To address the vulnerabilities identified in the plan, state agencies shall work to maximize, where applicable and feasible, the following objectives:
(a)
Educating the public about the consequences of climate change, such as sea-level rise, extreme weather events, the urban heat island effect, habitat loss, wildfire, drought, threats to infrastructure and
agriculture, worsening air and water quality, and public health impacts.
(b)
Ensuring there is a continued repository for scientific data on climate change and climate adaptation in the state in order to facilitate educated state and local policy decisions and to help identify primary risks from climate change to residents, property, communities, and natural systems across the state.
(c)
(1)Promoting the use of the plan to inform planning decisions and ensure that state investments consider climate change impacts, as well as promote the use of natural systems and natural infrastructure, when developing physical infrastructure to address adaptation.
(2)
When developing infrastructure to address adaptation, where feasible, a project alternative should be developed that utilizes existing natural features and ecosystem processes or the restoration of natural features and ecosystem processes to meet the project’s goals.
(3)
For purposes of this subdivision, “natural
infrastructure” means the preservation or restoration of ecological systems or the utilization of engineered systems that use ecological processes to increase resiliency to climate change, manage other environmental hazards, or both. This may include, but need not be limited to, flood plain and wetlands restoration or preservation, combining levees with restored natural systems to reduce flood risk, and urban tree planting to mitigate high heat days.
(d)
Encouraging regional collaborative planning efforts to address regional climate change impacts and adaptation strategies.
(e)
Promoting
drought resiliency through an integrated water supply, delivery, and capture system that is coordinated and that can be resilient to a multiyear drought scenario while protecting water quality and the public health. Establishing both drought preparation programs, which will help create sustainable water systems in the future, and immediate drought response programs, which will reduce water demand or increase supply within one to five years of any declared drought.
(f)
Building resilient communities by developing urban greening projects that reduce air pollution and heat reflection in urban areas and create livable, sustainable communities in urban cores to promote infill development and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
(g)
Protecting and enhancing habitat, species strongholds, and wildlife corridors that are critical to the preservation of species that are at risk from the consequences of climate change.
(h)
Promoting actions to ensure healthy soils and sustainable agriculture; inform
reliable transportation planning; improve emergency management response across sectors; ensure sufficient, reliable, and safe energy; improve capacity to reduce and respond to public health threats; address the impacts of climate change on disadvantaged communities; and protect cultural resources from the impacts of climate change.