One of the not glamorous but essential tasks of local media is to read agendas, supporting documents, committee notes, documents and report back to you, our audience. We slogged through 574 pages of Volume I and 372 pages of Volume II of the Draft Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP.) Nobody is perfect, it’s only a draft and a work in progress. That said, some data points might need fixing before the plan is submitted to the State and FEMA for review and approval – in this reporter’s opinion.
Nevada County and its planning partners – Nevada City, Truckee, Grass Valley, Nevada Irrigation District, Nevada County Consolidated Fire District, Truckee Donner Public Utility District, and Washington County Water District – have spent the last several months updating the multijurisdictional hazard mitigation plan with the help of Tetra Tech, a consulting firm. The draft is available for download (two very large files) and today, August 27th, is the last day to provide public comment on the draft document.
What is a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan?
A Local Hazard Mitigation Plan is required by FEMA and encompasses the hazards of avalanche, dam failure, drought, earthquake, extreme cold, extreme heat, flood, hazardous material release, landslide, volcano, wildfire, and winter storms. Funding for many prevention or disaster-related grants requires a valid LHMP. In other words, it’s a must have.
Planning for disaster mitigation requires good data
One of the LHMP update Steering Committee’s tasks is “Ensuring that the data and information used in the plan update process is the best available.” [Pg 25 Vol I] I think everyone can agree on that point.
The draft, on page 32 and 33, lists the energy providers invited “to complete a stakeholder survey and review the draft plan:
Nevada Irrigation District (served on Steering Committee)
NV Energy
Liberty Utilities
Truckee Donner Public Utility District
Truckee Tahoe Airport (fuel storage)
AmeriGas
No PG&E? The utility corporation was included in the dam safety portion, but not in the energy section of the draft.
Some of the minor stuff
The outreach portion of the plan lists “An in-person event run by the Nevada County Office of Emergency Services in May 2024 also was used to promote the survey and distribute printed versions of the survey. Photos of the event are provided in Figure 2-4.”
The first photo on the left and the second one on the right were taken at Camp Gold Hollow during the Lake Vera/Round Mountain Firewise Community’s annual picnic. How do I know? I was one of the speakers. But indeed, Nevada County OES was present and provided a lot of useful information about emergency preparedness.
The consultant states the plan “will be publicized annually after the Planning Partnership’s annual evaluation and posted on the public website (currently at https://www.Nevadacountynyhmp.com/).” The link in the draft takes you to the Monroe County Hazard Mitigation Plan. https://monroecountynyhmp.com/
History buffs might take exception with the following description: “After gold was discovered at Coloma, Placer County in 1848, miners settled along the streams and creeks of the Nevada County region searching for placer gold.” [Placer County was created in 1851. Source: California State Association of Counties aka CSAC]
I beg to differ
The county profile of any plan lists major employers, and the draft LHMP is no exception.
No disrespect to American Rivers, Interfaith Food Ministry or Jehovah’s Witnesses, but at last count Nevada County government employs over 800 people. Shouldn’t that qualify the county as a major employer?
This wildfire impact table is [insert term of your choice]
Missing from the table above
- On August 30, 2017, the Pleasant Fire in North San Juan burned 392 acres.
- On October 9, 2017, the Wind Complex started in Nevada County. The McCourtney Fire burned 76 acres and destroyed 13 structures. The Lobo Fire burned 821 acres and destroyed 47 structures. In all fairness, the consultants list 250 fires that started in October of 2017 as part of Federal Disaster declarations.
Impacted Nevada County?
- The Chrome Fire, listed above, burned in Glenn County.
- The 2018 Donnell Fire may have sent some smoke to Nevada County, though this reporter can’t remember serious smoke impacts from that incident. However, the 2018 Camp Fire, absent from this list, did impact Nevada County.
- The 2019 Ben Delatour Scout Ranch Fire was in Colorado. It was also known as the Elk Fire.
- The 2022 Electra Fire was in Amador County.
- The 2022 Mosquito and Dutch fires were in Placer County, smoke impacts only to Nevada County.
For those wondering, the consultants listed the River Fire in the table listing State Emergency Proclamations.
Wildfire is the #1 hazard in Nevada County. Accurate data is a must.
A comment about critical facilities and local media
The draft LHMP talks about the various ways OES is reaching out to residents. “Public outreach mechanisms / programs to inform citizens on natural hazards, risk, and ways to protect themselves during such events” The answer, as written on page 26 of Vol. II “Public educations efforts by County OES Yes, we use CodeRED, social media, variable message signs, direct mailers and local Firewise communities.”
While it’s certainly not all about us, a mention of local media – as a resource for the community before, during and after disasters – seems appropriate. The draft plan lists the defunct Postnet office on Sutton as critical infrastructure. This reporter hopes the final version of the plan will fix some of the omissions and copy/paste errors. Nevada County deserves a solid plan to deal with inevitable hazards and disasters.