARE VULNERABLE TO CHANGES IN CLIMATE.
WE'VE PROBABLY, WE PROBABLY KNEW THAT GOING INTO THIS, BUT YOU COULD SAY OUR PROCESS VALIDATED THAT NATIONAL AND DEVELOPED UPLAND AREAS IN WEST AUSTIN ARE ALSO VULNERABLE TO DROUGHT, EROSION AND WILDFIRE, AND HAVE LESS TREE DIVERSITY THAN EAST AUSTIN.
SO WE DID SPEND A FAIR AMOUNT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT THESE CALLED THESE COAL VULNERABILITIES.
NATURAL UNDEVELOPED AREAS IN EAST AUSTIN ARE MORE VULNERABLE TO PRECIPITATION EXTREMES DUE TO SHRINKS SWELLS SOILS, AND LOW ELEVATION, LIKE HAVE A GREATER POTENTIAL FOR DIVERSE TREE CANOPY.
THE WEST AUSTIN, THE URBAN CORE AND OTHER DEVELOPED AREAS WILL EXPERIENCE STRESS NOT ONLY FROM CHANGES IN CLIMATE AND ALSO FROM COMPOUNDING EFFECTS OF DROUGHT, HEAT, LOCALIZED RUNOFF, INDUCED FLOODING.
WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT, RIGHT.
SO WE KNOW THEY'RE, THERE, THERE ARE CLEARLY MORE FACTORS TO CONSIDER AND MORE, YOU KNOW, IMPACTS IN THAT URBAN CORE WHERE TREES HAVE A TENDENCY TO ALREADY BE, YOU KNOW, IF NOT STRESS KIND OF, YOU KNOW, STILL, MAYBE LIVING ON THE EDGE, RIGHT? BECAUSE THEY'RE, THEY'RE CEMENTED IN PLACE IN A SIDEWALK OR IN THERE'S SOME MONOCULTURE BECAUSE YOU KNOW, IT MAKES STREET TREES LOOK COOL TO ALL BE THE SAME, BUT YOU KNOW, THEN DIVERSITY SLOW AND MAYBE THINGS ARE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO SOME SORT OF OUTBREAK.
UH, SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODELING SUGGESTS THAT OF NATIVE TRAYS, UH, HA SUITABLE HABITAT MIGHT DECREASE FOUR 14.
THAT HAPPENED TO BE MORE NORTHERN SPECIES.
SO IT WILL HAVE A DALLAS EXPECTED TO INCREASE FROM FOUR SPECIES HABITAT, LOOK TO BE STABLE FOR 10 OR ADAPTIVE CAPACITY SCORING FOR 104 SPECIES, UH, SUGGESTED THAT NON-NATIVE INVASIVE SPECIES ARE THE MOST ADAPTABLE TO A RANGE OF STRESSORS.
UH, SO MAINTAINING SPECIES DIVERSITY AND SELECTING APPROPRIATE SPECIES, AND THIS IS REALLY THE ACTIONABLE PART FOR THE PROJECTED CHANGES IN HABITAT.
SUITABILITY NOW BECOMES MORE OF A CHALLENGE FOR EVERYONE, RIGHT? FROM LAND MANAGERS TO THE NURSERY INDUSTRY.
AND GIVEN THE UNCERTAINTIES AROUND THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IS IMPORTANT FOR LAND MANAGERS TO CONTINUE TO OBSERVE AND DOCUMENT IMPACTS ON TREE SPECIES AND REFINED MODELS AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES.
AND REALLY, I MEAN, WHERE THIS LEAVES US IS A QUESTION WHERE I PERSONALLY WRESTLE WITH.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, ALL OF US DO IS, YOU KNOW, WE, WE SEE THIS WHEN I WAS ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION.
YOU KNOW, WHEN PEOPLE COME IN WITH PLANNING PROJECTS, YOU KNOW, THE CITY IS TRYING TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE NOW, WHAT ARE WE MANAGING FOR? AND WHAT ARE WE PLANTING FOR? YOU KNOW, WE'RE PLANTING FOR, YOU KNOW, FIVE YEARS FROM NOW, YOU KNOW, 30 YEARS FROM NOW, 60 YEARS FROM NOW, HOW DO WE ENSURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THE WORK, THE TIME, THE EFFORT, THE MONEY WE'RE PUTTING IN THE GROUND TODAY DOES REPRESENT SOME RESILIENCE STRATEGY FOR MANAGING THIS LANDSCAPE GOING INTO THE FUTURE.
AND, UH, THE FINAL SLIDE HERE IS, IS, UH, AND AGAIN, I'M SURE YOU HAVE US ALL, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, YOUR ACCESS TO THE, THIS IS THE LINK AT THE BOTTOM TO THE ACTUAL REPORT, THE USDA, THE CLIMATE HUBS.
I ALSO PUT IN HERE, I SUPPOSE IT'S A PLUG FOR MY OWN PROJECT THAT I DID RECENTLY GET OFF THE GROUND.
AND I HOPE THIS IS GOING TO BE A RESOURCE TO A MUCH LARGER COMMUNITY.
SO I HAVE GENERATED WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE THE, THE FIRST AND ONLY REAL CLEARING HOUSE FOR STATEWIDE CLIMATE INFORMATION.
AND I'M LOOKING TO THE FUTURE TO BUILD THIS CLEARING HOUSE OF INFORMATION, PROVIDE RESOURCES, TOOLS, MATERIALS, AND HELP THIS BROAD COMMUNITY ACROSS THE STATE, REALLY BE ABLE TO START NETWORKING.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, AS REPORTS ARE PUBLISHED LIKE THIS REPORT, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S LISTED ON OUR CLIMATE LITERATURE PAGE.
I HAVE CURATED IF YOU WILL, A LOT OF THE MODELS AND TOOLS THAT ARE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE THAT THOUGH AT THE SAME TIME, HONESTLY, ARE NOT ALWAYS ALL THAT USER-FRIENDLY TO OPERATE AND, OR THERE'S.
SO MANY OF THEM PEOPLE TEND TO BE FAIRLY OVERWHELMED
[01:20:01]
AS TO EVEN WHICH ONE TO USE.AND, UM, SO CURATED LIST OF TOOLS THAT YOU CAN FROM LIKE PUTTING IN YOUR OWN ZIP CODE OR CITY OR STATE, OR, YOU KNOW, LOOK AT ANOTHER STATE OR THE WHOLE US, OR SOME OTHER COUNTRY AND SO FORTH IF YOU'RE CURIOUS.
