Many cities, one county: Managing urban growth, resource conservation, and conflict
The East Contra Costa Habitat Conservation Planning Association (“HCPA”) was formed by Contra Costa County and several east-County cities to develop a regional strategy for protecting natural resources in the face of the region’s rapid population growth and urbanization. The HCPA asked for our help to better integrate state and federal wildlife, wetland, and water quality protection requirements into local government land use planning.
Too often, state and federal requirements for wildlife, wetlands, and water quality protection are addressed after a project has been vetted through local land use planning and environmental review processes. Local governments often lack the specialized expertise necessary to address potential impacts on imperiled species or other sensitive resources. State and federal agencies often lack the resources necessary to engage constructively in local planning processes. The unfortunate result can be that the environmental review of urban development projects does not efficiently address impacts to sensitive resources or local land use planning priorities. Projects are often caught in a seemingly endless loop of local, state, and federal review.
We helped the HCPA find and use key elements of state and federal laws – tools, really – that could be integrated with local land use planning.
- We worked with the HCPA and its consultants to develop a comprehensive regulatory compliance strategy tailored for local government-driven land use planning.
- We helped the association and its consultants prepare, and secure federal and state approval of, a regional Habitat Conservation Plan and Natural Community Conservation Plan to meet the requirements of multiple species protection laws and provide a framework for compliance with the Clean Water Act and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act. When fully implemented, the Plan will establish an actively managed and monitored 20,000-acre reserve system to conserve the region’s most valuable wildlife habitat, wetlands, and waterways, and mitigate the impacts of planned, long-term growth.
- We helped HCPA develop a governance structure and mechanisms to implement the Plan, including the creation of a joint exercise of powers agency—the East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservancy--to oversee the creation of a regional open space reserve system. We are now helping the Conservancy to structure and execute the land transactions that will create the reserve system.
By investing in a single blueprint, the communities of eastern Contra Costa County will preserve their natural legacy even as they grow to meet the needs of a burgeoning population.
For more information about the East Contra Costa Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Community Conservation Plan, please visit www.cocohcp.org.