BUT I HAVE, FOR EXAMPLE, INFORMATION, THERE LINKS TO ALL THE VARIOUS TEXAS CITY SUSTAINABILITY OFFICES AND THEIR PLANNING DOCUMENTS.
SO I ALSO AND HOPE EVERYBODY GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE A LOOK AT THIS, SHARE THIS RESOURCE, OR PROVIDE ME WITH FEEDBACK OR OPTIONS FOR, FOR DOING THAT.
AND ALSO IF YOU HAVE ACCESS TO INFORMATION THAT YOU THINK IS APPROPRIATE FOR THIS WEBSITE, THEN PLEASE LET ME KNOW ABOUT IT.
AND ANYWAY, NOW I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.
UM, BUT I, I DO REALLY ENCOURAGE YOU, UH, YOU KNOW, EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT WORKING IN THIS FIELD SPECIFICALLY TO HELP BRAINSTORM HOW TO GET THIS MATERIAL, YOU KNOW, INTO THE HANDS OF PEOPLE, THE LANDSCAPERS, THE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS, YOU KNOW, THE, THE PLANNING BODIES THAT REALLY DO NEED TO BE THINKING ABOUT WHAT THE FUTURE OF THIS LANDSCAPE LOOKS LIKE.
GRILLING MILKS ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO OUR CITY IN SO MANY WAYS.
AND, UH, I THINK WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO BE, UH, EVEN MORE, UH, DELIBERATE AND KIND OF MOVING FORWARD SO WE CAN MAINTAIN OUR TREE CANOPY.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THIS BODY HAS, UH, YOU KNOW, TAKEN TINCAN ON AS A PRIORITY, UH, SEVERAL TIMES, UM, YOU KNOW, IN KIND OF A, I THINK LIGHT TOUCH WAY, BUT PROBABLY SOMETHING THAT WE'LL NEED TO DIG INTO MORE GOING FORWARD, UH, WHO HAS QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON THE PRESENTATION, KATIE SOLELY? THANKS, DR.
UH, I, I APPRECIATE YOU, UH, YOU GOING INTO THE WEEDS ON ALL THE DATA THAT YOU, YOU YOU'VE UTILIZED AND, AND SO A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS AND IT'S REALLY ROBUST, THEN I'M GLAD THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT WHAT, WHAT, WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN FOR IT TO BE ACTIONABLE.
SO ONE OF THE QUESTIONS I HAD IS, YOU KNOW, OTHER THAN, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT THE LIST OF SPECIES THAT ARE LESS VULNERABLE, THAT AREN'T GOING TO HAVE THOSE, UM, DECREASES IN AVAILABLE HABITAT, YOU KNOW, AND TRYING TO TARGET PLANTING WITHIN THAT GROUP.
HAVE YOU LOOKED AT ANY OF THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR OTHER SPECIES THAT MIGHT BE, UH, JUST OUTSIDE THIS ECO REGION CURRENTLY THAT MIGHT BE ACCEPTABLE, UM, SUBSTITUTES TO SOME OF THE ONES THAT ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE THAT MAYBE AREN'T A GOOD IDEA TO PLANTS ANYMORE? UH, LIKE WHAT ARE, WHAT ARE THE ONES THAT CAN FILL THOSE FUNCTIONAL NICHES AND STILL REMAIN, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO PUSH BIODIVERSITY IN OUR PLANTINGS OVERALL? YEAH, THAT'S A, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
KATIE, THAT'S, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
SO I THINK SO I THINK, UM, BECAUSE WE WERE LOOKING AT THE EXISTING TREE CANOPY, RIGHT? W WE'RE NOT GETTING AT WHAT MIGHT BE RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR BORDERS, THE CLOSEST YOU'RE GOING TO FIND TO THAT, OR LOOKING AT THE SPECIES THAT SAY RIGHT NOW WE'RE ON THEIR EDGE.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE ARE CAPTURING A FEW OF THOSE.
SO THEY MAY BE SPECIES THAT HAVE VERY LIMITED DISTRIBUTIONS RIGHT NOW THAT YOU COULD SAY, ALL RIGHT.
IF IT'S A SPECIES THAT IS FOUND CURRENTLY MORE TO THE SOUTH AND WEST, UH, YOU KNOW, WE MAY BE ABLE TO PLANT MORE OF THAT.
AND WE, I MEAN, WE TALKED ABOUT THAT AND IN SOME CASES, YOU KNOW, THOSE SPECIES, THEY, THEY DO EXIST.
I SAY JUST DON'T IN GREAT NUMBERS.
I THINK DEFINITELY THERE IS A POTENTIAL TO LOOK OUTSIDE THE REGION, UH, PROBABLY, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE BIT OF A DIFFERENT EFFORT TO DO THAT.
AND I DON'T THINK IT WOULD BE A TREMENDOUS EFFORT TO DO THAT.
YOU KNOW, I THINK ONE ITEM THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALL COLLECTIVELY STRUGGLING WITH.
AND I MEAN, I STILL STRUGGLE WITH IS OVERALL, YOU MIGHT, IF YOU LOOK TO AREAS, SAY TO THE WEST OF US, YOU KNOW, AS, AS A PROXY OF A MORE ARID, A HOTTER, MORE ARID, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN, RIGHT? YOUR, YOUR TREE CANOPY STARTS FALLING OFF, YOU KNOW, PRETTY SIGNIFICANTLY, RIGHT.
SO THAT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT THE LONGEVITY OF SOME TREE SPECIES THROUGHOUT THE SIERRA, THE CITY PERIOD, I MEAN, AND YOU KNOW, AND THAT THAT'S A SAD FUTURE TO CONTEMPLATE.
UH, AND I DON'T THINK ANY OF US KNOW WHAT THE ANSWER
[01:25:01]
IS.AND CERTAINLY THERE IS ALWAYS GOING TO BE THAT SPACE FOR, YOU KNOW, LANDSCAPED TREES THAT ARE CARED FOR, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT SAYING THE WHOLE CITY'S GOING TO BECOME A DUST BOWL THOUGH, I SUPPOSE IN GEOLOGIC TIME, YOU KNOW, PAST OUR LIFETIMES AND THEN SOME WRITING WHO KNOWS, BUT, BUT YOU RAISE A GOOD POINT.
AND I, AND I DEFINITELY THINK THERE'S MORE WORK THAT CAN BE DONE.
AND AGAIN, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF CITY STAFF, YOU KNOW, WORKED ON THIS PROJECT AS WELL.
AND CERTAINLY, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THOSE FOLKS COULD BE RUNNING WITH THIS.
UM, JUST ONE MORE QUESTION AND, AND THANKS FOR SAYING THAT.
I, YOU KNOW, THE REASON I BROUGHT THAT UP IS JUST, EVEN THOUGH I'M NOT THE PERSON AT MY DESIGN AND PLANNING FIRM, THAT'S LIKE SPECKING, WHAT PLANTS GO, WHERE, LIKE, I KNOW FOR INSTANCE THAT, YOU KNOW, AMERICAN SYCAMORE WAS ONE OF YOUR TREES THAT'S ON THAT LIST.
AND LIKE THE MAJORITY OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS THAT I'VE MET ARE SPECKING MEXICANS MORE NOW BECAUSE IT'S SO LIKE UNDERSTANDING WHAT SOME OTHER SUBSTITUTION COORDINATES FOR THIS TO BE ACTIONABLE, IN ADDITION TO UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE IN OUR NATIVE STOCK, THAT THAT IS MORE, MORE ADAPTABLE.
UM, AND THEN JUST THE OTHER QUESTION I HAVE, AND THIS IS EVEN JUST A FOLLOW-UP FOR STAFF AND MAYBE POTENTIALLY WORKING WITH FOLKS IN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, YOU KNOW, I WOULD REALLY LOVE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT IS GETTING PLANTED IN THE GROUND TODAY.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS GOING THROUGH PERMITTING ON IN TERMS OF SPECIES LISTS THAT VELVET SERVICES IS APPROVING, AND HOW DOES THAT ALIGN WITH THIS RESEARCH THAT YOU'VE DONE ABOUT WHAT IS GOING TO BE ADAPTABLE AND WHAT'S NOT, AND MAKING SURE THAT THAT'S ALIGNING WITH BEST PRACTICES.
AND I THINK I KNOW THAT KEITH MARS AND HIS TEAM ARE ALREADY THINKING ABOUT THAT STUFF, BUT I, I STILL WOULD LOVE TO SPEND SOME ANALYSIS ON, YOU KNOW, THE TREES THAT ARE GOING IN THE GROUND AND HOW THEY ALIGN WITH SOME OF THESE, THESE LARGER GOALS.
I KNOW, ACTUALLY IT'S A TERRIFIC POINT AND I APPLAUD THAT AND, YOU KNOW, AND IT JUST MAKES ME THINK, CAUSE I MENTIONED STREET TREES AT ONE POINT EARLIER, AND THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT CAME UP A LOT IN OUR DISCUSSION THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S, OR THE CITY HAS THESE PLANS AND INNOCENCE IS PRICKLY.
LIKE SINCE CITY DRIVEN, YOU KNOW, WORK LIKE LOOKING AT THINGS LIKE, YOU KNOW, GREAT STREETS AND, AND, YOU KNOW, PLANTING OUT THESE LOVELY MONOCULTURES, YOU KNOW, ALONG SIDEWALKS, YOU KNOW, BUT WE TALKED ABOUT THE FACT THAT, YEAH, I KNOW, BUT WHAT HAPPENS IF IT TURNS OUT THAT'S A PRETTY VULNERABLE SPECIES, ARE THERE SOME FUTURE PAST, YOU KNOW, THAT COMES IN AND LIKE IN KNOCKS THINGS OUT, ALL OF A SUDDEN, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE, YOU'VE KNOCKED OUT YOUR ENTIRE, YOU KNOW, DOWNTOWN STREET CANOPY BECAUSE YOU WERE TRYING TO ACHIEVE SOME SORT OF HOMOGENEITY AND, YOU KNOW, NATURE DOESN'T REALLY
AND MAYBE AGAIN, JUST EVEN AT THAT SCALE, ONE REALLY NEEDS TO BE THINKING ABOUT DIVERSITY OF SPECIES.
LOOKS LIKE SHE MIGHT BE HAVING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES.
HEY SOUL, ARE YOU ABLE TO ASK HER? YEAH, SORRY.
MY VIDEO CUT OUT FOR A SECOND SPOTTY INTERNET.
UM, SO, UM, I THINK WHAT KATIE BROUGHT UP WAS MORE OF A SYSTEMS WIDE, UM, APPROACH AND SUPER HELPFUL.
UM, WHAT I WAS THINKING IN TERMS OF SOMETHING ACTIONABLE, UM, WOULD BE PROVIDING LISTS OF, UM, SPECIES THAT PEOPLE SHOULD BE PLANTING TO NEIGHBORHOOD CONTACT TEAMS THAT ARE WRITING RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS WITH DEVELOPERS.
SO IF YOU WERE ABLE TO LIKE PROVIDE LISTS OF SUGGESTED SPECIES, EVEN BY, YOU KNOW, AREA BY AREA IN AUSTIN, AND WE CAN GET THOSE LISTS OF CONTACT TEAMS AND TALK WITH THEM ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE AND TRY TO SEE IF THEY CAN INCLUDE THAT IN THEIR RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS WITH DEVELOPERS.
THAT MIGHT BE A GOOD ONE, ONE, ONE APPROACH.
SO I WAS GOING TO ASK IF YOU COULD MAYBE PUT TOGETHER THOSE LISTS AND WE COULD LOOK INTO THAT.
I DEFINITELY THINK A GOOD STARTING POINT WOULD BE, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S EASY ENOUGH TO REACH BACK OUT TO THE TEAM, BUT SAY, HEY, YOU KNOW, LET'S, LET'S PUT TOGETHER THE LIST OF THE, THE LESS VULNERABLE SPECIES, YOU KNOW, THE ONES THAT WE FEEL PRETTY COMFORTABLE AND CONFIDENT ABOUT.
AND I THINK, I THINK THAT COULD BE PAIRED WITH WHAT KATIE WAS SUGGESTING EARLIER, YOU KNOW, ALSO LOOKING AT SOME OF THOSE SUBSTITUTE SPECIES AND, UM, YEAH, I THINK, I MEAN, I PERSONALLY THINK THAT'S NOT A VERY, YOU KNOW, BIG ASK AND IT WOULD BE A GREAT PLACE TO START.
I MEAN, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO GO BACK TO OUR TEAM PARTICIPANTS, YOU KNOW, GET IN CONTACT WITH THEM AND
[01:30:01]
CONVEY THIS AND SEE IF, YOU KNOW, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO PRODUCE THAT BOOK.DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING RELEVANT TO THAT COMMENT? IF YOU DON'T MIND? GO AHEAD.
IT WAS, IT WAS RELEVANT TO THAT COMMENT IF YOU DON'T MIND ME BUILDING ON THAT.
I THINK JUST ALSO LOOKING AT KEITH MARS AND THE CITY FORESTRY FOLKS, UM, URBAN FORESTER, LIKE WHAT THEIR TREE LISTS ARE AND IF THERE'S ANY INCONSISTENCIES WITH SOME OF THE, THAT YOU'VE GOTTEN, I, YOU KNOW, I WANT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE NOT REINVENTING THE WHEEL ON ANY KIND OF PLANTING LISTS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
BUT ALSO ANOTHER PLACE THAT I THINK THIS COULD BE REALLY INTERESTING IS WE GET AN ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION HE'S, UM, ARIENS REQUESTS TO REMOVE, UH, TREES THAT ARE PROTECTED.
AND I THINK THAT HONESTLY, PART OF THE CONSIDERATION THERE, IF A TREE IS NOT IN GREAT HEALTH, BUT IT'S NOT LIKE DYING RIGHT THIS SECOND, WE HAVE THE PURVIEW TO BE ABLE TO SAY, YOU CAN REMOVE THAT, BUT YOU HAVE TO MITIGATE IT AT LIKE 300%.
AND IF THAT IS A TREE THAT IS IN ONE OF THE MOST VULNERABLE CATEGORIES, THAT SHOULD BE PART OF OUR CONSIDERATION OPINION.
IF WE CAN GET 300% OF THAT AMOUNT OF TREE AND A MORE CLIMATE ADAPTED VERSION.
SO I, WHEN, WHEN YOU LET'S TALK MORE AND THEN MAYBE HAVE YOU OUT TO ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION, I KNOW WE'VE, WE'VE HAD THAT ON THE FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS LIST, I THINK.
AND, AND I'LL TALK TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT THAT.
I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE, THE OTHER NOISE WAS.
UM, YEAH, I THINK, I THINK WE HAVE A COUPLE OF, UM, ACTIONABLE SUGGESTIONS HERE, SOMETHING THAT WAS ON MY MIND.
UM, YOU TOUCHED ON A LITTLE BIT, BUT, UM, I'M WONDERING IF IT WAS INCORPORATED AT ALL HIS, HOW CHANGING CLIMATE WEATHER PATTERNS, UM, YOU KNOW, WERE PROJECTED TO INFLUENCE VARIOUS PEST AND DISEASES AND HOW THAT WILL ALSO AFFECT TREE SPECIES ASIDE FROM JUST WATER AND TEMPERATURE.
AND, AND I GUESS THAT GOES MAYBE A LITTLE BIT INTO ADAPTABILITY.
I'M NOT SURE IF THAT WAS PART OF THAT OR NOT.
SO IN FACT, WE DID TALK ABOUT IT AND I CAN GIVE YOU, YOU KNOW, LIKE HERE'S JUST A GOOD EXAMPLE IS SOMETHING WE'RE LOOKING AT LIVE OAK SPECIES, YOU KNOW, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, RELATED SPECIES THAT WE KNOW ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO OAK WORLD.
AND RIGHT NOW, YOU KNOW, THAT THE F THE FUNGUS IS CARRIED BY A BEETLE.
AND, YOU KNOW, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, IN WEST AUSTIN, WE PUT UP SIGNS, WE TELL PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, THEY SHOULD TRIM THEIR TREES TRYING TO FOCUS THAT BETWEEN NOVEMBER AND FEBRUARY.
CAUSE THE WORKING ASSUMPTION IS THAT'S WHEN IT'S COLD ENOUGH, THE BEATLES DEAD INACTIVE, THE CHANCES OF SPREADING THE FUNGUS ARE, IS A LOT LOWER.
UM, YOU KNOW, IF YOU THINK ABOUT A FUTURE WHERE THE GROWING SEASON COULD BE ALMOST A YEAR ROUND, WHERE THERE AREN'T, YOU KNOW, WINTERS WHERE THERE AREN'T SUFFICIENTLY COLD DAYS THAT KILL BACK THE BEETLE POPULATION AND, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD BE LOOKING AT THE TRANSMISSION OF SOMETHING LIKE, OH, WELL, YOU KNOW, BECOMING A YEAR ROUND PROBLEM.
SO, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S HARD TO INCORPORATE THAT ALL INTO THE MODELS, BUT WE DEFINITELY DID TALK ABOUT SOME OF THESE THINGS WE KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, BUT LOOK, WHAT'S GOING ON RIGHT NOW.
WE'RE HAVING AN EXTREMELY WET PERIOD.
I MEAN, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT'S CERTAINLY BENEFICIAL.
UH, BUT, BUT IT'S, YOU KNOW, AT SOME LEVEL THAT ALSO IS GOING TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF, YOU KNOW, POTENTIAL FUNGAL DISEASES OUT THERE AND HAVE SOME DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS.
OR WE LOOKED AT THINGS LIKE, YOU KNOW, UM, I'LL SAY THE, THE PHYSICAL FACTORS, LIKE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU LOOK AT EXTREME RAINFALL, MAN, AGAIN, I'VE SEEN THIS IN MY OWN YARD AND PAST YEARS WHERE WE HAD EXTREME RAINFALL EVENTS, WHICH CAUSE EROSION, AND THEN YOU HAVE SHALLOWLY ROOTED TREE IS LIKE, YOU COULD BE, OR SCARMAN BLOCK CHERRIES THAT ENDED UP FALLING OVER THERE.
THE BALCONY STAFF ACTUALLY NOTED THE SAME THING, YOU KNOW? SO IF YOU LOOK AT THIN WEST AUSTIN SOILS AND EXTREME RAINFALL, YOU WILL HAVE SHALLOWLY ROOTED TREES THAT JUST FALL OVER.
SO, UM, YEAH, SO THAT, SO, SO THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND THOSE FACTORS DID PLAY INTO SOME OF OUR DISCUSSION.
IT'S JUST OUR TO REALLY QUANTIFY.
UM, IT DOES SEEM LIKE AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN GETTING YOU, YOU BROUGHT UP A GOOD EXAMPLE WHERE, UM, DID YOU GET, I HAD A LITTLE
[01:35:01]
BACKGROUND NOISE HERE.DID YOU SAY IT WAS NOVEMBER TO FEBRUARY IS THE RECOMMENDED TIME FOR YEAH.
FOR PRUNING YOUR, FOR GOLIVE OAKS AND OTHER OAK SPECIES, YOU KNOW, AT LEAST THAT'S THE SAFEST TIME BECAUSE PEOPLE AREN'T ALWAYS TAKING THE UTMOST CARE WHEN THEY'RE DOING THAT.
I THINK THAT'S, UH, MAYBE NEEDS A LITTLE ADDITIONAL PROMOTION.
CAUSE I SEE SOME PLACES SAYING, UH, THAT STARTING IN THE SUMMER, YOU KNOW, JULY OR AUGUST IS FINE.
SO OBVIOUSLY LIVE OAKS ARE A BIG PART OF WHAT WE HAVE HERE.
UM, DAVID, DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION? I DO FAVOR, UH, I JUST WANT TO FOLLOW UP WITH SOMETHING, SOMETHING THAT YOU SAID THAT REALLY ALARMED ME WHEN YOU MENTIONED GREAT STREETS AND THOSE TREES, HAVE YOU ACTUALLY, CROSS-REFERENCED THE GREAT STREET THE TREES USED IN GRAY STREETS VERSUS YOUR FINDINGS? NO, ACTUALLY WE DIDN'T.
AND THAT WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY AN EASY ENOUGH THING.
UH, PRESUMABLY YOU KNOW, CITY STAFF HAVE, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, WHATEVER, WHATEVER THE PLANNING DOCUMENTS ARE.
CAUSE I I'M, I'M ONE, I THINK THERE'S GUIDANCE, BUT TO IT, TOP OF MY HEAD, I DON'T KNOW WHAT SOME OF THOSE SPECIES ARE, BUT I, I DO KNOW THAT THAT WAS ACTUALLY, I SAY A SIGNIFICANT TOPIC OF CONVERSATION WHERE PEOPLE JUST FELT THAT THAT WAS NOT A VERY SMART MOVE GOING FORWARD.
IT'S BECAUSE IT'S, TO MY KNOWLEDGE, IT'S A PRETTY LIMITED GROUP OF TREES THAT YOU'RE ALLOWED TO PLANT SO THAT IT WOULD BE VERY DISTURBING IF THOSE WERE ALL VULNERABLE TREES THAT WOULD BE WIPED OUT.
LIKE YOU SAID, SO THAT'S ALL RIGHT.
AND THEN YEAH, TYING INTO KATIE'S POINT ABOUT DIVERSITY BEING GOING OFFICIAL.
UH, MAYBE IT MAYBE NOT A GREAT POLICY, MAYBE IT'S SOMETHING THAT IT SHOULD BE REVISITED.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? WELL, THANK YOU AGAIN, UH, FOR SHARING YOUR RESEARCH WITH US.
UM, AND I WILL BE CHECKING OUT YOUR WEBSITE.
I THINK THAT'S, UH, A GREAT, UH, THING THAT YOU'RE DOING THERE TO COLLECT ALL THIS, UH, VARIOUS RESEARCH AND INFORMATION IN ONE PLACE.
AND THANK YOU ALL FOR IT FOR HAVING ME IN, IN KATIE.
I'LL TALK WITH YOU THIS MORNING AND I DO APPRECIATE THE COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK BECAUSE I MEAN, HONESTLY I DO THINK THIS SHOULD BE MADE ACTIONABLE.
I, YOU KNOW, I THINK ALL OF US AT SOME POINT HAVE WORKED ON PROJECTS, YOU KNOW, WHICH BEST OF INTENTIONS AND THEN, YOU KNOW, NOTHING REALLY HAPPENS, BUT YOU KNOW, THIS HAS SOME REALLY SIGNIFICANT CONSEQUENCES FOR OUR ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
I MEAN, LET'S FACE IT, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR TREES ARE A CORE PART OF WHAT MAKES AUSTIN AUSTIN.
SO TO THE EXTENT THAT WE REALLY CAN IMPLEMENT SOME OF THIS INFORMATION, YOU KNOW, WE SHOULD.
AND, AND, UM, YEAH, SO I APPRECIATE THE SUGGESTIONS AND WE'LL FOLLOW UP ACCORDINGLY.
UM, PLEASE DO, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK EVEN IF IT'S JUST A PASSING ON INFORMATION, IF YOU HAVE ADDITIONAL, WHETHER IT WAS POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS OR RESPONSE TO SOME OF THE QUESTIONS HERE, UM, WE CAN GET THAT SHARED WITH THE WHOLE COMMISSION AND, UM, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY MAKE SOME POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ARE BASED OFF OF THIS RESEARCH.
AND JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE SENDING IT.
SORRY, IF YOU JUST SAID, WILL YOU SEND THE PRESENTATION? I SAW THAT IT WASN'T POSTED ON SITE IN THE PACKAGE THAT ZACK CENTER.
CAN YOU JUST SAY NO, YOU WERE KIND OF HARD TO HEAR AGAIN.
IT JUST WASN'T POSTED ON THE WEBSITE AND I WANTED TO MAKE SURE IT WAS POSTED THERE JUST TOO EASY TO SHARE OUT AS WELL, JESSE SAY, YEAH, WE'LL GET IT POSTED.
UM, NEXT ON OUR AGENDA IS JUST ANY, UM, UPDATES FROM VARIOUS, UH, COMMISSIONS.
SO IF ANYBODY KNOWS ANYTHING THAT MIGHT BE RELEVANT FOR OUR WORK ON A CHAIR, I GUESS I CAN, UM, SHARE THAT THE, UH, UH, ENERGY CODE, UM, UPDATE WAS PRESENTED TO THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION.
[01:40:01]
UM, IT DID NOT GET A, UH, I GUESS, A FAVORABLE RECOMMENDATION.IT WASN'T NECESSARILY AN UNFAVORABLE RECOMMENDATION, BUT, UH, WE DID NOT, UM, HAVE A MAJORITY VOTING FOR RECOMMENDING THAT.
I DO BELIEVE IT IS STILL ON THE AGENDA OR WILL BE ON THE AGENDA FOR THE, UH, JUNE 3RD MEETING.
UM, SO NO, JUST FLAGGING THAT SINCE IT'S SOMETHING WE DID DISCUSS HERE, UM, YOU KNOW, AS, AS HE DID COMMIT HERE, UH, CURT ALSO COMMITTED IN SOMEWHAT MORE DETAIL, UH, TO, YOU KNOW, TAKE UP A, UH, KIND OF PUBLIC PROCESS TO DISCUSS ELECTRIC READINESS AND EBY READY, UM, ITEMS EITHER IS PART OF THE ENERGY CODE OR SOME OTHER ELEMENT OR OF CODE OR AT SOME, SOME THIRD OPTION YET TO BE DEFINED, UM, BY THE END OF THE YEAR.
UM, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I KNOW THE
UM, SO I'LL, I'LL KEEP FOLKS UPDATED AS IS ANYTHING, OR AS, AS ON THAT, ANY OTHER UPDATES, I CAN HEAR A FEW THINGS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITION.
UM, WE DID HAVE DANIEL LIDDELL FROM THE INNOVATION OFFICE COME OUT AFTER HE PRESENTED TO US TO TALK ABOUT THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS.
SO I'M REALLY GLAD HE CAME TO US.
I THINK THAT WAS REALLY NICE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSIONERS TO, UH, GET THE DOWNLOAD ON.
UH, BUT CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY, EVERYONE? SORRY, I'M JUST, OKAY.
UH, OTHER THAN THAT, UM, I DID WANT TO MENTION THAT WE DID GET A DEBRIEF FROM AN IN HERE, UH, IN A WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT ON COUNTRY CLUB CREEK.
SO THAT'S THE CREEK THROUGH GUERRERO THAT WASHED OUT, UM, YEARS AGO, AND THAT THEY'D BEEN WORKING ON SOME TEMPORARY SOLUTIONS AND CONTINUE TO INSTALL TEMPORARY SOLUTIONS REALLY JUST TO STABILIZE EROSION IN THAT CREEK.
PART OF THE REASON I BRING THAT UP IS BECAUSE THAT MAJOR FLOOD EVENT, UM, TOOK OUT A BRIDGE THAT PROVIDED SOME REALLY KEY BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN CONNECTIVITY THROUGH THAT ARC.
UM, AND IT IS LOOKING LIKE THEY'RE DOING SOME TEMPORARY WORK IN THE COMING YEARS TO QUEUE UP FOR SOME PERMANENT WORK TO RE-INSTALL THAT BRIDGE IN THE LONGTERM, BUT IT'S STILL GOING TO BE QUITE AWHILE UNTIL THAT HAPPENS.
UM, OTHER THAN THAT, UH, I DID WANT TO MENTION THAT THE SILVER PARK VISION PLAN, UH, WHICH I FEEL LIKE ZILKER IS THIS MICROCOSM OF SUSTAINABILITY THINGS HAPPENING, EVERYTHING FROM THINGS THAT THE PARKS BOARD IS WORKING ON TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, TO HOW WE DEAL WITH TRANSPORTATION, DEMAND MANAGEMENT, TO HISTORIC RESOURCES, TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, IT'S THIS KIND OF MICROCOSM OF ISSUES THAT WE CARE ABOUT ON JSC, UM, THAT, UH, VISION PLAN KICKED OFF, I THINK A COUPLE MONTHS AGO.
AND WE GOT A PRESENTATION FROM, UM, FROM THE CONSULTANTS AND FROM GREG MONTEZ FROM, UH, PARKS AND REC, UH, AND, AND THEY'VE JUST COMPLETED A DRAFT SITE ANALYSIS THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK MIGHT BE A RELEVANCE TO FOLKS IF FOLKS WANT TO START FOLLOWING THAT AND GET ON THEIR LISTSERV, UH, TO GET COMMUNICATION ABOUT THAT VISION PLAN.
BUT I WOULD LIKE TO PUT ON A FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS TO SEE, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY GET A LITTLE CLOSER TO RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, JUST HOW THEY'RE THINKING ABOUT, UM, SUSTAINABILITY PRINCIPLES AND EMBEDDING THAT IN, INTO THAT PLAN.
IT'S JUST SUCH A HOPE HIGH PROFILE PROJECT FOR THE CITY THAT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO JC, UM, HERE'S FROM THEM AS WELL.
THAT'S SO INTERESTING THAT YOU MENTIONED THAT I'M NOT SURE WHY THERE'S SO MUCH, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK, YOU KNOW, I LIVE IN THAT AREA AND I, I HAD GIVEN UP HOPE ON THAT BRIDGE AND, UH, PARTIALLY BECAUSE OF TIME AND PARTIALLY BECAUSE EVERY TIME I LOOK AT THE AREA, IT LOOKS JUST, UM, MORE LIKE MORE OF A, AN ENGINEERING AND, UH, I DON'T KNOW, JUST A VERY CHALLENGING SITUATION.
AND, YOU KNOW, I DID HEAR, UM, FROM, UH, A FRIEND
[01:45:01]
WHO WORKS AT THE, IN THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, THAT THERE HAD BEEN SOME APPROVAL FOR, UM, GAINING AN ACCESS TO CONNECT, UH, CROSSING PLACE, UH, WITH THE TRAIL THAT CONNECTS TO OMAN.AND THEN THOSE THEN TO THE, UM, COUNTRY CLUB CREEK TRAIL.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON THAT, BUT IT, IT SEEMS LIKE THAT WOULD BE, UM, YOU KNOW, CURRENTLY TO KIND OF GET OVER THERE.
YOU, YOU, YOU GO THROUGH THE, UM, THE BERLIN COMPLEX.
AND SO I DON'T KNOW IF I DON'T WANT TO TAKE A BUNCH OF TIME TO HEAR, BUT THAT'S JUST SOMETHING I AM KIND OF CURIOUS ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT IT SEEMS LIKE IT WOULD BE AN EASIER WAY TO CONNECT, AT LEAST IN THE IMMEDIATE YOU CAN CONNECT ACROSS THE CREEK.
THERE'S A LOW WATER CROSSING IN THE BACK OF THAT PARK, BUT THAT ALREADY EXISTS, BUT I DON'T KNOW ABOUT ANY PIECE OF TRAILS.
I'LL, I'LL, I'LL SHOOT YOU WITH A MAP OF WHAT I'M SHOWING IF I WASN'T TALKING ABOUT, UM, ALL RIGHT.
AND OTHER PEOPLE HAVE UPDATES.
I JUST WANTED TO SAY SOMETHING AT THE END OF THE CALL.
SEEMS LIKE NOBODY ELSE HAS IT.
UM, FOR THE VOTE OF CONFIDENCE IN MY SERVICES, VICE CHAIR, UM, AND, AND APOLOGIZE FOR MISSING THE MEETING WHERE YOU LITERALLY VOTED TO KEEP ME IN VICE CHAIR.
UM, I, I KNOW CAREBA RELAYED, UM, THAT I ENDED UP TALKING AT A RALLY SPEAKING AT A RALLY AT THE CAPITOL, UM, FOCUSED ON TRANS RIGHTS.
AND, UM, NORMALLY I DO REALLY TRY MY BEST TO NOT MISS THESE MEETINGS.
SO I'M SORRY THAT I MISSED THAT, BUT THANK YOU FOR, FOR, UM, FOR SUPPORTING ME SAYING IN THIS ROLE, I REALLY HAVE VALUED SERVING IN THIS POSITION AND SERVING WITH COHIBA, UM, AND WORKING WITH, WITH STAFF AND ALL OF YOU.
SO THANK YOU, UH, ON, UH, ON A WAY LESS SENTIMENTAL NOTE.
I JUST WANTED TO ASK AND ENCOURAGE FOLKS, UM, IN THE, IN THE TIME THAT WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO BE VIRTUAL, I FEEL LIKE, UM, I REALLY WANT TO ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO USE THEIR CAMERA IF POSSIBLE.
UM, I KNOW THAT FOR SPEAKERS WHO ARE COMING TO US, IT COULD BE REALLY DISHEARTENING TO, TO NOT SEE ANY OTHER FACES ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE VOID OUT WHEN THEY'RE PRESENTING STUFF THAT THEY'RE PASSIONATE ABOUT.
AND I TOTALLY GET THAT THERE'S OTHER STUFF GOING ON IN YOUR HOUSE, KIDS DINNER'S HAPPENING, ALL OF THAT, BUT IF THERE'S ANY WAY THAT WE CAN TRY TO MAKE SURE, YOU KNOW, VIDEOS ARE ON A LITTLE BIT, A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME, I WOULD PERSONALLY RELATE TO THIS STRAIGHT BACK.
HEY, I THINK, I THINK THAT'S FAIR.
UM, AND I THINK EVEN IF, YOU KNOW, FOLKS HAVE TO KIND OF COME ON ON AND OFF, UM, SHOW SHOWING YOUR FACE, UM, VERY NICE TO YOU WHEN, WHEN YOU ARE ABLE TO, TO DO THAT.
AND DO YOU ALL HAVE ANY IDEA WHEN WE MIGHT BE BACK IN PERSON IN PERSON, OR WILL THAT BE A THING IN 2021 ZACK, THEY HAVE NOT GIVEN ME ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THAT.
WHAT WE HAVE HEARD FROM, UH, AT LEAST THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION USE ON IS THAT THAT COULD HAPPEN AT ANY TIME.
IF, UH, IF, IF THE GOVERNOR DECIDES THAT HE'S GOING TO RESCIND, UM, THE ABILITY FOR US TO DO VIRTUAL FRUITFUL MEETINGS.
SO IT'S VERY LIKELY THAT IT COULD HAPPEN.
I THINK IT'S VERY BASED ON EVERYTHING ELSE THAT'S BEING ROLLED BACK.
I, AND I THINK WE SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR, FOR SOME SORT OF HALFWAY BACK VERSION OF THIS, AT LEAST ON ENVIRONMENTAL.
UH, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT HAVING A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE, VIRTUAL AND A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE IN PERSON BEING A TRANSITIONAL STRATEGY THAT I THINK MIGHT BE IN THE, IN THE BOOKS, BUT YEAH.
UM, BUT YEAH, WE'RE JUST SPECULATING AT THIS POINT, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING WE'RE TRYING TO THINK ABOUT.
UM, AS, AS WE GET ANY, UH, DEFINITIVE INFORMATION, OBVIOUSLY WE'LL MAKE SURE TO, TO PASS IT ON.
UM, I, I'M CURIOUS AS WHETHER OR NOT THERE'S GOING TO BE ANY SORT OF POLICY AROUND VACCINATION AND COMING BACK FROM PERSON, ANYTHING LIKE THAT, BUT I'M KIND OF HAVE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING.
SO, AND JUST LAST THING, CAN YOU TO, I DON'T WANT TO FORGET TO ASK SEOUL TO, UH, MAYBE JUST DO A QUICK INTRODUCTION AND SAY
[01:50:01]
WELCOME.I KNOW THAT, UM, SHE WASN'T ON IN THE BEGINNING AND, UM, UM, I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE A CHANCE TO, UM, TO SAY HI AND HEAR A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT HER, IF THAT'S OKAY.
THANK YOU FOR JUMPING RIGHT IN WITH QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS AND BEING FULLY ENGAGED TODAY.
I'M HAPPY TO DO IT, UM, AND HAPPY TO BE HERE.
UM, MY NAME IS
UM, I GREW UP IN AUSTIN AND, UM, I WORK AT THE AUSTIN TENANT'S COUNCIL.
UM, AND I MEAN, IT'S BEEN A REALLY INTERESTING EXPERIENCE SO FAR.
I WAS REALLY HAPPY TO HEAR ABOUT DATA THAT REFLECTS THE EXPERIENCES OF PEOPLE I WORK WITH, UM, EVERY DAY.
AND I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TO BE LEARNING A LOT IN THIS SPACE AND HOPE TO ALSO BRING, UM, THE EXPERIENCES OF PEOPLE THAT I KNOW, UM, MY FRIENDS, FAMILY, COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
I'M TRYING TO THINK IF THERE'S ANYTHING ELSE THAT I COULD GO INTO, BUT YEAH, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO MEET ANY OF YOU ALL.
IF YOU REACH OUT, WE CAN, UM, HAVE ONE-ON-ONES OR DISTANCED OR OVER ZOOM, BUT THANKS FOR HAVING ME.
SO, UM, HOW I'LL REACH OUT TO YOU.
[2c) Commission members report back on any relevant discussions from their respective boards and commissions]
UM, DO YOU, I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW, SHOULD WE GO AROUND MAYBE, MAYBE FOR YOUR BENEFIT, SO WE SHOULD GO AROUND AND AT LEAST LIKE KIND OF WHO WE ARE WITH MISSION RUN AND LIKE, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW.YOU FEEL LIKE WITH AN ORGANIZATION OR SOMETHING? SAY THAT, SO, YEAH, PAPERWEIGHT.
UM, I AM THE REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION.
I WORKED FOR PUBLIC CITIZENS, TEXAS OFFICE, UM, ON A VARIETY OF CLIMATE AND ENERGY ISSUES PRIMARILY.
UM, LET'S JUST KIND OF PASS IT AROUND.
I KNOW, I DON'T THINK I WAS HERE FOR YOUR FIRST MEETING.
I THINK THAT WAS THE ONE THAT I MISSED.
UH, I, UM, AND VICE CHAIR OF JC AND ALSO SERVE AS VICE CHAIR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION, UH, APPOINTED BY GREG CASAR.
UM, AND I HAVE ALSO BEEN SUPER INVOLVED IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, UH, WORKING DIRECTLY WITH THE SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE AS WELL AS, UM, MANY OTHER COLLABORATORS ON THAT, UH, AND SERVE AS CO-CHAIR OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE FOR THAT.
UH, I WORKED FOR A COMPANY HERE IN TOWN THAT DOES PLANNING AND DESIGN WORK, UM, CALLED OSCAR ROBINSON.
I LEAD A PRACTICE CALLED THE URBAN ECOLOGY STUDIO THAT AIMS TO INTEGRATE MORE AND SCIENCE INTO OUR EQUITY DRIVEN WORK.
SO THAT'S EVERYTHING FROM SITE SCALE DESIGN, ALL THE WAY UP TO REGIONAL PLANNING.
I HAVE A BACKGROUND IN ECOLOGY PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DESIGN.
AND I'M ALSO SUPER INVOLVED IN, UM, LGBTQ ADVOCACY AND, AND SPEAK OUT ON THOSE ISSUES AS WELL.
AND SO, UM, THAT'S KIND OF ANOTHER HAT THAT I WEAR IN COMMUNITY.
I'LL GO SINCE I'M THE NEXT TO NEWEST.
SO MY NAME'S DIANA WHEELER AND LESLIE POOL, UM, NOMINATED ME TO THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION JUST TWO MONTHS AGO.
SO I STARTED ON THAT COMMISSION AND THEN I VOLUNTEERED TO BE THE UTC, URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION REP ON TO THIS JOINT SUSTAINABILITY.
SO I'VE BEEN TO ONE MEETING SO FAR, UM, AND I WORK AT AUSTIN ENERGY AND I'M AN IT MANAGER AM.
I'M JUST GOING TO SAY DAVID YOU'RE NEXT.
I'M AN ARCHITECT AND PARTNER AT URBAN FOUNDRY ARCHITECTURE.
I FOCUS ON MULTI-FAMILY AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND I AM THE CHAIR OF THE DESIGN COMMISSION.
I WAS APPOINTED BY MAYOR PRO TEM HARPER MADISON DISTRICT ONE, SORRY, CAN YOU SAY MY NAME? CARAVAN? OKAY.
I ALSO REPRESENT DISTRICT TWO.
I'M A SEVEN EIGHT SEVEN FOUR FIVE ZIP CODE.
AND I WAS ORIGINALLY APPOINTED BY DELEA GARZA AND I SERVE ON THE AUSTIN ZERO WASTE ADVISORY COMMISSION.
AND I, UM, I HAVE A BACKGROUND IN BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY, BUT I DO SERVE AS A, UM, I WORK AS A PLANNER FOR A TECH SPOT AND IT'S, UM, A RECENT ROLE I'VE BEEN THERE FOR ABOUT A YEAR.
[01:55:01]
AND PREVIOUSLY I WORKED AS A RESEARCH SPECIALIST FOR THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD BY THE, HAVE YOU, I HAVE A, UH,I REPRESENT THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION.
UH, I WORK, UH, FOR PECAN STREET HAS THE CFO AND GENERAL COUNSEL THERE AND GLAD TO HAVE YOU.
I REPRESENT DISTRICT THREE AND ALSO THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION.
MY IS IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEM BUILDING.
AND I'M CURRENTLY WORKING WITH THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM ON THEIR POST PANDEMIC RECOVERY PLAN, OR THEY HAVE YOU ALL HERE.
AND I DIDN'T SAY, BUT I, I LIVE IN DISTRICT THREE, BUT I'M, UH, REPRESENTING TWO ON THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION STUFF.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
ALL RIGHT.WELL, UM, IF ANYBODY HAS AGENDA ITEMS THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO SHARE NOW, ALL OF THEM FEEL FREE TO SPEAK UP OTHER WAYS.
OBVIOUSLY YOU CAN ALWAYS EMAIL KATIE AND ZACH AND MYSELF, IF YOU, AND I GUESS DID THE COPY PHOEBE ON THAT AS WELL.
SHE'S GOOD AT KEEPING US IN ORDER.
SO DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANYTHING THEY WANT US TO KIND OF PUT ON THE LIST AT THIS TIME, THIS MIGHT BE A OFFLINE CONVERSATION WITH STAFF AND UNIQUE OR YOU, BUT I FEEL LIKE NOW THAT THE LEDGES IS WINDING DOWN AND, UH, WE JUST NEED TO TOUCH BASE ON THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN AGAIN, UM, AND SEE WHERE WE'RE AT ON GETTING THAT THROUGH COUNCIL.
FALCONS HAPPEN SOMEDAY, SOMETIMES IN, UM, SO WE CAN, WE CAN PICK THAT UP FIRST OFFLINE AND THEN SEE IT THERE.
UM, WHEREAS AS TO AN AGENDA HEADING FOR, FOR THE NEXT MONTH OR, OR WHEN THAT SHOULD BE ANYTHING ELSE.
UH, WE HAVE A MOTION TO ADJOURN.
DO YOU NEED A MOTION TO ADJOURN? I'LL MAKE IT LOOK AN ANDROID SECOND PARTY GUYS, UNLESS THERE'S AN OBJECTION AND WE NEED TO STAY ON HERE ALL NIGHT.
LET'S LET'S GO HAVE DINNER AND, UH, THANK YOU ALL.